Blooms The Chemist has won Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customer award for pharmacies in 2015, scoring a five-star rating for overall satisfaction, service, range of health products, pharmacists availability and advice provided.
The customer rating service, surveyed 2,422 Australians who have made a purchase at a pharmacy in the past 6 months.
Chemmart, Guardian, Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse, Discount Drug Stores and Amcal all did well, scoring four stars for overall satisfaction. Chemist Warehouse, My Chemist, Priceline, Soul Pattinson and Terry White, all scored three stars.
“A lot of factors come into play when you visit your local pharmacy and if any of them are lacking, customers are going to be disappointed,” said head of Canstar Blue, Megan Doyle. “Striking the perfect balance between quality products, great service and advice, and pharmacist availability, is the challenge facing the big pharmacy chains.
“Our results show that some are getting the balance right, while others are succeeding in certain areas but not others. But overall, consumers are most satisfied with what they get from Blooms,” she said.
The survey, of adults who have made a purchase from a bricks and mortar pharmacy in the last six months, found customer service to be a greater driver of satisfaction than value for money.
“Once they enter a pharmacy, most people look for good customer service and advice,” said Doyle. “The price of the products they buy becomes less important, which might also help to explain why so many favour big name brands, even when they believe they include the same ingredients as cheaper versions.”
Almost all respondents (94 per cent) trust the advice given by instore pharmacists and 81 per cent would rather buy pharmaceutical products from a pharmacy than a supermarket, the survey found. Three-quarters would like pharmacists to have more authority to issue repeat prescriptions.