Blooms The Chemist Delivers Digital Care with BigCommerce
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130
independently owned pharmacies
40+
years in business
Key highlights:
CHALLENGE.
Needed to bring more than 130 independently owned pharmacies into a single ecommerce experience.
Customers increasingly expected online ordering and Click and Collect options.
The business needed to support both retail purchases and regulated healthcare services online.
SOLUTION.
Built a scalable ecommerce foundation that connects inventory, fulfillment, and store operations across the network.
Introduced a more convenient online-to-store experience with real-time local inventory visibility and pickup options.
Created customisations to support prescription validation, eScripts, and vaccination booking workflows.
RESULTS.
Transformed ecommerce into a core part of how Blooms operates and serves its communities.
Improved operational visibility and reduced manual processes across the pharmacy network.
Enabled faster, more dependable access to products and healthcare services through a single platform.
From in-store care to online connection
Blooms The Chemist has always been more than a place to pick up prescriptions. Across more than 130 independently owned pharmacies, it plays a vital role in the health and wellbeing of local communities.
As customer expectations evolved, so did the need for care beyond the store. Patients wanted easier access to products, services, and support wherever they were.
With BigCommerce and 33BONDI, Blooms built a digital experience that brings retail and healthcare together, extending trusted, community-first care beyond the pharmacy counter.
CHALLENGE
A complex model meets rising digital expectations.
Blooms operates a unique model. More than 130 independently owned pharmacies come together under one brand, each with its own operations, inventory, and customers.
As customer expectations evolved, Blooms saw growing demand for easier access to products and services online. International ecommerce trends and the rapid shift during COVID only accelerated the move beyond traditional in-store transactions.
“We recognised that people wanted easier access to our products beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar approach,” shared Martin Olds, CIO of Blooms The Chemist.
Bringing that model online introduced new challenges:
Independent stores needed control without breaking a unified experience
Inventory and fulfillment had to work across multiple locations
Customers expected convenient options like online ordering and Click and Collect
The business needed to support both retail purchases and regulated healthcare services
To move forward, Blooms needed a solution that could connect its network while supporting the evolving needs of both customers and pharmacies.
“We recognised that people wanted easier access to our products beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar approach."
MARTIN OLDS, CIO, BLOOMS THE CHEMIST
SOLUTION
Unifying a distributed pharmacy network online.
Connecting more than 130 independently owned pharmacies into a single ecommerce experience required far more than a standard online storefront.
Blooms needed online and in-store systems to work together across every location, while still allowing each pharmacy to operate independently.
“We needed a platform that could support a federated group of businesses without forcing every store into the same operational model,” shared Olds.
Working with 33BONDI, Blooms used BigCommerce to connect inventory, fulfillment, and store operations across its network, enabling:
Real-time inventory visibility across store locations
Integration between in-store POS and ecommerce systems
Accurate product availability at the local level
Centralised coordination of online orders across the network
This approach gave Blooms a scalable digital foundation that supports network-wide consistency while preserving the flexibility of each individual pharmacy.
“BigCommerce wasn’t the most obvious choice at the time, but the way it was architected and the commitment to helping us solve our specific challenges really stood out,” remarked Olds.
Making local pharmacy access more convenient online.
Once its network was connected, Blooms focused on making it easier for customers to shop through their local pharmacy online.
With BigCommerce, customers can:
Check product availability at nearby pharmacy locations
Choose where they want to pick up their order
Access local inventory before visiting a store
Place online orders with greater confidence and accuracy
“We had to make sure that if a customer bought something online for pickup, it was actually available on the shelf, so we couldn’t oversell or undersell,” shared Jim Watts, Co-Founder of 33BONDI.
This became especially important during COVID, when customers relied on faster pickup options and accurate inventory visibility for essential products.
By connecting online ordering with local pharmacy operations, Blooms created a more convenient and dependable experience for customers across its network.
Customising commerce to support pharmacy-specific workflows.
Blooms’ requirements went far beyond standard ecommerce functionality. To meet them, 33BONDI used BigCommerce’s open architecture to build features tailored to how pharmacies actually operate.
This includes:
Prescription validation built directly into checkout
Integration of eScripts and secure healthcare data systems
Custom cart logic for regulated products
Internal tools connecting orders with patient and pharmacy systems
“We use the open checkout to extend core features, like preventing someone from purchasing certain items without a prescription,” shared Watts.
During COVID, Blooms also launched a fully integrated vaccination booking experience that allowed customers to schedule appointments and complete pre-screening steps within the same platform.
“We had to build a solution that would enable our community to get vaccinated quickly and allow Blooms to deliver that at scale, and BigCommerce gave us the foundation to do that,” shared Steven Muller, Co-Founder of 33BONDI.
33BONDI also designed these capabilities with FHIR-aligned healthcare standards in mind, reflecting broader interoperability initiatives across Australia, including CSIRO’s Sparked program for connected healthcare and patient data exchange.
To support these healthcare services, BigCommerce was integrated with Google Cloud Healthcare API, allowing patient and clinical data to be managed within dedicated healthcare systems while commerce transactions remained within BigCommerce. This approach enabled Blooms to meet strict regulatory requirements while continuing to evolve its digital experience.
“BigCommerce wasn’t the most obvious choice at the time, but the way it was architected and the commitment to helping us solve our specific challenges really stood out.”
MARTIN OLDS, CIO, BLOOMS THE CHEMIST
“We had to build a solution that would enable our community to get vaccinated quickly and allow Blooms to deliver that at scale, and BigCommerce gave us the foundation to do that.”
STEVEN MULLER, CO-FOUNDER, 33BONDI
RESULTS
A new standard for pharmacy ecommerce.
With BigCommerce, Blooms transformed ecommerce into a core part of how the business operates and serves its communities.
Across its network, teams now work with greater operational visibility and fewer manual processes, while still preserving the independence of each pharmacy. The platform also gave Blooms the ability to respond quicker to changing customer and business needs.
“BigCommerce shows up every day. It’s reliable, and that consistency has been critical in strengthening our business,” remarked Olds.
For customers, the experience is faster, more convenient, and more dependable. They can access products and services through a single platform while staying connected to their local pharmacy.
“We were able to deliver something that supported both the business and the community at a really important time,” shared Muller.
With a scalable foundation in place, Blooms is well positioned to continue evolving its digital experience as customer expectations and healthcare needs change.
“BigCommerce shows up every day. It’s reliable, and that consistency has been critical in strengthening our business.”
MARTIN OLDS, CIO, BLOOMS THE CHEMIST
LOOKING AHEAD
Continuing to evolve through digital innovation.
With a flexible foundation in place, Blooms is focused on expanding how customers access both products and healthcare services.
As expectations continue to shift, the team is exploring new ways to improve service delivery and enhance the customer and patient experience.
“We’re not locked into a system that limits what we can do. We can continue to adapt and improve as the business and industry evolve,” explained Olds.
With BigCommerce, Blooms is well positioned to keep evolving its digital experience while staying connected to the communities it serves.
“We’re not locked into a system that limits what we can do. We can continue to adapt and improve as the business and industry evolve.”
MARTIN OLDS, CIO, BLOOMS THE CHEMIST
Published: June 2026
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