Being a part of a buying group is critical to the success of independent pharmacies.

Buying groups help lower the cost of inventory. But knowing which type of buying group works best for your community pharmacy is essential.

There are three main types of independent pharmacy buying groups – for-profit, an association and a cooperative. For-profit organizations give their profits generated by the group back to the owner of the organization.  

With an association, income is generated in the form of administrative fees collected from suppliers contracted to provide goods and services. Profits generated are used to support the association. 

An independent pharmacy cooperative, also known as a pharmacy buying cooperative or a pharmacy cooperative purchasing group, is an organization formed by a group of independent pharmacies that come together to pool their resources and purchasing power for the purpose of obtaining better pricing, discounts and other benefits from suppliers, wholesalers, like API Warehouse, manufacturers and other vendors. These cooperatives are established to help independent pharmacies compete more effectively with larger pharmacy chains and benefit from economies of scale. 

American Associated Pharmacies (AAP) is an independent pharmacy cooperative.

Our income is generated in the form of administrative fees collected from suppliers that contract to provide goods and services. Qualified profits generated are shared among all members in the form of an annual Board-declared Patronage Dividend.

Learn more about other key features of an independent pharmacy cooperative.