Abhishek Pareek (FT13198)

A Pharmacy With a Difference

The usual image that everyone has about a pharmacy is a very stereotyped one, and I was no different. I always felt that a Chemist shop being related to a category of products that people buy only when they have to, so there is nothing much that needs to be done to attract customers. Customers will come when they have to, but my perception was completely changed because of an untimely visit that we had to pay to Apollo Pharmacy.

It was 11:30 in the night. I was in Chennai, a city completely unknown to me and my friends whom I was paying a visit. My feet was bleeding profoundly, reason being I couldn’t differentiate between a broken beer bottle and a Pepsi can which I was kicking while walking. I don’t completely blame the 10 pegs of scotch which I had, I feel it was a little dark on the roadJ. My friends being the epitome of coolness which they are could never come to terms with the logic behind keeping a first aid kit at home. Fortunately for them they knew a chemist living nearby and could arrange for some bandage and Betadine.    Fortunately for them because as far as I was concerned, I had better things to worry about like my girlfriend who left me only 11years ago when I was in 9^th.

Around 12 hours and 2 aspirin later, me and my friends went to thank the Pharmacy owner for his kind gesture, even after being challenged by me for a thumb fight, the last night. The shop he owned was a franchisee of Apollo Pharmacy, The third which the owner ‘Mr Badri’ had. The shop was not like any other pharmacy which I have seen back home in Rajasthan. It was a large shop pretty much qualifying to be called a miniature foodworld with respect to the variety and also the arrangement of stuff. The whole shop was nicely temperature controlled and the difference between the outside temperature and the shop temperature was very comforting. The whole place was extremely clean and tidy and well kept. All the products were neatly stacked in different counters, with similar commodities kept together on the shelves.  The ambience instantly struck a chord of respect and trust.

There were different sections for different products and the whole product range was nicely distributed all around in the shop, utilising the space to the maximum at the same time not cluttering the shop too much. The shop was managed by Mr Badri and three of his helpers. Most of the products could directly be picked up by the customers, apart from the drugs which needed a doctor’s prescription for which the helper were very prompt to help. It was a general rule followed by Mr Badri that no medicine should be given without a doctor’s prescription, no matter how well know the customer be.

One of the sections which attracted my attention was Herbal juice section which offered Amla and Aloe Vera juice. Mr Badri told us that these juices were non-prescription item and were taken by customers especially due to their medicinal properties related to ageing. He told us that this was the reason behind keeping them separately in middle of the shop, so that the customers become curious about them and ask about their benefits.

There was a separate shelf for cosmetics and stuff like Glucon-D. Mr Badri told us that usually for these products the customer like to compare different brands and then decides upon the purchase, hence he kept them separately.

There was a complete shelf reserved for baby products consisting of diapers, baby food and baby cosmetics. Mr Badri told us that the demand for baby products have been rising in last few years and hence they have created a separate section for the same. He told us that probably this is the section where the brand loyal behaviour of customer is most visible and the shopping parents are very particular about the products that they choose for their children.

Urged by my childlike curiosity that I am famous for, I couldn’t resist asking Mr Badri If the things that he was selling were costlier as compared to other not so Elite shops and to my surprise the reply was that in fact the products sold in Apollo Pharmacy are sold at a discount of 5%, to add on top of it is a Apollo membership card which fetches a huge discount in all Apollo hospitals. Apollo usually target on larger sales to increase their profits instead of charging the customers high and all the ease provided comes very handy in increasing the sales. The extra services like phone order and home delivery are very much appreciated by the customers.

After thanking Mr Badri for the help which he provided last night and also for the valuable insight which he shared regarding his business we were ready to depart but he let us step out only after a cup of hot tea and a round of thumb fight which unbelievably he won, I wonder if he chemist was on drugs J.