You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, and all the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K before you decide to invest in our common stock. Any of the following risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or operating results and could result in a loss of your investment.
We may inadvertently fail to comply with various state regulations covering the dispensing of prescription pet medications which may subject us to reprimands, sanctions, probations, fines, suspensions, or the loss of one or more of our pharmacy licenses.
The sale and delivery of prescription pet medications is generally governed by state laws and state regulations. Since our pharmacy is located in the State of Florida, the Company is governed by the laws and regulations of the State of Florida. Each prescription pet medication sale we make is likely also to be covered by the laws of the state where the customer is located. The laws and regulations relating to the sale and delivery of prescription pet medications vary from state to state, but generally require that prescription pet medications be dispensed with the authorization from a prescribing veterinarian. To the extent that we are unable to maintain our license as a community pharmacy with the Florida Board of Pharmacy, or if we do not maintain the licenses granted by other state boards, or if we become subject to actions by the FDA, or other enforcement regulators, our distribution of prescription medications to pet owners could cease, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations.
The Company is a party to routine litigation and administrative complaints incidental to its business. Management does not believe that the resolution of any or all of such routine litigation and administrative complaints is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations. While we make every effort to fully comply with all applicable state rules, laws, and regulations, from time to time we have been the subject of administrative complaints regarding the authorization of prescriptions prior to shipment. We cannot assure you that we will not continue to be the subject of administrative complaints in the future. We cannot guarantee you that we will not be subject to reprimands, sanctions, probations, or fines, or that one or more of our pharmacy licenses will not be suspended or revoked. If we were unable to maintain our license as a community pharmacy in the State of Florida, or if we are not granted licensure in a state that begins to require licensure, or if one or more of the licenses granted by other state boards should be suspended or revoked, our ability to continue to sell prescription medications and to continue our business as it is presently conducted could be in jeopardy.
We currently purchase a portion of our prescription and non-prescription medications from third party distributors and we are not an authorized distributor of these products. We do not have any guaranteed supply of medications at any pre-established prices.
The majority of our sales were attributable to sales of prescription and non-prescription medications. Historically, substantially all the major pharmaceutical manufacturers have declined to sell prescription and non-prescription pet medications directly to us. In order to assure a supply of these products, we purchase medications from various secondary sources, including a variety of domestic distributors. Our business strategy includes seeking to establish direct purchasing arrangements with major pet pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. If we are not successful in achieving this goal, we will continue to rely upon secondary sources.
We cannot guarantee that if we continue to purchase prescription and non-prescription pet medications from secondary sources that we will be able to purchase an adequate supply to meet our customers’ demands, or that we will be able to purchase these products at competitive prices. As these products represent a significant portion of our sales, our failure to fill customer orders for these products could adversely impact our sales. If we are forced to pay higher prices for these products to ensure an adequate supply, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to pass along to our customers any increases in the prices we pay for these medications. This inability to pass along increased prices could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
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Our failure to properly manage our inventory may result in excessive inventory carrying costs, or inadequate supply of products, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our current product line contains approximately 1200 SKUs. A significant portion of our sales is attributable to products representing approximately 90 SKUs, including the most popular flea and tick, and heartworm preventative brands. We need to properly manage our inventory to provide an adequate supply of these products and avoid excessive inventory of the products representing the balance of the SKUs. We generally place orders for products with our suppliers based upon our internal estimates of the amounts of inventory we will need to fill future orders. These estimates may be significantly different from the actual orders we receive.
In the event that subsequent orders fall short of original estimates, we may be left with excess inventory. Significant excess inventory could result in price discounts and increased inventory carrying costs. Similarly, if we fail to have an adequate supply of some SKUs, we may lose sales opportunities. We cannot guarantee that we will maintain appropriate inventory levels. Any failure on our part to maintain appropriate inventory levels may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Resistance from veterinarians to authorize prescriptions, or attempts/efforts on their part to discourage pet owners to purchase from internet mail-order pharmacies could cause our sales to decrease and could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Since we began our operations some veterinarians have resisted providing our customers with a copy of their pet’s prescription or authorizing the prescription to our pharmacy staff, thereby effectively preventing us from filling such prescriptions under state law. We have also been informed by customers and consumers that veterinarians have tried to discourage pet owners from purchasing from internet mail-order pharmacies. Sales of prescription medications represented approximately 40% of our sales for the fiscal year. Although veterinarians in some states are required by law to provide a pet owner with a prescription if medically appropriate, if the number of veterinarians who refuse to authorize prescriptions should increase, or if veterinarians are successful in discouraging pet owners from purchasing from internet mail-order pharmacies, our sales could decrease and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Significant portions of our sales are made to residents of eight states. If we should lose our pharmacy license in one or more of these states, our financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
While we ship pet medications to customers in all 50 states, approximately 50% of our sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 were made to customers located in the states of California, Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey. If for any reason our license to operate a pharmacy in one or more of those states should be suspended or revoked, or if it is not granted or renewed, our ability to sell prescription medications to residents of those states would cease and our financial condition and results of operations in future periods would be materially adversely affected.
We face significant competition from veterinarians and online and traditional retailers and may not be able to compete profitably with them.
We compete directly and indirectly with veterinarians for the sale of pet medications and other health products. Veterinarians hold a competitive advantage over us because many pet owners may find it more convenient or preferable to purchase these products directly from their veterinarians at the time of an office visit. We also compete directly and indirectly with both online and traditional retailers. Both online and traditional retailers may hold a competitive advantage over us because of longer operating histories, established brand names, greater resources, and/or an established customer base. Online retailers may have a competitive advantage over us because of established affiliate relationships to drive traffic to their website. Traditional retailers may hold a competitive advantage over us because pet owners may prefer to purchase these products from a store instead of online or through catalog or telephone methods. In order to effectively compete in the future, we may be required to offer promotions and other incentives, which may result in lower operating margins and adversely affect the results of operations.
We also face a significant challenge from our competitors forming alliances with each other, such as those between online and traditional retailers. These relationships may enable both their retail and online stores to negotiate better pricing and better terms from suppliers by aggregating the demand for products and negotiating volume discounts, which could be a competitive disadvantage to us.
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The content of our website could expose us to various kinds of liability, which, if prosecuted successfully, could negatively impact our business.
Because we post product and pet health information and other content on our website, we face potential liability for negligence, copyright infringement, patent infringement, trademark infringement, defamation, and/or other claims based on the nature and content of the materials we post. Various claims have been brought, and sometimes successfully prosecuted, against Internet content distributors. We could be exposed to liability with respect to the unauthorized duplication of content or unauthorized use of other parties’ proprietary technology. Although we maintain general liability insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims of this type, or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed. Any imposition of liability that is not covered by insurance, or is in excess of insurance coverage, could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights, and/or we may be found to infringe on the proprietary rights of others.
We rely on a combination of trademarks, trade secrets, copyright laws, and contractual restrictions to protect our intellectual property rights. These afford only limited protection. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy our non-prescription private label generic equivalents, when and if developed, as well as aspects of our sales formats, or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary, including the technology used to operate our website and our content, and our trademarks. Litigation or proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office or other bodies may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets and domain names, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Any litigation or adverse proceeding could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, and could seriously harm our business and operating results. Third parties may also claim infringement by us with respect to past, current, or future technologies. We expect that participants in our market will be increasingly involved in infringement claims as the number of services and competitors in our industry segment grows. Any claim, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause service upgrade delays, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. These royalty or licensing agreements might not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all.
If we are unable to protect our Internet addresses or to prevent others from using Internet addresses that are confusingly similar, our business may be adversely impacted.
Our Internet addresses, www.1800petmeds.com, www.1888petmeds.com, www.petmedexpress.com, www.petmed.com, and www.petmeds.com are critical to our brand recognition and our overall success. If we are unable to protect these Internet addresses, our competitors could capitalize on our brand recognition. There may be similar Internet addresses used by competitors. Governmental agencies and their designees generally regulate the acquisition and maintenance of Internet addresses. The regulation of Internet addresses in the United States and in foreign countries has changed, and may undergo further change in the near future. Furthermore, the relationship between regulations governing Internet addresses and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear. Therefore, we may not be able to protect our own Internet addresses, or prevent third parties from acquiring Internet addresses that are confusingly similar to, infringe upon, or otherwise decrease the value of our Internet addresses.
Since all of our operations are housed in a single location, we are more susceptible to business interruption in the event of damage to or disruptions in our facility.