Analysis of Competitive forces on the Performance of Indian Retail Pharmacy: with Special Reference to Online Pharmacy as a New Entrant

Abstract

India is moving on to be the world’s third largest destination for Retail. No sector is now being aloof and are sharing its presence on online platform to reach the customer at their door step. E-Commerce and online purchasing have intruded its roots at all levels. In the present era of digital India and presence of more than 60 percent of population on digital platforms has now motivated customers to purchase everything online and medicines are no longer away from this business model. The retail pharmacy is anticipated to expand at a 12.02% annual rate in the future years. On the basis of their operations entire sector has been classified into three categories mainly organized, unorganized and online retail pharmacy. The main objective of the study is to identify the factors affecting the performance of Indian Retail pharmacy and the factors affecting online pharmacy. An assessment of Indian’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours towards internet pharmacies is done in a country where traditional drugstores monopolize the marketplace in a number of distinct sectors. The study aims to explain the existing factors, find out new factors motivating the customer for adoption, frequency of usage and likeliness of the consumers to go online and purchase the medicines. Data collected from around 300 respondents is used to analyse the buying behaviour. Emerging technology, change in stakeholder’s relationship pattern, level of information, popularity of alternate medications among the patients, increasing retail counters are considered as the forces impacting. The statistical analysis in the study gives an insight about the most dominating factors that need to be addressed for the study. Results have identified the most dominating factors required through factor analysis.