Strategic Choices for Online Pharmacies in Austria and Germany

There are indications that the health and pharmaceutical markets in the European Union are in a transitional phase triggered by new regulations, changing socio-economic factors and the advent of new eHealth technologies. The objective of this study is to analyze the strategic options for Austrian and German online pharmacies in this situation. The study starts with an introduction and then analyzing in the literature review the market of Austrian and German online pharmacies using the concepts of Porters (1980) Five Forces and Rumelts (1984) VRIO concept. Based on the findings of the literature review a semi-structured interview with senior managers of Austrian and German online pharmacies was conducted. The Research Design Methodology is described in chapter 3 and the Findings are discussed in chapter 4. The essence of the study is, that there could be three competitive advantages identified for online pharmacies in Austria and Germany: logistics, marketing capabilities and relations to suppliers.