Perception of Community Pharmacy Owners Regarding Online and Chain Pharmacy Services

Abstract

Background: Community pharmacies, also known as retail pharmacies, is the last point of contact for patients to get access to their medications. Retail pharmacies are an integral component of India’s health care ecosystem and are thriving now. The Community pharmacies are considered a “Chain community pharmacies” if the organization consists of four or more stores in which an individual consumer may have a prescription order filled. Online pharmacies are an internet-based vendor and includes both legitimate and illegitimate pharmacies. It is a business model that deals with the preparation and sale of prescription and non- prescription medicines as in the traditional pharmacies. Methodology: This was a prospective questionnaire-based study in which 250 Community pharmacy owners were enrolled. The survey instrument was a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Result: Out of 250 surveyed Community pharmacy owners, 96% reported serving less than 100 customers daily. Most pharmacies offer discounts and home delivery. 99% were aware of both chain and online pharmacies, with high familiarity with Apollo (98.4%), MedPlus (98.4%), and Aster (87.2%). 87.2% reported 25-50% sales reduction due to the rise of chain pharmacies. 68% are willing to provide online pharmacy services and 98% believe chain and online pharmacies will disrupt working of independent pharmacies. 83.6% reported that delivery impacting potency of medicines were the drawbacks of online pharmacies to the public. Conclusion: Our study highlights the need for standardized approach to improve quality of services in independent pharmacies as well as to enforce stricter regulatory framework for online and chain pharmacies to improve customers confidence and to alleviate from the concerns raised about online and chain pharmacies. Independent pharmacies can provide value added services such as patient counselling, screening of blood pressure/diabetes etc to attract the customers. Aim: To understand the perception of owners of independent pharmacies regarding online and chain pharmacy services.