Measurement of Pharmacy Retail Service Quality-An Indian Experiment

Abstract

Service quality is considered as an important determinant of consumer satisfaction. Very little research has been carried out on service quality perception in India. Retail sector is witnessing dramatic changes in India and also, as expected, in pharmacy retail. Given the relatively mature markets where the service quality scales have been developed, it seems unlikely that these measures would be applicable in the Indian context without adaptation. The study is conducted in two phases. In first phase, exploratory research is carried out in order to generate ideas and understand the current practices in pharmaceutical retailing and purchase of medicine by customers. The second phase is descriptive in nature; in this stage of research, a tool to measure service quality expectation in retail pharmacy context is developed. The major the contribution of this study is adapted pharmacy retail service quality scale in Indian context. Results indicate that the prime requisite or expectation of a medicine shopper is availability of all medicines at one outlet. In addition to availability of medicines, knowledge of the staff, neat and clean appearance of the stores and proper explanation of dosage by pharmacist are the major expectations.