THE CUSTOMERS LOYALTY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL RETAIL SECTOR

All market studies agree that loyalty is an extremely complex phenomenon, dependent on numerous internal and external factors, which, in turn, are influenced by other variables such as age, gender, income level, area of residence, and more. Consumers are faced with the unexpected task of choosing between multiple retailers simultaneously and forming a relatively short-term relationship with them called loyalty. The importance of retailing in the pharmaceutical sector needs to be understood from a managerial perspective, as it shares common characteristics with any commercial activity (demographic data, competitive advantage, service quality, pharmacy or pharmaceutical chain reputation), but also has specific peculiarities related to the pharmaceutical retail area, such as specific regulations regarding drug pricing policies, contracts with Health Insurance Houses, specific legislation regarding online commerce, pharmaceutical product delivery, and returns. All these variables uniquely influence the loyalty process within the pharmaceutical market. This study aims to provide a quantitative analysis based on a questionnaire of the main factors that can impact, to a greater or lesser extent, loyalty to a pharmacy. The questionnaire was completed by 387 people from both urban and rural areas. To efficiently analyze the data, internal consistency of the measurement scale for each variable was initially evaluated checking whether the Cronbach Alpha coefficient is greater or less than 0.7 for each variable, then the independent variables on gender, age, background, and income were analyzed, Subsequently, several tests were used to establish the relationship between loyalty and other variables: Pearson Chi-Square, T-test for independent samples, regression analysis, bivariate analysis, etc. The results showed that to increase pharmacy satisfaction and customers, senior management needs to focus more on improving service quality and diversification and not so much on promoting pricing strategies or pharmacy reputation. At conceptual level, the results of this research can allow building a new management model based on loyalty strategies customized according to the gender or age of customers, but also through a focus on pricing policy and aspects of differentiation, quality of service or reputation of the pharmacy.