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What workedLazz Pharma Limited, a model pharmacy chain in Bangladesh

Pharmacy boom in the pandemic: 69 model pharmacies and over 30 franchise stores in two years

Pharmacy business grew fast in Bangladesh during Covid; Lazz Pharma then ran 69 model pharmacies nationwide and opened more than 30 franchise stores in two years. But as shops multiplied, sales at some neighbourhood pharmacies later fell.

A 2022 Prothom Alo report said pharmacy business boomed in Bangladesh during the coronavirus pandemic. Lazz Pharma Limited was then running 69 model pharmacies in different corners of the country, which the report called the largest retail chain in the country's pharmacy business. Over the previous two years the firm opened more than 30 franchise stores across the country. In the words of its founder and CEO Mohammad Lutfar Rahman, pharmacy business boomed amid coronavirus and their business expanded too. The report says the journey of the model pharmacy in the country started with them, and many corporate firms followed and invested in pharmacies. Pran-RFL Group, for example, opened a separate pharmacy corner in five of its Best Buy showrooms and planned to open around 50 Best Buy pharmacies in Dhaka. By official count, authorised pharmacies rose by 21,960, from 133,629 in 2018-19 to 155,589 in 2019-20; there were 739 model pharmacies, half of them in Dhaka. On top of these, there are about another 100,000 unlicensed pharmacies. The boom has another side: a pharmacy owner at Dhaka's Tannery intersection said that during Covid sales sometimes reached Tk 100,000 a day, but with more pharmacies opening in the area, sales are now low. Meanwhile a trader in New Eskaton shut his loss-making sweet shop and opened a pharmacy instead.

Lessons

  1. 1.When pharmacy demand rises, new shops multiply fast; don't plan on boom-time sales, check how many shops are already in the area.
  2. 2.Taking a franchise from a known model-pharmacy chain is another route into the business; this chain opened more than 30 franchise stores in two years.
  3. 3.Large corporate firms are entering the business too; a small shop needs its licence in order and must stand out on quality to hold its ground.

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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