Independent pharmacies have more credibility offering advice and information services than large chains and supermarket pharmacies. They are seen as trusted healthcare providers, according to customer research from Reckitt Benckiser.

Customer service was the key driver of pharmacy choice among users of independents, who were more likely to place value on staff, prescription services and relationships. Frequent users strongly associated independents with medical expertise, locality, personal service and easy access to trusted advice.

Multiple pharmacy shoppers, on the other hand, were influenced more by the look and feel of the store, with convenience and price the key drivers in supermarket pharmacies in particular. However it was felt that staff lacked knowledge and experience.

Independents were seen to offer the least retail expertise and the quality of the retail proposition “varied hugely” from pharmacy to pharmacy. As a result of those pharmacies with ‘bad’ retail propositions, independent pharmacies as a whole suffer from an image problem, the research found.

The pharmacist was considered a key element in an independent pharmacy’s service offering. Pharmacy assistants were recognised for their product knowledge but less so for their health and wellbeing expertise.

Three areas were identified with the potential to grow independents’ business:

• Introduce/promote services currently offered by GPs. Raise awareness of supplementary and emergency prescription services
• Get closer to customers. Demonstrate professionalism combined with friendly service 
• Improve the retail proposition with a relevant product range for the local community and a clean, uncluttered store.

The research was discussed at last month’s IPF spring conference in Hatfield. Chairman Fin McCaul, pictured above, told delegates to look at their pharmacies through the eyes of their patients. “Get your friends, husbands and wives to come into the pharmacy and look at it from the patient perspective. Make it the right environment so that patients want to come back.”

Research bites

Customer perceptions of the multiples:

• “Greedy, faceless organisations”
• “Lacking in privacy”
• “Greater focus on personal care”

Customer perceptions of independents:

• “The first thing I noticed was the smell”
• “Loads of random stuff in the window – it just looks messy”
• “It’s a shop you have to go to, rather than want to go to”