As more and more chain drugstores and online pharmacies keep popping up, it presents a swarm of options for customers. While online pharmacies and chain drugstores do attract people, local pharmacies are strategically located next to the physician and are stocked with the best medicines relevant to the area. They also provide personalized services, cheaper products, and swift delivery options. Let’s look at the top benefits of using a local pharmacy.
Top 5 Benefits of Using a Local Pharmacy
Best for receiving quick advice
The local pharmacist recognizes you well. A trip to your local pharmacy once or twice is enough for a local pharmacist to treat you as a loyal customer. For this reason, a local pharmacist acts like a general physician and can grant quick advice on everyday health issues.
From headaches, cough, indigestion, and fluctuations in blood pressure to basic worries, a local pharmacist can provide OTC medicines with extra concern and support. Though the advice is not equivalent to a certified doctor, a pharmacist helps ease your worries at the most crucial moment. Furthermore, local pharmacies know the competition they face from big chain pharmacies. Therefore, they focus on building better relationships with local customers, providing same-day doorstep delivery and other extra services to satisfy their local customers.
Less rush, personalized approach
Trust your local pharmacy to get one-on-one attention. You don’t have to wait to get your medications at local pharmacies. Even if you are in a rush, you can just get your medication and consider paying your dues later. The local pharmacist can also spare some time in providing the basic knowledge related to the medication. This could be about the right dosage, how and when to take the medication, and clearing other doubts.
Customer Reports 2018 quotes, “By contrast, only 14 percent of people said pharmacists at chain drugstores knew them by name.”
This explains how customers get more personalized attention at local pharmacies. The doorstep delivery is comparatively smoother as well.
Stocked well
Contrary to popular belief, local pharmacies are well-stocked with all medications. Local pharmacists are more versed in local needs as compared to chain pharmacies. This ensures they keep medications that are in demand well stocked. Moreover, local pharmacies stock their products independently and have a more streamlined process. They can also provide medications currently not in stock within the same day or other. According to a Consumer Reports survey, “21 percent reported that a drug they needed was out of stock in the past year” at chain pharmacies. This data explains it all.
With a personalized approach, the local pharmacist informs you when the specific medicines are back in stock.
Provide instant discounts
While chain pharmacists do not have the right to provide instant discounts, local pharmacists provide this benefit. Ask your local pharmacist to give at least a 10% discount on medicines; more often than not, they won’t deny it. You cannot do the same with chain pharmacists as they do not have the authority to provide such discounts at their discretion.
This makes medicines and products bought from chain pharmacists more expensive than local ones. In the same context, a survey from Customer Reports 2018 says, “Independent pharmacies earned high scores on such measures as courtesy, helpfulness, and speed of checkout and filling prescriptions, as well as pharmacists’ knowledge and accuracy. At the bottom, large national chain pharmacies”.
Get refills instantly
Do you prefer mail orders, or do you go to the store physically to buy the medicines? While a few people prefer online pharmacies, most choose to approach local pharmacies for instant refills, especially urgent ones. You end up waiting for a few days for mail orders to arrive and feeling skeptical about their authenticity.
Moreover, few users prefer paying a delivery charge for small refills below a minimum amount. “Only 3 percent of customers at independent pharmacies reported that they waited a long time at the pharmacy counter to be helped; 18 percent said the same of pharmacy chains.”, reports the Consumer Report survey.
Conclusion
Customers have become more conscious about shifting to local sellers for their needs instead of going to big chains. The same goes for local pharmacies as well. While relying on local businesses circulates the money within the community, it also provides more value to the customer.
