What the announcement actually says
Hanshow published its release on 24 September 2025, datelined Paris; the Business Wire version appeared a day earlier. In summary:
- Glintt Life is the healthcare brand of Glintt Global. Through Pulso and Consoft, the companies that develop Nixfarma and Farmatic, it connects more than 12,000 pharmacies in Spain with prescription, logistics and service platforms.
- Hanshow presents itself as a provider of an ecosystem of electronic shelf labels, in-store media and checkout solutions, and wants to bring it to Spanish pharmacies.
- Luis Esgueva, a Glintt Global executive who runs Glintt Life's pharmacy business in Spain, said the partnership makes it possible to bring smart retail tools to Spanish pharmacies. Liangyan Li, Hanshow's senior vice president, spoke of continuing to build that ecosystem with partners such as Glintt Life in Europe.
And what it does not contain: commercial terms, timeline, rollout targets, prices, or a single pharmacy running labels thanks to this deal. Any claim about how many pharmacies use it or what it costs does not come from this source.
Why it matters that the partner is a software vendor
In a pharmacy, the price lives in the management software. The till reads it from there, and electronic shelf labels are only worth having if they read from the same place. Otherwise you reproduce the oldest problem with new technology: the shelf price differing from the till price, which we cover in why the price goes wrong at the till.
A deal between a manufacturer and a software vendor aims at exactly that weak spot: the link between software and labels being built in advance rather than a custom project. It is a possible advantage, not yet shown in public. Three things the headline blurs are worth separating:
| Question | What we know |
|---|---|
| Does the partnership exist? | Yes, announced by both sides in September 2025 |
| Is there a production integration with Farmatic and Nixfarma? | The announcement does not claim it; ask, and ask to see it running |
| Is it cheaper or better for your pharmacy? | No public data allows anyone to say |
What does not change for you
Spain had 22,273 community pharmacies in 2025, according to the Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos (the national pharmacists' council), and the announcement cites more than 12,000 connected to Glintt Life. That leaves many pharmacies outside this ecosystem, running other software, and those inside it remain free to choose.
- There is no obligation. Your software vendor having a label partner does not stop you choosing another. What you should demand from whoever you pick is integration with your software, in writing.
- The rules are the same. Labels of any brand must show the correct price and, during sales, the prior price required by law. We summarise this in the pricing rules guide; it does not depend on the manufacturer.
- The base technology is comparable. An e-paper label with a radio and a battery is what it is in any brand. If you want to understand how it works before comparing, see the etiquetaselectronicas.io guide, a general reference also published by Keonex.
What could be good news
Whenever a big player enters a niche, the niche professionalises. For the independent pharmacy, three reasonable effects can be expected, none of them guaranteed:
- More public information on integrations, which is scarce today.
- More pressure on suppliers to explain how they connect labels and software.
- More people in the sector talking about shelf pricing, which helps a pharmacy still deciding whether to go digital.
How to evaluate any label proposal, partnership or not
If an offer from any manufacturer or installer lands on your desk, these questions separate a solid one from a vague one:
- Which systems does it integrate with, and how? Direct connection, intermediate file and manual entry are very different things. Ask to see it working with your version of the software.
- Who fixes a mismatch between till and shelf? If two companies are involved (manufacturer and integrator), who answers.
- What does it really cost? Labels, gateways, installation, software licence and support. Compare the multi-year total, not the monthly fee for a box of labels.
- What happens if you change software? An integration tied to one system ties you to that system.
- Which sizes and uses does it cover? Parapharmacy shelves and fridges do not have the same requirements.
The electronic shelf label guide for pharmacies goes into more detail and has a full section on connecting labels to the management software.
Our position
FarmaConnect is a Keonex solution that sells electronic shelf labels to pharmacies, so we have a stake in this market and should say so plainly. We will not judge the partnership by who signed it, nor claim our offer is better without evidence. What is useful to you is the criteria: ask for proven integration with your software, a comparable total price and a single party responsible when something fails. If an offer meets that, it does not matter who signs it. To see which systems FarmaConnect supports today, check the integrations page.
Sources
- Hanshow. Press release on the partnership with Glintt Life (24-09-2025)
- Business Wire. Hanshow Strengthens Global Ecosystem by Partnering with Glintt Life and shopreme (23-09-2025)
- Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos (Spain). Statistics on registered pharmacists and community pharmacies 2025 (in Spanish)
