MSI's 53-year-old executive vice-president Ronald T Hofmeister says that his company "would do everything conceivable to market Medicine Shoppe to the people within its retail zone". And Hofmeister's approach seems to have paid off rather well both at home and abroad.

The $1.3 billion Medicine Shoppe is the largest franchisor of independent retail pharmacies in the US and Taiwan's top provider of retail prescriptions. MSI, part of the $15 billion Cardinal Health Inc group, controls a network of 1,100 outlets in the US alone and another 200 of these are spread over 11 countries worldwide. But Hofmeister has yet to lay his trump card on the table--all the additional services offered by Medicine Shoppe to the customer are totally free. (The Financial Express has beenassured that there is no fine print or rider to this!).

A typical Medicine Shoppe outlet, besides conducting routine dispensing activities, offers a gamut of services (like maintenance of patient history, facilitating patient compliance, health screening for your family, feedback to doctors etc), at no extra cost!

Says Hofmeister, "Medicine Shoppe offers a complete healthcare pharmacy delivery package. Every patient looks for quality medication, personalised service, professionalism and overall value in a pharmacy experience. And Medicine Shoppe has it all. It's essentially a partnership between the physician, pharmacist and patient, and everyone benefits".

Adds Medicine Shoppe India managing director, Viraj Gandhi, "Doctors are usually hard-pressed for time and finer details like the foods that should not be consumed when you are on antibiotics etc may be missed. That's where our pharmacist steps in. We offer total support services".

And there's more in the Medicine Shoppe service basket. SaysMedicine Shoppe India general manager, marketing and sales, N Chandrasekhar, our value card members can also participate in the unit's "well baby program", "customer referral program" and "loyal customer program", among others. And no prizes for guessing, these services are also free! Under the well baby program, expectant mothers who shop, up to a certain value, at Medicine Shoppe would get credit memos on a range of baby products for up to six months after the child's birth.

If you are still sceptical about the "free" bit, Hofmeister has an explanation. "On a broader scale, it simply means that every single element of business activity within the store has excellent efficiency levels, economies of scale etc essentially because of MSI's relationship with Melrose Trading Co, the master franchisee in India. And all those efficiencies and economies are transferable to the patient," he says.

But does the entry of big boys like Medicine Shoppe signal the end of the road for the ordinary pharmacy? Says Gandhi:"We will discuss our plans with the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). We are not against them but part of them. The existing small chemist is welcome to convert to the Medicine Shoppe system."

However, the the Medicine Shoppe brand name does not come free to an aspiring franchisee. Says Hofmeister, "Every franchise business includes components like an origination fee, an ongoing licence fee/royalty. But these are more than offset by the efficiencies that the system brings to the business owner. In the US, Medicine Shoppe gives 6, 7 or 8 per cent value for the 2, 4, 5 per cent licence fee charged". The American giant hopes to set up around five corporate stores within the first year and going up to 1,000 within the next 10 years.