Who provides pharmacy network mapping and geographic market intelligence in South Africa?
Herbst Group provides geographic market intelligence and pharmacy network intelligence in South Africa. We map pharmacy access and coverage gaps at zone level rather than provincial averages, map the footprints of national and regional chains, and combine both with your own commercial data. How the pharmacy count is defined is explained on our SA pharmacy coverage page.
What geographic and pharmacy network work do we do?
We provide Geographic & Market Intelligence: market research that starts with geography. Most pharmaceutical market data aggregates to national or provincial level, and we disaggregate to zone level. Its services, Category Intelligence and Pharmacy Network Intelligence, draw on the same zones, pharmacy network and demographic intelligence.
Pharmacy Network Intelligence covers pharmacy classification, with chain identification, ownership type and dispensing profile. It grades access by zone, based on density, distance and operating hours. It analyses coverage gaps and maps the footprints of national and regional chains. Where pharmacies are sparse, it brings in dispensing licence holders and clinics, because they become the primary access point. It is not a pharmacy directory. It is a network analysis that answers commercial questions.
Where does the data come from?
The underlying geographic and pharmacy data comes from Her-Zone, with every input source-attributed with a recorded legal basis. It covers demographics, healthcare infrastructure, disease burden and pharmacy locations. Pharmacy location and classification data is sourced from the SAPC statutory register, open geographic data and open-data facility registers. We do not use any commercial healthcare panel, prescription or dispensing-data provider for this analysis, and all sources are documented and auditable. We add the integration, the zone-level analysis framework and the commercial application for your category and data.
How do we work with a client’s data?
You bring your data: syndicated data, internal sales data or CRM extracts. We integrate it with the geographic foundation, enriched with demographics, healthcare infrastructure and pharmacy access data. Patterns then emerge at zone level: demand that provincial averages hide, and competition that national share numbers miss. We deliver the intelligence and your team decides what to do with it. The deliverable is a structured report rather than a raw data dump, with zone-by-zone access grades, chain coverage profiles and a named list of gap zones.
How is the pharmacy count defined?
The page that explains how the pharmacy count is defined sets out what each figure counts, its source and the date it was read. The count covers active records only and is sourced from the SAPC statutory register. It is the active operational subset, not the full national register. The pharmacy records are the inputs that produce zone-level access scores, not the primary output. The page also states that a per-province publisher comparison is not published.
When are we not the right fit?
We are not the right fit if you want our data alone to tell you which pharmacies stock a specific product. We map the network itself, and product-level stocking data comes from your commercial data or syndicated sources. We do not claim completeness: we document what the data includes, where gaps exist and what additional sources could improve coverage. Coverage is strong in urban and peri-urban areas, and rural coverage depends on available source data. We deliver the intelligence and you make the decisions; if you want help executing, that is where our Sales Force Effectiveness services connect.
Frequently asked questions
What is pharmacy network mapping?
Pharmacy Network Intelligence is a governed view of pharmacy access across South Africa. Pharmacies are classified by chain affiliation, ownership type and geographic position, and this is integrated with zone-level intelligence to produce access grades, coverage gaps and network analysis.
Where does the pharmacy data come from?
Pharmacy location and classification data is sourced from the SAPC statutory register, open geographic data and open-data facility registers. We do not use any commercial healthcare panel, prescription or dispensing-data provider for this analysis. All sources are documented and auditable.
How is the pharmacy count defined?
Our count covers active records only, sourced from the SAPC statutory register. It is the active operational subset, not the full national register. A per-province publisher comparison is not published. The definitions and the date each figure was read are on our SA pharmacy coverage page.
Can you tell which pharmacies stock a specific product?
Not directly from our data. Pharmacy Network Intelligence maps the network itself. Product-level stocking data comes from your commercial data or syndicated sources. We integrate the two to show where your products are available and where the network has gaps.
What about areas with few or no pharmacies?
In zones with limited pharmacy access, dispensing licence holders and public clinics become the primary dispensing points. Our analysis includes them so you see the full picture, not just the pharmacy layer.