Pharmacies and parapharmacies · what to reward and what not to
Pharmacy loyalty card: what can earn points and what cannot
Managing loyalty cards in a pharmacy starts from one rule: stamps and points come only from purchases of products that are not medicines, because Decree-Law 223/2006 bans prize schemes on medicines, parapharmacies included. With Iterum the person at the counter confirms the stamp or types the points for the eligible part of the receipt only, and the card does not record which products a customer buys.
Updated by Radman Sattari, Founder of Iterum
How a pharmacy loyalty card works
A pharmacy loyalty card works like a shop’s, with one extra rule: stamps and points can only come from purchases of products that are not medicines. Regular customers collect them on eligible purchases and, once they reach the target, receive a reward chosen by the pharmacy, which cannot be a medicine either.
With a digital card customers sign up by scanning the QR code displayed near the till: the card opens in the phone’s browser, with no app or password, and a button to add it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet on compatible phones. When they pay, they show the card and the person at the counter scans it in the counter app («Al banco»): on a stamp card they confirm the purchase, on a points card they type the points for the eligible part of the receipt only. Iterum does not read the till or the receipt, so the rule is applied by the person at the counter, just as in a shop that rewards purchases rather than visits.
Write the rule, medicines excluded
For example «one stamp for every purchase of at least 15 euros of cosmetics and toiletries, medicines excluded» or «1 point for every euro spent on parapharmacy products, medicines excluded». These are examples to adapt, not recommended rules.
Display the QR code where people pay
Near the till and next to the cosmetics and toiletries shelves, where the purchases that earn points happen: people in the queue sign up on their phone while they wait.
Record after payment
The person at the counter scans the card once the receipt is closed and counts only the eligible products: a purchase cancelled at the last moment leaves no stamps or points.
Hand over and record the reward
When the target is reached, check the conditions, hand over the reward and record the redemption: the dashboard keeps count of members, visits and rewards.
Why medicines cannot earn points or be the reward
Medicines cannot earn points because Italian law bans prize schemes that involve them. Article 5 of Decree-Law 223/2006, converted by Law 248/2006 and written to allow non-prescription medicines to be sold outside pharmacies too, says in paragraph 2: «Competitions, prize schemes and below-cost sales involving medicines are in any case prohibited». The text speaks of medicines without separating prescription medicines from over-the-counter ones, and the 2025–2026 rules of the Club Salute programme, a pharmacy network, award points only on products «for which the law allows this kind of promotional activity» and exclude «all medicines – including OTC, SOP and homeopathic ones – and all products when reimbursed by the SSN», the national health service.
The reward cannot be a medicine either. Legislative Decree 219/2006, Italy’s medicines code, bans «the distribution of medicines to the public for promotional purposes» in Article 115, paragraph 3: a box of an over-the-counter medicine given away at the tenth stamp would fall into this case. SOP and OTC are the two groups of medicines sold without a prescription: AIFA, the Italian Medicines Agency, calls OTC the self-medication medicines and SOP the other medicines not subject to medical prescription, and on 23 February 2026 it published new guidelines on how they are classified.
Discounts are left, and they follow another rule. Paragraph 3 of the same Article 5 leaves every pharmacy free to discount non-prescription medicines «provided that the discount is displayed legibly and clearly to the consumer and applied to all buyers»: a discount on medicines reserved for cardholders can hardly meet the last condition. If you want to reward your regulars, do it on other products, and for doubtful cases ask your adviser or your provincial Order of Pharmacists.
| Product | Earns stamps or points? | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Prescription-only medicines | No | Decree-Law 223/2006, Art. 5(2): no prize schemes on medicines |
| Non-prescription medicines: SOP and OTC | No | Same rule; also excluded in the Club Salute 2025–2026 rules |
| Homeopathic medicines | No | Excluded in the Club Salute 2025–2026 rules, together with the other medicines |
| Products reimbursed by the national health service | No, in the practice of scheme rules | Club Salute 2025–2026 rules: excluded «when reimbursed by the SSN» |
| Cosmetics, toiletries and other products that are not medicines | Yes, unless the product has specific rules | The ban concerns medicines; check with your adviser the categories that have rules of their own |
Loyalty card in a parapharmacy: points on cosmetics, toiletries and supplements?
A parapharmacy is a retail business that sells over-the-counter medicines and other products that do not need a prescription, in a dedicated department, with one or more pharmacists enrolled in their professional register assisting the customer. Article 5(1) and (2) of Decree-Law 223/2006 provides for it, for the neighbourhood shops and the medium and large retail outlets defined by Article 4 of Legislative Decree 114/1998; before starting, the business must notify the Ministry of Health and the region.
For a loyalty card this means that a parapharmacy follows the same rules as a pharmacy: the ban on prize schemes on medicines is in the same paragraph 2 that governs the sale, so over-the-counter medicines sold in a parapharmacy earn no stamps or points, just as in a pharmacy. Stamps and points can be given on the rest of the range, that is cosmetics, toiletries and the other products that are not medicines, with the rule written on the card and applied by the person at the counter.
Food supplements are the case that raises most doubts. Under Legislative Decree 169/2004 (Article 2) they are food products meant to supplement the diet, while a medicinal product, under Legislative Decree 219/2006 (Article 1), is a substance presented as having properties for treating or preventing human disease, or used to restore, correct or modify physiological functions through a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action. The ban speaks of «medicines»: whether a product is a supplement or a medicinal product depends on its classification, not on the shelf it sits on. For a doubtful product, and for medical devices, ask your adviser or the Order of Pharmacists before giving it points.
| Product | Earns stamps or points? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Over-the-counter medicines (SOP and OTC) | No | Decree-Law 223/2006, Art. 5(2): the ban on prize schemes on medicines is in the same paragraph that governs sales in parapharmacies |
| Cosmetics and toiletries | Yes, unless a specific product has rules of its own | They are not medicines: the ban concerns medicines |
| Food supplements | Depends on the individual product | They are food products (Legislative Decree 169/2004, Art. 2), but if a product is a medicinal product the ban applies: ask when in doubt |
| Medical devices | Ask your adviser | The sources read on 7 November 2026 do not cover them, so we give no answer |
Mixed receipts: how to give stamps or points on the eligible part only
On a mixed receipt, with a medicine and a cream, points are given on the cream only: it is the simplest rule to explain at the counter and to apply to every customer in the same way. On a points card the person at the counter types the points for the amount of the eligible products only; on a stamp card they confirm the stamp only if the eligible part reaches the minimum spend written on the card.
In Iterum the rule goes in the «What a visit is worth» or «What a point is worth» field, which both staff and customers can read: it is a sentence, not an automatic check. A «Maximum points per operation» limit prevents the biggest typing mistakes, and a wrong addition can be undone at the counter within 10 minutes. The choice between the two mechanics is explained in the guide stamps vs points loyalty card.
| Example receipt | Eligible part | Stamp | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A prescription medicine only | 0 euros | No | 0 |
| An over-the-counter medicine at 8 euros and a face cream at 18 euros | 18 euros | Yes | 18 |
| A shampoo at 9 euros and a toothpaste at 4 euros | 13 euros | No, under 15 euros | 13 |
| A sunscreen at 22 euros | 22 euros | Yes | 22 |
| A product reimbursed by the SSN and a shower gel at 16 euros | 16 euros | Yes | 16 |
Which rewards to offer on a pharmacy loyalty card
The reward on a pharmacy loyalty card must also be a product or a benefit that does not involve medicines: a cosmetic or toiletry product, a voucher to spend on the same products, a free gift. The Club Salute 2025–2026 rules, for example, turn points into a discount valid only on the products that earn points and place it among the exclusions of Article 6(1)(c-bis) of Presidential Decree 430/2001: vouchers to use on a later purchase in the same shop, or in another shop under the same banner, are not treated as prize schemes.
To choose the reward and the target, the same sum applies as in any business: divide the cost of the reward by the spending needed to earn it and you get the share you give back. The reward cost calculator redoes the sum with your figures, the guide to loyalty card reward ideas suggests alternatives and the one on loyalty scheme rules in Italy explains when a scheme becomes a prize scheme.
A rewards programme and a loyalty card are the same thing seen from two sides: the rewards programme is the rule, that is what earns points, how many are needed and which reward the customer receives; the loyalty card is the tool the customer carries, here the phone. In a pharmacy the rule always contains the sentence that excludes medicines.
| Reward | Suitable? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A cosmetic or toiletry product chosen by the pharmacy | Yes | It is not a medicine |
| A voucher on a later purchase of eligible products | Yes | Presidential Decree 430/2001, Art. 6(1)(c-bis), as in the Club Salute rules |
| A box of an over-the-counter medicine | No | Legislative Decree 219/2006, Art. 115(3): no medicines distributed for promotional purposes |
| A discount on medicines for cardholders only | Best avoided | Decree-Law 223/2006, Art. 5(3): the discount on non-prescription medicines must be applied to all buyers |
| A voucher that can also be spent on medicines | Best avoided | The Club Salute rules exclude it: the discount cannot be used to buy medicines |
Managing loyalty cards in a pharmacy: who does what at the counter
Managing loyalty cards in a pharmacy comes down to a few tasks: the owner writes the rule with medicines excluded and chooses the reward, the person at the counter records stamps or points on the eligible part of the receipt only, and now and then someone checks sign-ups, visits and rewards handed out in the dashboard. The table shows who does what with Iterum.
Pharmacies that run several shifts have an advantage: each colleague uses the counter app («Al banco») with their own account and every transaction stays linked to whoever recorded it, so at the end of a shift you know who gave how many stamps or points. There is no limit on the people in the team. If points were typed wrongly, whoever recorded them or a manager can undo them from the counter within 10 minutes.
To move customers from an old plastic or paper card to the digital one, the switch happens at the counter, customer by customer: the customer signs up from the QR code and, on a stamp card, the person at the counter can carry over the stamps already collected by choosing the reason «Old paper card», up to 50 at a time and only once per card. On a points card the points are typed in, within the «Maximum points per operation» limit. Carry over only what your rule allows: if the old card also counted purchases that are not eligible, do not carry those over.
What does a customer do with the pharmacy’s points? They use them for the reward the pharmacy has chosen for its catalogue: a cosmetic or toiletry product, or a voucher to spend on the purchases that earn points. With Iterum the customer sees on the card how far they are from the target and collects the reward at the counter, where the person on duty checks the conditions and records the redemption.
| Task | Who | How it works in Iterum |
|---|---|---|
| Write the rule with medicines excluded | Owner | In the fields «What a visit is worth» or «What a point is worth»: one sentence that both staff and customers read |
| Record stamps or points | The person at the counter, once the receipt is closed | In «Al banco», scan the card’s QR code or type its code; a stamp for an eligible purchase, points typed for the eligible part only; no list of products is saved |
| Work across shifts | Each colleague | One account each: every transaction records which account made it |
| Correct a mistake | Whoever recorded it, or a manager | A wrong addition of points can be undone from the counter within 10 minutes |
| Hand over the reward | The person at the counter | Check the conditions, hand over the reward and record the redemption |
| Manage several locations | Owner | Each pharmacy or parapharmacy can be a location on the same account, with a separate cost shown on the pricing page |
| Check the numbers | Owner | The dashboard keeps count of sign-ups, visits and rewards |
Pharmacy loyalty cards and privacy: why not to record what a customer buys
In a pharmacy a receipt can say a lot about a person’s health, so the loyalty card should record as little as possible. Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, writes in its general decision on loyalty cards of 24 February 2005 that buying goods and services «may even, in certain particular circumstances, lead to the collection of sensitive data», states that data capable of revealing a person’s state of health cannot be used to profile customers and, for the detail of purchases by identifiable customers, sets a maximum of 12 months for profiling and 24 for marketing.
The case has already reached the Garante: in its annual report for 2008 the authority says it opened inquiries, including inspections, into a project by a pharmacy cooperative built on a database holding customers’ health and sex-life data, «with detailed reference to the products bought». The 2005 decision refers to the old Italian privacy code; today the GDPR applies, and it treats health data among the «special categories» of Article 9: according to the Garante’s guidance sheet, processing them is prohibited in the first place unless one of the conditions in Article 9(2) is met, such as explicit consent.
Iterum does not know what a customer buys: for each operation it records how many stamps or how many points, when, at which location and from which staff account, not the products. First name, surname, email, phone and birthday are optional and customers add them, if they wish, in the panel that opens from «Completa la carta» (complete the card), which asks for no consents. Extra rewards and offers are a separate, optional choice: the card asks «Would you like extra rewards and offers from …?» and the customer answers «Yes, I want them» or «No, thanks», with nothing pre-selected. Above 5 stamps at once the staff member picks a reason from a list; if they choose «Altro» (other) and write a note, it must not contain the name of a product. For the same reason, do not name the card or the rewards after a medical condition. The general rules are in the guide to loyalty card GDPR.
Messages to pharmacy customers: opening hours, rotas and services, not medicines
Card messages are for opening hours, duty rotas and services, not for promoting medicines, because advertising medicines to the public has rules of its own. Italy’s medicines code bans advertising prescription-only medicines to the public (Article 115, paragraph 2) and, in Article 118, states that no advertising of medicines to the public may run without the authorisation of the Ministry of Health, with a few exceptions, such as pictures of the packs on the price and discount signs of non-prescription medicines.
With Iterum the messages you write yourself are 2, 4 or 8 a month per location, depending on the plan, and they reach the card saved in Wallet only for customers who have consented: enough for a change of opening hours, a holiday rota or a new range of sunscreens. Under «Automazioni» (automations) the «Ci manchi» (we miss you) message goes out by itself to customers who have not come for 14, 30, 60, 90 or 180 days, and how many automations you can keep active depends on the plan: write it as a greeting, with no reference to treatments or therapies, which would turn it into information about the customer’s health. More ideas for bringing back people who no longer come are in the guide on how to win back lost customers.
Iterum card or the loyalty module of the pharmacy’s management software?
If your pharmacy’s management software already has a loyalty module linked to the till, it may be the most convenient choice: it recognises products from the receipt and, if the supplier provides for it, can exclude medicines automatically. Iterum does not replace it and does not read it: it does not connect to card terminals, the electronic cash register, scales or management software and it does not read the receipt, so it works next to the till and the rule on medicines is applied by the person at the counter. In return, the card keeps no detail of purchases and customers open it from the QR code without installing an app. With any loyalty platform the question is the same: who records the purchase on the card? The differences are in the guide to loyalty card POS integration.
| Aspect | Management-software loyalty module | Iterum card |
|---|---|---|
| Excluding medicines | Automatic by product code, if the supplier provides for it | Manual: the person at the counter decides, following the rule written on the card |
| Points from the receipt | Calculated by the till | Typed by staff on the eligible part |
| Detail of purchases | Depends on the supplier: if it is recorded, check the privacy rules | Not recorded: stamps and points without the products |
| Customer’s card | Depends on the supplier | In the browser and in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, no app; physical NFC cards on the Premium plan |
| Getting started | Set-up with the management-software supplier | Card prepared in the designer and a 7-day trial |
How to set up your pharmacy’s loyalty card with Iterum
With Iterum you prepare the card before paying: in the card designer you choose the look, the card type, the stamps or points and the reward, and you write the rule with medicines excluded. You print the QR code to display near the till from the dashboard; where to put it and how to print it is explained in the guide to the QR code loyalty card. The card type is chosen before you invite customers and cannot be changed once the card has members.
From a phone browser the card is created straight away; if the link opens inside another app, such as Instagram, or on a computer, a short sign-up page appears first, with no box to tick: by creating the card the customer accepts the card Terms and confirms they have read the privacy notice. Staff open the counter app on a phone, a tablet or the till computer, each with their own account; a connection is needed, because Iterum does not record stamps or points offline. If you have several pharmacies, or a parapharmacy as well, each can be a location on the same account, with a separate cost shown on the pricing page.
To activate the service there is a 7-day free trial: you pay €0 today, a payment card is required and, unless you cancel, the selected plan continues after the trial. The full journey, from sign-up to reward, is in how Iterum works.
Sources and method
Sources read on 23 October 2026, in the text in force on Normattiva: Decree-Law of 4 July 2006, no. 223, Article 5, converted by Law of 4 August 2006, no. 248; Legislative Decree of 24 April 2006, no. 219, Article 115 and Article 118; Presidential Decree of 26 October 2001, no. 430, Article 6. Also: AIFA, new guidelines on the definition and classification of OTC and SOP medicines, published on 23 February 2026; the Garante, general decision on loyalty cards of 24 February 2005, annual report for 2008, chapter on health and the guidance sheet «Doveri - Come trattare correttamente i dati»; 2025–2026 rules of the Club Salute loyalty programme, in force from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026 and cited only as an example of practice. Quotations from Italian are our own translations.
Sources read on 7 November 2026, in the text in force on Normattiva: Decree-Law of 4 July 2006, no. 223, Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2, on sales in parapharmacies; Legislative Decree of 31 March 1998, no. 114, Article 4, for neighbourhood shops and medium and large retail outlets; Legislative Decree of 24 April 2006, no. 219, Article 1, for the definition of a medicinal product; Legislative Decree of 21 May 2004, no. 169, Article 2, for the definition of a food supplement. We read no source saying how medical devices are treated in loyalty cards, which is why the table refers them to your adviser.
This guide is not legal advice: for your card’s rules, for products with rules of their own and for the pharmacy’s services, talk to your adviser or your provincial Order of Pharmacists. Receipts, amounts, rules and rewards in the tables are examples, not data collected from real pharmacies. The information on Iterum describes the product as of 7 November 2026, as shown on its public pages and in the dashboard, and does not promise more customers or more sales. Iterum is loyalty card software and has no connection with Club Salute or with the authorities cited.
Frequently asked questions
- Can over-the-counter medicines earn loyalty card points?
- No. Article 5 of Decree-Law 223/2006 bans prize schemes involving medicines, without separating prescription medicines from over-the-counter ones, and the rules of pharmacy chains also exclude SOP, OTC and homeopathic products from points. Points are given on other products.
- Can I give away a medicine as a loyalty card reward?
- No: Italy’s medicines code, in Article 115, bans the distribution of medicines to the public for promotional purposes. The reward can be a cosmetic or toiletry product, or a voucher to spend on the purchases that earn points.
- Can I offer a discount on medicines to cardholders only?
- It is best avoided. The law leaves the discount on non-prescription medicines free as long as it is clearly displayed and applied to all buyers, and a discount reserved for cardholders can hardly meet that condition. For doubtful cases ask your adviser or your provincial Order of Pharmacists.
- Does a pharmacy loyalty card have to record what customers buy?
- No, and in a pharmacy the opposite is wiser: purchases can reveal a person’s state of health, which according to the Garante cannot be used to profile customers. Iterum records stamps and points with the date, location and staff member, not the products.
- Can a parapharmacy run a points loyalty card?
- Yes, but not on medicines: Article 5 of Decree-Law 223/2006, which also governs sales in parapharmacies, bans prize schemes on medicines. Points and stamps go on cosmetics, toiletries and the other products that are not medicines; for supplements and medical devices ask your adviser or the Order of Pharmacists.
- How do you manage a pharmacy loyalty card at the counter?
- The person at the counter scans the card in the «Al banco» app once the receipt is closed and gives the stamp or types the points for the eligible part only. Iterum does not read the till and does not exclude medicines automatically; every transaction stays linked to the account that made it, and extra locations are locations of the same account.