The numbers for 2026 are in, and they tell a stark story: relying solely on NHS dispensing is not a viable business model for the independent pharmacy. With the National Minimum Wage now at £12.71 and operational costs rising, the gap between «breaking even» and «bankruptcy» has narrowed.
While many talk about clinical services, there is a massive, untapped opportunity sitting right on your shelves: Hyper-local Q-Commerce. In 2026, your «footfall» isn’t just people walking through the front door, it’s the millions of people opening Just Eat and Uber Eats within a three-mile radius of your shop. Here is how pharmacies are using LUDA Partners to secure new private revenue without adding to their clinical workload.
1. Capturing the “I need it now” moment
When a parent has a child with a fever at 8:00 PM or a customer is stuck at home with a migraine, they can’t wait for a 48-hour Amazon delivery.
These are high-intent, time-sensitive purchases, and they’re increasingly happening on delivery apps.
By listing OTC essentials (Calpol, pain relief, hydration salts) on delivery apps, you capture high-margin sales at the exact moment of need. Customers are willing to pay for speed, proximity and trust and local pharmacies already have all three.
LUDA enables pharmacies to list their products on delivery apps without managing the apps themselves, turning urgent demand into immediate private sales.
2. Reclaiming baskets lost to supermarkets
For years, pharmacies have steadily lost non-dispensing sales (vitamins, personal care, baby products and wellness items) to supermarkets and large online retailers.
The issue hasn’t been product quality. It’s been visibility.
Delivery apps change that dynamic.
When a local pharmacy appears alongside supermarkets on platforms customers already use daily, the pharmacy regains relevance, not as “just a chemist”, but as the fastest, most trusted local provider of health and wellness essentials.
This is digital footfall in action.
3. Maximum reach, without marketing spend
Building and maintaining a standalone e-commerce site is expensive and time-consuming and requires ongoing investment in marketing, websites, ads and fulfillment.
LUDA takes a different approach.
Rather than asking pharmacies to bring customers to a new website, LUDA connects pharmacies directly to existing platforms like Just Eat, tapping into their massive base of 19M+ active users.
Through a single LUDA integration, pharmacies can access delivery apps like Just Eat and Uber Eats (with more coming soon!) without paying platform fees or committing to fixed costs. Pharmacies only pay LUDA a 10% commission when a sale is completed, with no additional app fees.
The result: instant local visibility, without marketing spend.
4. Operational simplicity (no extra staff required)
One of the biggest fears for pharmacy owners in 2026 is staff burnout.
Digital growth only works if it doesn’t add pressure.
With LUDA:
- Catalogues are set up and maintained centrally
- Orders flow directly to the pharmacy
- The pharmacy’s role is simple: pick, bag, hand over
Couriers collect the order. LUDA manages the technology. The pharmacy stays focused on patients.
That’s why LUDA now works with 400+ pharmacies across the UK and Ireland, across independents, small groups and large chains (Pearl Chemist) alike.
5. Turning availability into trust
During shortages or high-demand periods, patients turn to delivery apps to check who actually has a product available nearby.
Being the pharmacy that has stock (and appears digitally when others don’t) builds trust fast.
Many pharmacies report that customers who first discover them via delivery apps later return for in-store purchases, advice and clinical services.
Digital discovery often becomes real-world loyalty.
The bottom line
In 2026, a community pharmacy has become a local fulfilment hub.
If your products are only visible to people who walk past your window, you’re missing most of your local demand.
LUDA Partners doesn’t replace your pharmacy model, it extends it. By connecting your existing stock to the platforms customers already use, LUDA helps pharmacies turn digital footfall into sustainable private revenue.
The future of pharmacy isn’t just clinical. It’s digital, and it’s already happening locally.
Want to see how digital footfall could work for your pharmacy?
Fill out our short form and the LUDA team will walk you through the options, with no obligation.