"We are the friendly neighborhood drugstore that cares. Our pharmacist knows what the regular medicines of PharmaShoppe members are. The pharmacist will remind the customer of any medicines he may have forgotten or check if his stocks at home are already running low," said Randolf Clarito, president of Synchrony International, which owns and operates the PharmaShoppe franchise.
The Philippines has a P66-billion pharmaceutical industry. An estimated 13,000 drugstores operate all over the country, of which 11% are branches of both small and big chains.
For example, PharmaShoppe has a bigger minimum space requirement than the 15 square meters set by the Bureau of Food and Drugs. "We want the façade, especially the store counter, to look big, so customers will feel welcome. This is why we recommend a minimum 20 to 30 sqm. space to allow for enough shelves and at least three meters of frontage," said Lazo.
"We can customize the package. We can go higher if the franchisee is more aggressive and wants more stocks. We can go lower, depending on the size of the site. We want to reach as many cities in the greater Manila area and Luzon in the next few years," said Lazo.
A two-shift, 16-hour store requires three to four staff, including a licensed pharmacist. Of the current 16 outlets, two are open 24 hours a day . "We help our franchisees evaluate the risk, the security of the staff and customer traffic so they can decide what kind of operation they want," Clarito said
Common among franchise applicants are retirees, entrepreneurs, doctors and pharmacists who have time to devote to the business. The chain bills 2% of gross sales for royalty.
PharmaShoppes newest branch is owned by the San Dionisio Credit Cooperative in Paranaque. The cooperative has 8,000 members who automatically become PharmaShoppe members and benefit from the franchises regular medical and outreach activities.
"We are committed to personalized and professional pharmaceutical care. And we have a system that ensures our concepts are implemented at the store level so the entire community will benefit," said Lazo.