How to Build a Pharmacy Click-and-Collect Workflow

Click and collect is not just an online basket with a pickup label. It joins ordering, dispensing, stock, payment and a patient-facing handover.

The workflow must show what the pharmacy has accepted and what still needs professional review. A clear status prevents customers arriving before work is complete.

This checklist covers the operational path from order submission to handover. Scheduled-medicine requirements remain subject to applicable state and territory law.

If your pharmacy also delivers, keep that process separate with our pharmacy delivery workflow guide.

Define what each order status means

Avoid one vague status such as “processing”. Use a short set of states with named owners and customer wording.

Status	Internal meaning	Customer message
Received	Order captured but not yet accepted	We have received your request
Review needed	Prescription, stock or details need attention	We will contact you before confirming
Accepted	Pharmacy has accepted the order workflow	Your order is being prepared
Ready	Required work is complete under local procedure	Your order is ready for collection
Collected	Identity, payment and handover are complete	Collection confirmed
Unavailable	The order cannot proceed as requested	We will contact you about your options
Uncollected	The collection window has passed	Please contact the pharmacy

Do not use “ready” when a prescription still needs clarification or a pharmacist still needs to complete a required step.

Set a realistic local service target, but do not present it as a national benchmark. No reviewed Australian source sets a universal pharmacy pickup time.

Make the displayed price accurate

The ACCC says online prices must be clear and accurate. The displayed total must include taxes and unavoidable or pre-selected fees.

Its click-and-collect example explains that an optional delivery fee need not be included when free collection is available.

Where the ACCC’s stated exceptions do not apply, a business must sell at the lowest displayed or advertised price, or stop selling until corrected.

Before launch, test:

• promotional prices and expiry times
• online and point-of-sale price alignment
• deposits, service charges and surcharges
• stock substitutions and customer approval
• refunds for unavailable items

Consumer guarantees still apply online. The ACCC says goods must be safe, fit for purpose and match their description.

Separate an order request from dispensing approval

An online order can capture a request, but it should not imply that a prescription has been clinically approved or dispensed.

Electronic-prescription users may present a token to any supporting pharmacy. The pharmacy scans it before dispensing, and the patient retains pharmacy choice.

Our electronic prescriptions guide explains the difference between tokens, Active Script Lists and barcoded paper prescriptions.

Record whether the prescription has been received, can be used, needs clarification or remains with the customer. Keep that state separate from retail stock allocation.

State and territory law gives scheduling controls practical effect. Check your regulator’s requirements for scheduled medicines.

Use a controlled order-to-handover checklist

1. Capture the requested items and customer contact channel.
2. Show the total price and any unavoidable fees.
3. Confirm stock without promising unavailable quantities.
4. Record prescription or authority requirements separately.
5. Assign required pharmacist review and counselling.
6. Notify the customer only when the order reaches the defined ready state.
7. Apply identity and collection-authority checks at handover.
8. Complete payment, counselling and collection records.
9. Return uncollected stock through a defined exception process.

The ACSQHC standard recommends at least three patient identifiers as a clinical-safety benchmark.

Use the pharmacy’s approved identification process and applicable jurisdictional requirements. Avoid announcing medicine details before identity is established.

Plan for substitutions, delays and no-shows

Exceptions reveal whether the workflow is usable. Define who contacts the customer, what can be changed, and when an order returns to stock.

A substituted product should not silently alter the customer’s price or clinical pathway. Record approval and any professional review before updating the order.

Keep refrigerated, controlled or high-risk items within their normal storage and supply controls. A collection shelf should not become a parallel inventory system.

Track queue age, failed collections, price corrections and reopened orders. These measures show friction without creating a speed contest.

For the customer-facing queue, use the same measurement discipline described in our pharmacy wait-time guide.

Where KShop fits

KShop owns customer access and the complete order workflow within KSuite’s pilot scope.

That ownership should make order state, customer communication and exceptions visible. It does not replace dispensing records, professional judgement or jurisdictional supply requirements.

KSafe retains inventory records, KMail retains campaign controls, and Kat retains governed identity steps when those modules participate. KShop remains the order-workflow owner.

A sensible pilot uses a limited product range and one collection location. Test price changes, missing prescriptions, substitutions, failed identity checks and uncollected orders.

To discuss a bounded click-and-collect pilot, book a demo.