STUDY OF ASPECTS OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF ONLINE SERVICES FOR ORDERING PHARMACY PRODUCTS

Abstract

The current level of development of pharmaceutical care allows consumers to buy pharmacy products remotely. Online services that provide this service (Internet pharmacies) have gained popularity both abroad and in Russia. In order to fully analyze the quality of their activities and identify opportunities for development, it is necessary to assess the consumers' perception of such services. The objective of the study was to assess customer satisfaction and loyalty of online pharmacy ordering services, as well as the availability of such services for different socio-demographic groups. The main method of the study was a questionnaire survey conducted among 424 residents of Moscow and the Moscow region, which allowed us to assess their expectations and real perceptions in the context of a number of aspects of using online pharmacies with the subsequent identification of factors that reduce the satisfaction of respondents. The following quality criteria were evaluated: interface usability, design aesthetics, order fulfillment aspects, availability and completeness of product information, and availability of pharmaceutical counseling. In addition, the Net Promoter Score and the Customer Effort Score were measured. According to most of the proposed quality criteria, the satisfaction of residents of Moscow and the Moscow region with online services for ordering pharmacy products is high. Negative values of quality coefficients for two items require paying attention to the aspects of order fulfillment, as well as the presence of remote pharmaceutical counseling services in online pharmacies. In addition, it was found that less than half (33.7%) of respondents trust information about medicines on the websites of pharmacy product ordering services.