During the Covid crisis in 2020, pharmacies were a crucial service. People were scared and were rushing to the shops for medicines. This project started with visits to such pharmacies. People interacting were observed to understand the relationship between the consumer and the retailer. A typical retail business has consumers from all sorts of backgrounds, classes, and regions. So, It demanded a wide study with different tools of research. Various methods for understanding the consumers were employed, including long interviews, shadowing (Observations), guerilla testing (task analysis), and Surveys. All of these gave insights into consumer needs and behaviour regarding pharmaceutical shopping. It was identified that people were already exploring new ways to shop from retail stores and the Covid pandemic proved to be a really good motivation for that. A small study on people using messaging apps like Whatsapp for buying from nearby shopkeepers was done. We tried to analyse how they are communicating and identified the patterns in their dialogues.
It was noticed that to compete with the tech companies, shopkeepers will need to use technology to their benefit. With advanced tools like Ai and ML, they can provide their customers with a personalized experience, while using data for managing the inventory better. The platform serves all the possible scenarios like buying medicines without prescription and buying other essentials such as cosmetics. Data is used for helping users take medicines on time, and manage their medical history while also helping shopkeepers manage inventories, advertise relatable products and upsell to the customers.
Ecommerce, Medicine, Pharmacy, Retail, UIUX Design
