Jones Healthcare got 1,100 registered users 1 week after launch

Innovation, transformation and a legacy built on trust

In 1882, Henry Jones founded a company with a single mission: to serve the people of the Canadian pharmacy market with the highest quality products and service. Henry promised that when it came to deadlines, quality, price and service, he would always keep his word. He left a legacy built on trust.

137 years and four generations later, Jones Healthcare Group has never wavered from Henry’s legacy. Though they’ve changed and transformed from an apothecary packaging provider to a fully integrated and award-winning provider of premier packaging and medication-dispensing solutions, over the years one thing has always remained true: Jones sees the people behind the businesses they serve.

To thrive for more than a century, you have to innovate along the way. Today, Jones serves more than 12,000 pharmacies across the world through its Healthcare division and is committed to not only providing outstanding service and end-to-end packaging solutions, but also simplifying the process. So when their healthcare customers asked for more efficient ways to buy, Jones rose to the challenge without hesitation.

Serving customers well into the future

The medical manufacturing industry swiftly evolved overtime. As technology advanced, Jones recognized a shift in their customers’ preferences.  Jones knew that in order to make their customers jobs easier, they needed to provide more efficient ways to manage the ordering process. So, they ventured into eCommerce to prepare their business for the future.

In order to validate their approach, Jones first conducted customer research to determine whether the need for a more robust online solution was something their customers would actually utilize.

The results of Jones’ survey proved the Jones team’s hypothesis right. Here are some of the key highlights:

• Jones customers were familiar with online ordering and conducted business online with other companies
• 80.67% of customer respondents said they would find an online ordering system either very valuable or extremely valuable
• Customers wanted eCommerce because they believed an online ordering system would be quicker, easier and available 24/7
• Customers wanted features including real-time order/shipping status, tracking and re-order, eCatalogue – pictures, descriptions, customer specific pricing of all products, account and order history

So, Jones had their answer. Customers wanted eCommerce. They wanted a frictionless order experience.

The hunt for the right eCommerce fit

After establishing their goals, vision, strategy and team, Jones began their search for the right eCommerce engine to power the healthcare experience. Jones’ key eCommerce requirements included:

• Account login/accessibility
• Integration with their SAP ERP
• Real-time order status/history
• Reordering capabilities
• Promotions capabilities
• Frictionless checkout process
• Unique user profiles
• Catalog capability for generic, branded and custom SKUs

An emphasis on product content 

As they journeyed through their transformation, Jones quickly realized their product portfolio was disorganized. It was hard to recognize part numbers and there was no methodology for categorization. As part of the transformation to get their product catalog online, Jones had to organize their portfolio into product categories, details, groups and provide product images from multiple angles. This process proved to be a period of self-discovery. Now, the team has a far better understanding of their entire product catalog because the project went beyond eCommerce, driving a broader business discussion.

The Jones portfolio includes three kinds of products:

• Generic, agnostic products, consumed by any pharmacy
• Branded products that are tied to a specific pharmacy brand (equivalent to CVS or Walgreens)
• Customized products for small pharmacies

Jones has anywhere from 600 (in-stock products) to up to 10,000 custom SKUs. Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud was able to accommodate the complexities involved in multiple product types.

The new world with Optimizely

Before implementing Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud, the old buying process for Jones looked something like this: a customer would call and say, I’m Jim at Jim’s pharmacy and I want my labels. That would form the PO. Jones wanted to move that conversation online. Today Jim can go login to his account, view his information, reorder and self-serve. Plus, in the previous model Jim would simply have to trust that Jones knew what labels he needed. Today, as part of the online solution, Jim can physically see his labels before he orders. Plus, Jim only sees what he needs to see. He doesn’t get bombarded with products that are irrelevant to his business. The online solution is not only making customers more efficient, it’s building confidence.

Optimizely helps Jones increase share of wallet. 

In addition to building customer efficiency and confidence, eCommerce is helping Jones increase their share of wallet by enabling the team to proactively cross-sell and upsell to customers. There are about 10,000 pharmacies across Canada and most of them carry Jones products. Jones already has solid market penetration. But historically, they didn’t have an eCommerce platform that enabled them to clearly display their entire offering to customers. Now customers are more aware of Jones’ entire product catalog and average order value is continually increasing.

Optimizely aids Jones with data hygiene. 

When customers register for the online solution, they must provide valid account information. The portal is helping Jones to gather customer information and improve their data hygiene. Customers are opting in and giving Jones their consent to send them marketing messages.

Jones hits year-one eCommerce goals one week after national launch 

Just three months after their soft launch and one week after their national launch, Jones had already exceeded their year-one goals for eCommerce. Originally, Jones set out to get 10% of their individual store orders online in year one. One week after the national launch of their eCommerce platform, they had already seen over 15% online. In addition, they aimed for 1,000 registered users at the end of year one. One week after national launch, they had more than 1,100 registered users.

Though they’ve focused their eCommerce experience on individual stores (which make up 40% of their customer base), Jones also sells through wholesalers. About 60% of their business comes through large EDI orders from wholesalers. Early success metrics have validated the importance and value of eCommerce for Jones’ customers. The company has received nothing but positive feedback. Even customers who don’t place orders online have found value in simply browsing the catalog and product information.

Beyond the benefits at the individual store level, the online catalog has become a system of reference for the wholesalers Jones serves. Wholesale part numbers are available and product data is plentiful. 

Jones has been collecting customer feedback about the online solution. Here are just a few quotes from their customers about the experience:

• “The Pharmacy Store has made ordering pharmacy supplies significantly easier for me and my team.”
• “Items are easier to find and I like how the photos make is easy to identify products.”
• “The ability to upload an order without having to search for items is a time-saving feature we’ve been using.”
• “Favorites Lists make finding the products we need easy – without searching.”

Because Jones already achieved their goals for year one just one week after national launch, the team is bringing their year two and three goals forward. Initially they aimed to have 25% of their individual store orders online. Given their success, they are marching toward 25% by year one and 35-40% by year two. There are 10,000 pharmacies that use Jones products. What’s the endgame? To have 10,000 pharmacies registered with Jones online.

Project Facts

• Leveraging Optimizely B2B Commerce Coud
• Integrated with Infor Visual and InRiver Pim