From handwritten notes to AI diversion, how can global pharmacies turn Li Changbo’s human touch into a digital moat?
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Every transformation is to make companionship no longer limited to the small space of the counter.
In Luzhu, Taoyuan, there is a pharmacy that has been in the area for nearly 20 years, providing community residents with comprehensive health services every day from birth to 100 years old. From maternal and infant products to long-term care assistive devices, and from health care consultation to barrier-free space planning, this is not just a pharmacy, but more like a health steward for community residents.
“Pharmacist, save two boxes of that probiotic for me!” “Are there any group purchases this week? I want to add one!” For global chain pharmacies, these requests from regular customers were once their proudest trust asset, but they were also their biggest operational pain point. In the past, these warm interactions were maintained by handwritten notes and LINE private messages from frontline staff.
“We hope to become the elder brother of the community, so that people can find suitable products or services at [Global Pharmacy] (https://www.gmedshop.com.tw/) for their daily needs, regardless of their life needs.” Special Assistant to the Chairman [Xie Qiaoyun] (https://mymkc.com/article/content/25610) describes the business philosophy of Global Pharmacy.
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These human needs are the cornerstone of building trust between the world and the community. However, service models that rely on human brains and pen and paper are ultimately unable to withstand the challenges of scale. Missed orders, wrong accounts and the inability to respond immediately put this human touch to the test of efficiency.
In this Red Sea market where e-commerce companies are competing on price and large chain pharmacies are competing against each other, the second-generation management team of global pharmacies has chosen a different path. They don’t fight for low prices, but go back and use the most advanced digital tools to arm the most traditional Li Changbo spirit.
The digital revolution forced by human touch: from manuscripts to automation
“We discovered that store colleagues spend a lot of time dealing with trivial human matters every day,” Xie Qiaoyun recalled.
At first, this was just to solve the problems of frontline personnel. If regular customers want to buy daily necessities in a group, pharmacists have to manually count them in the LINE group, which is not only time-consuming, but also has a higher rate of specification errors. This made the management team realize that if technology cannot be used to free their hands, professional pharmacists will not be able to free up time to take care of people’s health.
“Actually, before the epidemic, our company wanted to create a new business entity called e-commerce, but at that time we were not sure how to do it?” Xie Qiaoyun recalled. In 2020, she returned from studying in the UK, and her first task was to build the e-commerce department from scratch.
This decision was not made on a whim, but came from real customer needs. “Many customers have bought suitable health products from us and recommended them to their family members who do not have global pharmacies in other places. They also want to buy them.” In addition to the main customer group in northern Taiwan, there are also customers from the south, central, eastern and even outlying islands and overseas who come here through word of mouth.
Therefore, in 2024, global pharmacies made a key decision: to liberate these favored group buying economies from manual burdens and create an exclusive customer group buying diversion system.
The core concept of this system is: “Integrate store expertise, e-commerce efficiency and LINE convenience to create a complete customer diversion center.” Customers can place an order with one click through LINE or the official website, and the order is automatically diverted to the store that serves them. The store can instantly see the repurchase data of its members, and group purchase opening, replenishment, and arrival notifications are all automated.
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“What we want to do is not just automate, but keep profits and data in the stores.” This system allows store pharmacists to instantly see the data of regular customers they operate. Group buying is no longer the performance of the headquarters, but has become a bridge for interaction between stores and regular customers.
“This is not a policy pushed from the top down, but a solution that grows naturally from the needs of stores and customers.” Xie Qiaoyun emphasized that the design principle of the system is to simplify the process rather than increase the burden, so that colleagues can spend their time on more valuable professional consultation and interpersonal interaction.
Reject the cold traffic and fight against the algorithm with a sense of companionship
In an era when traffic is expensive, pharmacies around the world have a batch of highly adhesive iron powder. What’s their secret? The surprising answer is that they don’t advertise all the time.
“The essence of a community is not traffic, but the continuation of trust and companionship.” Xie Qiaoyun shared. Different from the indiscriminate promotional messages bombarded by e-commerce platforms, global pharmacies have found that the most effective way to divert traffic to LINE is not frequent advertisements, but content with a sense of companionship such as “situational reminders”, “solar terms and health education”, and “early releases for anniversary celebrations”.
For example: when the flu season is here, send health education information first; when the weather gets colder, remind the elders to keep warm. They have established a set of SOPs that teach first, then recommend, and then start a group. This kind of companion marketing, which is not in a hurry to close a deal, creates a higher conversion rate than directly posting the price.
“We hope that in addition to the convenience of online shopping, customers can also truly feel the warmth of real people.” This is the core of the OMO strategy of global pharmacies: breadth and efficiency online, depth and emotion offline.
Import AI and data to turn acting based on feelings into accurate decisions
If the human touch is the soul of pharmacies around the world, then data is their new brain.
With the deepening of digital transformation, pharmacies around the world have begun to transform services that were difficult to quantify in the past into visual data assets. Now, they no longer only look at revenue, but closely focus on repurchase rate and in-store pickup rate.
“These data let us know which stores need help and which age groups prefer which products?” Through the data dashboard, management can accurately judge the needs of the community, no longer like in the past, just relying on experience to feel the elephant.
What’s even more amazing is that this local pharmacy has also begun to boldly try to introduce AI. The marketing team uses AI tools to produce educational copywriting and audio-visual scripts, significantly reducing time costs. But they always adhere to a bottom line: “After AI is produced, it must be manually reviewed by professional pharmacists.” Because in the pharmaceutical industry, trust is the only currency, and there is no room for illusions.
Turn employees into partners and create guardians of health for all ages
No matter how powerful the technology is, it ultimately depends on people to execute it. Global Pharma understands that the greatest resistance to transformation often comes from within.
In order to allow senior pharmacists who are accustomed to traditional operations to keep pace, global pharmacies have introduced an education and training system that has received TTQS Bronze Certification. They not only teach system operation, but also teach team communication and OMO diversion skills.
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Looking ahead to 2026, global pharmacy’s ambitions don’t stop there. They are planning to implement this OMO model more deeply, from infant milk powder at 0 years old to long-term care assistive devices at 100 years old, to create a whole-age health solution.
Use temperature and technology to build a competitive moat
“Our corporate philosophy is professionalism, sincerity and care, and we hope that everyone can live a healthy and happy life around the world.” Xie Qiaoyun returned to her original intention, “We have always upheld the service spirit of Li Changbo. When customers come to the store, they will report that our service and attitude are very cordial and close to their needs.”
The dual-core strategy of “temperature + technology” is exactly the competitive moat built by global pharmacies. They proved that traditional industries are not unable to transform, but they have to find the way that best suits them. In recent years, digital transformation has been gaining momentum, but they know that this is not transformation for the sake of transformation, but to better serve the community.
“We hope to become the community leader.” This simple vision has received a new interpretation in pharmacies around the world. From handwritten notes to AI traffic diversion, this company with deep roots in Taoyuan proves that tradition and innovation are not an alternative. As long as you make good use of digital tools, the oldest human touch can evolve into a moat that is difficult for competitors to cross.
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Further reading
- From a century-old shop to a zero-waste factory, how Dafang Dougan turns waste into gold and creates sustainable business opportunities
- From Standard Chartered Building Cafe to AI Net-Zero Promoter: How does Taichuang Digital turn lunch box ordering into a good business with carbon rights?
- From the delivery room to the dining table: How Taiwan’s first “confinement agency” Zili broke the boundary between mother and baby and transformed into full-age care
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