A “para-pharmacy” is a store that carries a pharmacy-style selection of products, including over-the-counter medications, cosmetics, hygiene products, and more.
“We are increasingly focusing on solutions that free up pharmacists to focus on clinical work and reduce the time they spend on purely commercialtasks,” Euronews quotes Katerina Diash, a pharmacist and project manager at Pharma&Go.
The approximately 90-square-meter space was created through a partnership between Sensei and Glintt Life and is entirely privately funded.
The customer’s journey begins at the door: they must present a payment method, such as a bank card. After verification, the customer can enter and begin shopping. It’s important to remember that as soon as the door closes, the presented card is linked to everyone who entered together.
“The door opens, people enter the store, pick up the items they want, and leave. As soon as they leave the premises, the cost of all the items they take with them is automatically charged to the card they used to enter. No cash registers, no lines, no friction, and no unnecessarycomplications,” explains Katerina Diash.
Most errors are made by people
The store opened in November and has been attracting new customers every month since then. Despite its relative newness, the system’s error rate is minimal —less than 2%.
For example, once inside, a shoppermust close the door behind them becausethey are responsible for the purchases of everyone who enters with them.
At the same time ,in Portugal, it’s considered a sign of chivalry when a man holds the door open for a woman following behind him, and there has already been a situation where a man entered a store, held the door open for a woman following him, and both of their purchases were charged to his card because the AI cannot distinguish whether people are entering together or separately.
