To begin with, what are the retail challenges in this category?

Medicine trade is quite unique in nature since it deals with emergencies and with the life of patients. Therefore, proper regulation and governance are important in this business.  Earlier, pharmacy trade was not organized and used to run like POP and MOM pharmacy. No bills were given and the availability of medicines was also a problem. Today, many organized retail chains have come up in this sector like Apollo, Frank Ross, Religare, Medplus, Dhanwantary etc. who generally buy medicines directly from the manufacturers. In pharmaceutical trade you must have adequate SKU's to meet the customer's requirements. Medicine trade is such that the customer will not wait for the availability of drugs since he/she wants to take the medicines at once.

Given the above, what would it take to carve out a unique identity and also, how would you define your own USP and value additions?

The customers will come to you only if you give them genuine medicines, prompt supply, display courteous behavior, arrange for any medicine which is not easily available and get them delivered at their homes. At times we also arrange for early appointment with renowned doctors which they are unable to get easily.

Frank Ross pharmacy has become a brand and the consumers believe that they will get genuine medicines from here. They feel that the medicines which are not available in other pharmacies will be available in Frank Ross. Frank Ross pharmacies can source any medicine that is not available to them and arrange for home delivery of the same.

How much of your efforts towards capturing the shoppers happen at the store? Could you tell us about some of your in-store initiative plans such as displays, promos etc. How do you think these influence the shoppers?

Our In-store initiative plan is to have uniform furniture design for each pharmacy. Also, air conditioning is a must to provide comfort to our customers and maintain the quality of the medicines. Another factor in ensuring quality is to issue invoices for all sales. Also, for customer satisfaction, we put up signage communicating that in case they have any complaint they can directly contact the Managing Director and other senior executives of the company who will redress their grievances instantly.

Could you share with us some of your retail initiatives to reach out to the consumers?

We have introduced certain services for the convenience of the customers:-

• When any customer has any complaint he/she can directly E-mail or phone the Managing Director of the company for redressal of the grievances.

• We do not sell any medicines without bill. At times the amount of the medicine is even less than the cost and the labour put in for taking out computerized billing.
• We send monthly reminders to patients who take medicine for common ailments such as Diabetes, Heart disease, Blood Pressure etc. on regular basis.
• We are now starting a centralised department of home delivery for the convenience of the customers.
• All our stores follow a standard layout. All of them are air conditioned for the convenience of the customers as well as for better preservation of the medicines.
• We have put signage in the pharmacy stating that a customer should check the name of the medicine, expiry date etc. before leaving the pharmacy to avoid any human error.
• We have opened many 24 hours outlets for the convenience of the customers.
• We give discount to our regular customers, Privilege Card members, senior citizens, physically and mentally challenged persons and war widows.
• We provide ambulance service on call.
• We accept Credit Card for convenience of the customers.
• We organize free health check up camps on a regular basis at our pharmacies.

What are your future investment and growth plans in retail? 

In the next five years we hope to increase from 90 pharmacies to about 250 pharmacies in the existing retail format depending upon the future retail scenario of India. For Kolkata, our principle is to open a pharmacy in each locality to offer better service to customers.
Our future growth shall be mainly in eastern India i.e. West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Bihar. Our aim is to open 8-10 stores at a time and make them profitable at store level.