Exploratory Study: Medical store at the campus

A report submitted to

Prof. Ashish Galande

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Market Research

By

Group A10

Section A

Nilay Parikh - 2111197

Srishty Chauhan - 2111287

Sunoy Garai - 2111295

Varsha Vijayanand Sirla - 2111313

Venkat Dinesh Sampenga - 2111314

On

13-02-2022
Executive Summary

The report contains the details about market research on the need to set up a medical store at
IIM U campus. The campus relies mainly on GBH, Ashoka Bakery, and online pharmacy
stores to cater to their medicinal needs. But the services provided by these stores are often not
satisfactory, especially during an emergency. The report identifies the pain points faced by
the community in procuring their medicines and their need for an additional medical store at
the campus.
We began our market research by conducting depth interviews (DI) on the various
stakeholders of the community like faculty, students, and THOR and Focus group discussions
(FGD) on a group of 6-8 students to get their insights majorly on the frequency of purchase,
difficulties faced in procuring medicines and their monthly medical expenses. Based on
insights from depth interviews (DI) and focus group discussions ( FGD), it has been found
that most of them are positive about having a medical store at the campus.
To better understand the insights from the qualitative nature of data. We designed a survey to
understand the impact of various factors on the dependent variable and spread it across the
community to gather as much as possible. To understand the cause and effect relationship,
regression analysis has been done. A total of sixteen variables have been considered for the
independent variables, and difficulty in procuring medicines is considered as the dependent
variable. Out of the sixteen variables, only the availability of required medicines at GBH and
the Expectation of GBH’s tie-up with diagnostic centers for certain basic medical tests have a
significant value.
Further factor analysis was done to classify the variables into fewer. The KMO of the factor
analysis is more than 0.5 and is significant. The factor analysis resulted in five factors.
Difficulty in procuring medicines, frequency of purchase, mode of purchase, the facility
provided by the medical store, and wait time are the labels of the five factors obtained.
For the cluster analysis, sixteen independent variables have been considered. Based on cluster
analysis, the ideal number of clusters was found to be three.

Business objective
Feasibility study of setting up a medical store inside the IIMU campus.
Research Problem
The research problem is to understand if there is an actual need for a medical store inside the
campus.

Introduction
While there is a basic dispensary available on the campus but it has been observed that they
do not provide all the necessary or required medicines if required. Since medicines are
essential in a residential campus, we went ahead to research the problem of availability of
medicines on the campus and have decided to solve the problem of ease of availability of
medicines and basic first aid accessories inside the campus. Hence, we decided to do a
market research study on the feasibility of having a medical store on the campus. 

Ethnography based insights

To find the feasibility of having a medical store on campus, we decided to do an ethnographic
study by observing the target market. The students on the campus were observed and while
having a conversation with a student on campus he vented out saying that, The GBH does not
even provide the basic medicines and first aid that would be required by the community. And
does not provide any facility for ordering the medicines in case of a need.  They do have
some basic medicines in place but have only one kind of strong dose of those medicines (for
example - only diclofenac as a painkiller and no combiflam), and if it does not suit the body
of the person, then it is very difficult to get the required medicines on time in case of
emergency or any genuine scenario. We have also observed some people asking the seller at
Ashoka bakery to get some medicines from the Udaipur city and the medicines are usually
delivered the very next day or based on the availability. Some students even buy medicines
through various E-pharmacy stores. 

Research Design
We first wanted to find out the actual pain points of consumers when it comes to accessibility
to medicinal facilities and their conscious/subconscious expectations from medical stores on
campus. We also intended to find a 24*7 operational, fully functional medical store cum
dispensary at IIM Udaipur Balicha Campus along with the psychographic consumer behavior
of Balichans (Potential Consumers).
Firstly, we started with exploratory research, which included Focus group discussions
between students of IIM Udaipur residing at campus and in-depth interviews with multiple
stakeholders, including students, faculties, and ThoR members. We used the laddering
technique to get more enhanced quality insights related to the main motivation of various
psychographic behaviors in their shopping.

Focus Group Discussion Insights 

We selected and invited eight participants to be a part of our focus group discussion. These
were students with varied backgrounds in terms of eating habits, interests, physical fitness,
and sleeping patterns. The group was asked the following six questions, post which
discussion took place on the same.

We proceeded with asking the first question –  “If given a shop space at IIM Udaipur campus,
what business or service would you like to start and why?”

The participants suggested various ideas including medical stores, bike rental services,
grocery mart which includes medicines. We concluded that:
 5 out of 8 students felt the need to open a medical store at the campus.
 Since the campus is on the outskirts of the city, the accessibility to medicines is not
good for the students with the only current option available like GBH.

The second question that we asked the students was – “How often do you need to buy
medicines?”

We determined that: 

 Two out of the eight students have been procuring medicines twice a month. They
either do it via GBH or via online platforms.
 Three students have visited the store at least once a month to procure medicines.
 One student mentioned that he keeps monthly stocks of the medicines to avoid
procuring them on a frequent basis.
 Two students mentioned that they have never needed medicines since the time they
have been on campus. 

On average, 75% of the students in the group were in need of medicines at least once a
month.
The third question that we asked the students was – “Where have you been procuring the
prescribed medicines so far and what do you do in case of any emergency?”

To this we received the following responses, where students have been procuring medicines
from: 

 GBH
 Ashoka Bakery Operator
 Online Pharmacy platforms like - Pharmeasy or 1mg

In case of emergencies, they head out to the city themselves or ask their friends who are in
the city at the time. 

The fourth question that we asked the students was about the challenges faced while
procuring medicines using the above mediums. The students mentioned about the below
challenges they have faced while procuring medicines at the campus:

 We learned that the students are not able to procure the majority of the medicines
from GBH due to the unavailaibility of the prescribed medicines. Either the medicine
is not available at all or the specific salt which suits the patient is not available. GBH
only has basic first aid medicines for cold, cough, fever etc. They take 2-3 days to
make the medicines available at the campus.
 We also learned that students have to at least wait for a day for the medicines while
asking the Ashoka Bakery operator. He also sometimes charges extra fees for getting
the medicines from the city.
 Online pharmacies take one week to one month to deliver specific medicines. This has
caused delays in the treatment of students' ailments. 

The fifth question that was asked was - “How essential is it to have a 24x7 medical
store/dispensary inside the campus?”

 On asking the student participants we could infer that students found it extremely
helpful if a medical store was set up inside the campus itself. This would expedite the
process of procuring medicines.
  Students also mentioned that the timely availability of medicines would help them
recover faster.

The last question that we asked the group of students was if a medical store was set up inside
the campus, what aspects would they look into, and what specific
medicines/services/products would they want the store to serve?

To this we received the following inputs from the student participants:

 Some students placed focus on the availability of multiple types of salts of the
medicines. 
 Almost all the students insisted on keeping all the medicines in the store that would be
found at any other chemist and not just the basic medicines.
 Students also suggested keeping products like sanitary pads, supplements, crepe
bandages, etc.
 The availability of a female salesperson at the store would be helpful
 The store should be operational 24x7 in case of emergencies. There should be a
provision of making the medicine available on the same day, at the earliest.

Depth Interview Insights - 

Stakeholder - Faculty:

Most of the faculty residing on campus live with their elderly parents and often procure the
monthly requirements of medicines. As the campus does not have a full-fledged medical
store, the faculty relies on online pharmacy stores and local vendors. Online stores are not
usually preferred due to their varied delivery times.

The services at GBH are not satisfactory as it has only the basic medicine for fever and does
not have any particular setup for ordering the medicines.

In times of urgency, there is difficulty in getting the medicine on short notice of the time, but
the local vendors had good connections with other stores and were able to arrange for the
medicines in need of time.
An ordinary medical store at the campus would not help as most of the medical needs are
satisfied by the local vendors. The medical store should be full-fledged and be able to bring
confidence in its customers to be relied upon to satisfy their monthly medicine needs. 

Stakeholder - Students:
We interviewed 4 students on campus from various batches about their experience in
purchasing basic items and medicines, they responded that it is very difficult to get some
basic medicines including general painkillers like combiflam. This response came while the
interviewee was referring to basic facilities provided by GBH- The health center on campus.

She said that they provide a strong dose of diclofenac which is not suited for her body and
that is the reason why she said that she keeps a basic kit with her. Since any medicine, even it
is generic, is not suited for some bodies and GBH only provides one kind of medicine and it
is the case with most categories of generic medicines. This response hints towards the need
for a fully functional 24*7 medical store cum dispensary with basic first aid items and
generic medicines along with nutritional supplements.
When asked for the availability of medicines in urgent cases, they said that instant
availability of medicines is not there on campus and have to procure it from city vendors and
medical stores. The mode of transportation is the biggest bottleneck for students to reach
those shops and get the medicines.

Apart from these things they said that it is difficult to get the available medicines in GBH in
the night time which creates a problem for them. One suggestion they made was to locate the
store near D2 area with the availability of knowledgeable people to guide the students in case
of emergency if the GBH person is not available.
The interviewee also mentions that the use of online medical pharmacies in the current covid
pandemic scenario would be required whereas till now they relied on city vendors for their
medicinal needs.

On the contrary, one of the students also mentioned that it would not be feasible to open a
medical store on campus as it is not required by everyone and for basic medicines, anyone
can get it from GBH - The Health Centre on the campus. When asked about the requirement
of the medicines periodically, he stated that he himself doesn’t need them on a regular basis
but is aware of the people who need them regularly but are facing issues due to the
unavailability of the medicines. When enquired about the issues they face due to the
unavailability of the medicines, he stated that they order it online and get them delivered in 3-
4 days. But, also face issues if the requirement is on an urgent basis. They usually have to
order it from GBH and they buy them from their medicine vendors in a day. Going forward
he explained that if they need them urgently then they would have to go to the city to buy
them which is quite expensive. Also he said that generic medicines are available in GBH for
common diseases like cold, fever, headache, stomach ache etc. When asked about other items
that are required in a medical store apart from medicines, he replied that basic home
requirements can be sold like air fresheners, deodorants, mosquito killers and body care
products. 

Stakeholder- THOR
When asked about what are some difficulties that the person face during his stay inside the
campus while having to purchase any personal needs or medicines, the person said he faced
several problems while buying medicines as he himself has undergone multiple surgeries
while on campus and had a lot of medicine requirements, so he had to buy it from online or
procure it through GBH. The online order used to take 3-4 days to deliver. He also mentioned
that GBH won’t be able to provide the medicines sometimes during the night if there is an
emergency need. He also mentioned that he was actually the person who made a proposal to
put a medical store on the campus, but he says that the problem lies with the demand as it is
just 600 students on campus and few faculty. Another issue was that certain niche medicines
arent available with GBH or perhaps if there is a medical store inside the campus, as there
would be very less demand. Apart from that, all other basic care medicines are available with
GBH. When asked what business or service the team or he would like to bring on to the
campus, he mentioned the team is thinking of establishing cycle rental shops inside the
campus with the rationale that students can have health benefits. He also mentions the first
step to get a shop on the campus is to raise a request to THOR and if they find it is required
and decide the rent in discussion with the admin depending on the size allotted. When asked
about his opinion about a takeaway store with some basic medicines made to stock, he said
this can be done in coordination with GBH. Also, he said that the data of basic medications
and first aid items and also some common diseases among students could be found using the
data that every student fills during the joining. 
Survey Design
After this study, we got the most influencing factors for the decisions of our target customers,
which provided us the base for the next phase of descriptive research conducted via an online
survey.
Some of the survey questions were –
 How often do you purchase medicines?
 What is your monthly expenditure on medicines?
 How do you purchase medicines on campus?
 Procuring medicines at the campus is easy.
 Does GBH/Ashoka Bakery make available your medicinal requirements on request?
 What is the average wait time for the medicines requested to be made available by
Ashoka bakery/ GBH? (In days)
 Which category of medicines do you want the medical store on the campus to make
available?

This survey was used to collect consumer data and data interpretation is made on basis of
various data analysis methods like regression analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis.
Respondent Details –
We received total of 92 responses on this survey.
 Out of these respondents 86(93.48%) were students and rest 6(6.52%) were faculty
members
 Majority of respondents (63.04%) belong to age group of 25-30 years, (29.35%)
belong to age group of 18-24 years, (2.17%) belong to age group of 31-40 years and
(5.44%) belong to age group of 40-60 years
 For medicine expenditure 44(47.83%) respondents spend 0-100 Rs on their medicinal
requirements, 31(33.70%) respondents spend 101-500 Rs, 9(9.78%) respondents
spend 501-1000 Rs and 8(8.70%) spend more than 1000 Rs monthly which show that
majority of respondents look for general medicines only basis age group and disease
frequency

Data Summary
 We found that the population was evenly distributed among the options for medicine
purchases 53.26% of respondents purchase general medicines majorly and from GBH
 store only whereas 26.09% of respondents purchase medicine from online pharmacy
stores, 16.3% of respondents purchase medicine from medicine stores in Udaipur city
and rest did not purchase medicine or do not reside on campus which did not provide
any obvious insight for recommendation of solution of this problem

 86 out of 92 respondents chose (agree/strongly agree) option on likert scale for the
question of need of medical store cum dispensary at campus because of long lead time
for delivery of medicine or difficulty of medicine procurement at the campus which
considerably gave us the good idea of pain points of campus residents especially in
case of prescription-based medicine

 Majority of respondents (71/92) selected prescription-based medicines along with

general sales list medicine to be available on medical store which shows the clear
need of fully operational 24*7 medical store with particular kind of medicines on
campus
These insights were easily visible on surface level from survey responses but in order to
come at a full proof solution for problem statement we further did data analysis (regression,
factor, cluster) to get more insights to answer the business question with ease and efficiency.

Data Analysis
Regression Analysis
We ran a regression analysis for the business question of feasibility of opening the fully
functional medical store cum dispensary in IIM Udaipur Balicha campus.
We did this initial regression analysis 2 times and both were multivariable regression
analysis.
For first analysis we considered the following variables –
 Frequency of purchase
 Mode of purchase
 Monthly expenditure on medicines
 Ease of procurement
 Availability of medicines on stores in campus
 Frequency of GBH visits
 Brand preference
 Expectation of facilities
 Price Sensitivity
 Lead time of delivery
For this regression the R square value was 53.27% which shows that we can predict the 53.27
% variation in above variables with our model and also significant F value was much less
than 0.05 for 95% confidence interval which shows that this particular regression model is
quite reliable for further analysis.
Also, we looked for missing data before the analysis via statistical summary by looking
count, mean, median highest and lowest values.
After considering total of 16 variables for the analysis we found out that only two variables
had significant impact on results in the presence of all 16 variables.
These variables were q9_2 and q9_11 which represents Availability of regularly required
medicines with GBH and Expectation of GBH’s tie up with diagnostic centers for certain
basic medical tests respectively.
Q9_2: “GBH make available most of the medicines I need.”
Q9_11: “I wish GBH had a tie-up with diagnostic lab centers to get certain basic medical
tests on the campus.”
Then we carried the regression analysis considering the following variables –
 Availability
 Lead time
 Brand
 Price
 Store timings
 Facility to get medical tests
  Availability of secondary consumer products

But the significant f-value for this model was 0.996 which showed that this model is highly
unreliable to make any conclusions.

Factor Analysis:
To run the factor analysis, initially, dependent and independent variables are to be selected
from the survey data. The independent variables include responses on the difficulty in
procuring medicines at the campus and requirements from a medical store, and the dependent
variable is the need for a medical store on campus. The KMO of all the variables is greater
than 0.5, which indicates that the analysis is valid. The factor analysis resulted in five factors.
The following are the representation of the five factors:
F1: Difficulty in procuring medicines
F2: Frequency of purchase
F3: Mode of purchase
F4: Facilities provided by the medical store
F5: Wait time
Screen Plot:
 4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Factor Matrix:

On running the regression analysis on the five factors obtained from the factor analysis and
the dependent variable, it is observed that the analysis is valid with a significance of F less
than 0.05. Only factors F1 and F2 have a significant p-value. This implies that difficulty in
procuring medicines(F1) and frequency of purchase(F2) are the most important factors
among the five, which indicate the need for having a medical store at the campus.

Cluster Analysis
Cluster analysis has been done taking one question which states “There is a high need for
medical store inside the campus” has been considered as the dependent variable.
The cluster analysis has been done to two different data sets. The first data set consists of all
the variables except the dependent variable. Whereas the second data set consists of the only
few variables which did not include people who are not on the campus and also the
demographic based variables.
Data_1 cluster analysis inference
The cluster analysis for multiple clusters from 1-4 and the error is plotted the curve showed
an elbow when the number of clusters is 3. Which indicated the optimal number of clusters is
3.

Cluster Elbow Data set_1

5600

5400

5200

5000

4800

4600

4400

4200

4000
1 2 3 4

When detailed analysis of that with 3 clusters is done:

Following interpretations can be made:
 Question 5,6,7 and Question 11_1 showed max difference between the centroids of
the 3 clusters
 Which indicated that cluster 2 represents people who think procuring medicines is
easy on the campus and cluster 3 represents that procuring medicines on campus is
difficult
 The analysis also showed that both cluster 2 and cluster 3 shows availability of
medicine is the attribute of an ideal medical store on the campus
Data 2 cluster analysis inferences
When cluster analysis is done for second set of data the inferences remained the same
although out.

Cluster Elbow Data set_2

4100

3900

3700

3500

3300

3100

2900

2700

2500
Way forward- Recommendations
Now that we have defined the problem, established the research objective, collected data, and
analyzed it. So, now we can pinpoint the pain areas that are faced by students on a daily or
non-daily basis while procuring medicines inside the IIMU campus.
After interpretation of results from factor and cluster analysis we can say that ease of
procurement frequency of purchase combined with belief of people in 2 clusters suggest that
there is need of the store on campus which makes prescription-based medicine along with
medicines of the general sales list category available and is operational 24*7 with educated
and qualified doctors. Further feasibility analysis can be done regarding the profitability
analysis for the establishment as the individual discussion with one of the THOR member
mentioned that the demand isn’t an issue but the profitability of the store is, hence further
financial analysis is required.
Appendix:
A few of the basic reference questions that have been used in questioning the interviewees
are as follows: 
Students
 Do you think we require a medical store on campus? If yes, why? If no, why not?
 How often do you need to buy medicines?
 Are they easily available with current stores on campus in case of urgency?
 If the medicines are not available on campus, then what problems do you face in
getting the medicines from medical stores in the city?
 What kind of medicines are easily available on campus? What kind of medicines are
not easily available on campus?
 What other items can be sold at the medical store?

FACULTY

 How often do you need to buy medicines?

 Are they easily available with current stores on campus in case of urgency?
 If the medicines are not available on campus, then what problems do you face in
getting the medicines from medical stores in the city?
 What kind of medicines are easily available on campus? What kind of medicines are
not easily available on campus?
 What other items can be sold at the medical store?

THOR
 How long have you been on campus? What where some of the issues you faced while
procuring medicines?
 How feasible is it to open the store in the campus?
 If we decide to open a medical store in campus, what will be the process for setting it
up? What challenges would we face (if any)?
FGD
  If given a shop space at IIM U campus, what business or service would you like to
start and why?
  How often do you need to buy medicines? 
 What are some difficulties you faced while purchasing daily needs or medical needs
inside the campus? Can you share any experiences?
  Currently, how do you procure the prescribed medicines?
 How essential is it to have a 24*7 medical store/dispensary inside the campus? 
 If the medicines are not available on campus, then what problems do you face in
getting the medicines from medical stores in the city?
 if you yourself are starting a medical store inside what aspects would you consider or
look into can you please elaborate
Survey questions:
q1 How often do you purchase medicines?
q2 What is your monthly expenditure on medicines?
q3 Are you currently residing on the campus?
q4 How do you purchase medicines on campus?
q5 Procuring medicines at the campus is easy.
Does GBH make available your medicinal
q6 requirements on request?
Does Ashoka bakery make available your medicinal
q7 requirements on request?
What is the average wait time for the medicines
requested to be made available by Ashoka bakery/
q8 GBH? (In days)
q9_1 “I Visit GBH at least once a month.”
q9_2 “GBH make available most of the medicines I need.”
q9_3 “I frequently get ill.”
q9_4 "I’m allergic to certain medicines."
q9_5 “I often procure medicines online.”
“I often find difficulties procuring medicines inside the
q9_6 campus.”
“I shall procure medicines from the medical store on
q9_7 the campus if it’s available.”
“I shall compare the prices of the medicines available
online and compare the prices of the products
available in the medical store on the campus and
q9_8 purchase from the cheapest source.”
"I would prefer a Branded store like an “Apollo
q9_9 Pharmacy” rather than a self-owned medical store."
“There is a very high need for a medical store on the
q9_10 campus.”
“I wish GBH had a tie-up with diagnostic lab centers
q9_11 to get certain basic medical tests on the campus.”
Which category of medicines do you want the
q10 medical store on the campus to make available?
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
q11_1 and 7 being most preferred) [Availability]
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
q11_2 and 7 being most preferred) [Lead time]
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
q11_3 and 7 being most preferred) [Brand]
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
q11_4 and 7 being most preferred) [Price]
 Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
and 7 being most preferred) [Availability of
Secondary consumer products (other than
q11_5 medicines)]
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
and 7 being most preferred) [Facility to get basic
q11_6 medical tests done on campus]
Please mark your order of preference for an Ideal
medical store on campus. (1 being least preferred
q11_7 and 7 being most preferred) [Store open timings]
What other products do you want the medical store
q12 to make available?
“I would like to have a 24/7 open medical store on
q13_1 campus.”
“There is no need of a 24/7 open medical store on
the campus. A store that operates during the day
q13_2 serves my need.”
q14 Age
How long have you been residing on Campus? (No.
q15 of months)
q16 Have you ever been a resident of IIMU Campus?
q17_1 Marital status
q17_2 Do you stay along with your family on the campus?
If yes, what is the size of your family? (No. of
q17_3 members)
Q1
Not required 1
Every week 2
Twice a week 3
Once a month 4
Twice a month 5

Q2
0-100 1
101-500 2
501-1000 3
1000+ 4

Q4
Didn't buy any 1
GBH (for general
medicines) 2
Online pharmacy
stores 3
Medicine stores in
the city 4
Not on campus 5
Never bought
medicines on
campus 6
I don't 7

Q8
0-2 1
3-5 2
More than 8 days 3
6-8 4

Q9, 13
Strongly disagree 1
Disagree 2
Neutral 3
Agree 4
Strongly agree 5

Q10
Prescription only medicines (POM) 1
Pharmacy medicines (P) 2
General sales list (GSL) medicines which
may be bought from any shop without a
prescription. 3
POM+P 4
POM+GSL 5
P+GSL 6
POM+P+GSL 7

Q12
Skincare product 1
First Aid items like Band Aid, spirit and
cotton 2
Personal Hygiene products 3
Multivitamin/ bodybuilding supplements 4
All of the above 5

Q14
18-24 1
25-30 2
40-60 3
31-40 4

Q15
0-5 1
6-12 2
13-18 3
19-24 4

Q3, Q16
Yes 1
No 2

Q17_1
Single 1
Married with children 2
Married without children 3

Q17_2
Yes 1
No 2
Not residing in campus 3

Q17_3
1-2 1
3-4 2
5-6 3
NA 4

Survey data: