1|Business Research2020-2021

“SWOT ANALYSIS OF MERCURY DRUGSTORE IN BALIUAG, BULACAN BRANCH”

A study presented to the Faculty of BSBA Department

ST. NICOLAS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the

Degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Major in Marketing

By:
Rovelyn De Luna
Renz Ariane C. Sicat
Laarni S. Gotiangco
Jayza Mae C. Deguit
Jazmine Dee N. Abril
Krisel Ibanez
Franchezka Mae S. Manalo
Rocky Miranda
Jomar dela Cruz

1|BSBA MARKETING
2|Business Research2020-2021

ABSTRACT OF THE STUDY

Title: “SWOT ANALYSIS OF MERCURY DRUGSTORE IN BALIUAG,

BULACAN BRANCH”

Researchers: Rovelyn De Luna

Renz Ariane C. Sicat
Laarni S. Gotiangco
Jayza Mae C. Deguit
Jazmine Dee N. Abril
Krisel Ibanez
Franchezka Mae S. Manalo
Rocky Miranda
Jomar dela Cruz

Course: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Major in Marketing

Institution: St. Nicolas College of Business and Technology

Adviser: Mr. John Carlo C. Dames

The Problem:

2|BSBA MARKETING
3|Business Research2020-2021

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

3|BSBA MARKETING
4|Business Research2020-2021

INTRODUCTION

The pharmacy profession had evolved through the years under three
distinct eras: the agricultural era (beginning to late 19th century), the
industrial era (from late 19th century to early 20th century),
informational era (early 20th century to the present).

In the agricultural era, the basis of economy by this time was hunting
and gathering. Human beings sought natural cure for their ailments. At
that time, the role of finding the cure was fused with preparing and
administering the cure. These roles are assumed by one person, the
spiritual leader of the community.

The sources of cure are the plants and minerals which were abundant in
the environment. With simple implements such as mortar and pestle,
and the use of heating instruments, the spiritual leaders were able to
provide remedies. From raw fire, the spiritual leader prepared simple
solutions, decoctions and poultices to relieve the sufferings of mankind.

As the years went by and towards the end of this era, pure substances
were derived from various biological and mineral sources. A drug
became a mixture of different medicinal ingredients. At the same time,
the dual role of spiritual leader was separated into two distinct roles,
that of the physician and the pharmacist. One in charge of diagnosis
and the other, assumed the preparation of the medication.

The traditional roles of the pharmacists were that of compounding and

dispensing. Compounding refers to the preparation of various
medications in the form of solid, liquid, and semi-solid preparations.
The pharmacist became the expert in making various kinds of drugs.
With the aid of measuring devices like volumetric flask, beakers, stirring
rods, several liquid dosage forms may be prepared such as solutions,
suspensions, emulsions, spirits and elixirs. Active ingredients may be
extracted from plants through the processes of decoction, maceration
and cold press, to name a few. Alcohol lamp, water bath, and funnel
became handy for the heating of fresh and dried plant parts. The
pharmacist, after the preparation of the medicine pour the liquid
medicine into the proper container, either a clear or amber-colored
bottle and label them properly depending on the intended use, internal
or external.

4|BSBA MARKETING
5|Business Research2020-2021

Solid drugs like pills are prepared using tablet triturate mold which
provide uniform dosage of the active ingredient/s. Tablet triturates are
precursor of the modern-day tablet which is now prepared by
sophisticated tablet machine. Another popular solid preparation was the
powder. Using mortar and pestle to comminute the powder and mix it
with even consistency, the pharmacist would divide the powder
according to doses. This he/she did with the help of the pill tile. For
capsules, the powder is placed in hard gelatin capsules and were placed
in boxes.

External preparations like ointments and suppositories are also

prepared by the pharmacist within the confine of the pharmacy.
Suppository mold was used to shape the suppository which was
administered via the rectal route. The pharmacist was able to combine
all the necessary ingredients and heat them until dissolved. Once the
right consistency was reached, the pharmacist then poured them into
the mold until they solidify. Once solid, the suppositories are properly
wrapped using waxed paper and then properly labeled.

The traditional compounding waned with industrialization where mass

production of medicines in manufacturing plants took over. While this
development had lessened the compounding role, this paved the way
for pharmacists to assume various roles in health care: production,
quality control, regulatory function, clinical and other patient-oriented
role, as well as involvement in public health.

The pocket museum honors the traditional roles of the pharmacist, that
of compounding and dispensing. Source (https://bit.ly/38UTDbD)

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Mercury Drug is a leading pharmacy retail business in the Philippines,

the founder of Mercury Drug Dr. Mariano Que, Philippines with a large
footprint of over 1,000 stores. It is an innovative Philippine retailer, the first
to: introduce the self-service concept for drugstores; add a customer
delivery service; change to 24hr operation; introduce a loyalty card; install
TVs in outlets as a source of information; launch the Gamot Padala service
for phone and online orders; pilot a drive-thru service for drugstores; and
launch a mobile app.

5|BSBA MARKETING
6|Business Research2020-2021

First Mercury Drug store opened on March 1, 1945 in Bambang St.

Manila Philippines. Mercury Drug’s over 12,000 employees enjoy a superior
package of benefits. Continuing education is also provided to employees put
in place a highly-competent training team and a modern training facility for
the year-round training of pharmacists and store front liners to ensure
exceptional customer service. Management team, to enable sharing of ideas,
concerns and best practices to further improve Mercury Drug ’s services.
Through these meetings, the company has initiated various customer value-
added services, which are now well in place and well-known among the
pharmacy’s customers.
These include Gamot Padala options of Call Order Pick-Up, Order Online
and Order Anywhere Pick-Up Anywhere to serve customers ’ orders at their
convenience; Drive-Thru service, a first in pharmacy retailing in the
Philippines; Pharmacy Counseling service to help customers with medication
queries; Mercury TV in-store health education service; Suki Card customer
value card rewarding members with good-as-cash points and discounts; and
Gising 24 Oras 24/7 service in over 100 strategically-located stores.
For Filipinos, the name Mercury Drug has become a byword for
medicines. Its slogan, Nakasisiguro Gamot ay Laging Bago, is a guarantee of
fresh and high-quality medicines sold in Mercury Drug, whether branded or
generic. Customers will always find what they need in Mercury Drug, and if
the medicine they need is not available in the branch they visit, Mercury
Drug will only be glad to find it in its other stores to ensure customer
satisfaction. When the laws granting medicine discounts to senior citizens
and persons with disability were enacted, Mercury Drug readily implemented
them, granting the mandated 20% privilege discount, and exemption from
the 12% VAT to all senior citizens. With its millions of senior citizen
customers, Mercury Drug could easily be one of the largest providers of this
privilege in the Philippines.
The Mercury Drug management team never run out of ideas to make
Mercury Drug’s customers happy. Every Saturday, Mercury Drug offers Suki
Sabado Special products at special mark-down prices. Every month, it also
offers Suki Extra Points on top of regular Suki points to reward Suki Card
members; and in selected Mercury Drug stores Bantay Kalusugan free clinics
are offered, providing various free medical services.

6|BSBA MARKETING
7|Business Research2020-2021

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

David A. HOLDFORD has a Research about Resource-based theory of

competitive advantage – a framework for pharmacy practice innovation
research that may guide the researchers in their Business Research about
Mercury Drug in Baliuag Bulacan. This may also help the researchers in the
SWOT Analysis of the Research about the said Drug Store.
 In this theory, the “firm” is defined as a business organization, such as
an independent pharmacy, pharmacy chain, hospital, or other
organizational entity that offers goods and services. In this paper, the
term “firm” will be used interchangeably with the terms "business" and
“organization.”
 RESOURCE-BASED THEORY OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. The
resource-based theory of competitive advantage argues that the long-
term success of any business innovation (e.g., pharmacy service) is
based upon the internal resources of the firm offering it, the firm ’s
capabilities in using those resources to develop a competitive
advantage over competing options, and the innovation ’s contribution
to financial performance of the firm in a market. It is predictive
because it hypothesizes directional relationships between the concepts
of competition.

7|BSBA MARKETING
8|Business Research2020-2021

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

 Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of this study. It posits on

how Mercury Drugs attained to be the Leading Drugs Store even if
they are not the Pioneer Pharmacy.

 CONSTRUCTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. The key constructs and

their relationships in resource based theory of competitive. Key
constructs in the theory are: (1) firm resources and capabilities
employed in generating competitive advantage in a potential market,
(2) sustainable competitive advantage, (3) market attractiveness (or
potential), and (4) financial performance.

8|BSBA MARKETING
9|Business Research2020-2021

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Drug Store is open to innovations which will allow to cater the
changing needs of its customer. This study will attempt to determine the
SWOT Analysis of Mercury Drug Store in Baliuag, Bulacan Branch.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The study will be focusing on the SWOT Analysis of Mercury Drugstore in

Baliuag, Bulacan Branch which aims is to assessed the customer satisfaction.
It will be conducted during the first quarter year 2021.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Mercury Drug Corporation is the Philippines' dominant pharmacy group. The

Quezon City-based company operates a national chain of more than 450
drugstores, including company-owned and franchised stores. Mercury Drug
is estimated to sell as much as 60 percent of all medicines sold each year in
the Philippines (the country's hospitals sell about 12 percent of medicines).
Mercury Drug's pharmacies follow the American model, combining drug and
medical equipment sales with over-the-counter medicines, personal care
items, basic household needs, cosmetics and other beauty products, and the
like. Most of the company's stores also are equipped to store and sell
serums, blood plasma, albumin, and similar biologically active medical
products. In addition to its drugstores, Mercury operates a chain of Mercury
Drug Superstores. Generally attached to the company's pharmacies, the
Mercury Drug Superstores extend the group's assortment to include
convenience store and fast-food items. By the mid-2000s, Mercury Drug
Corporation operated more than 150 Mercury Drug Superstores. Founded by
Mariano Que, who first sold pills from a pushcart in the 1940s, Mercury Drug
Corporation remains a privately held company. Leadership of the company

9|BSBA MARKETING
10 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

also remains in the family: The company's president is Mariano Que's

daughter, Mercury Drug is a subsidiary of the Mercury Group of Companies,
which governs other Que family interests, including the 10*Q convenience
store chain and the Tropical Hut fast-food group. In 2003, Mercury Drug's
revenues amounted to nearly PHP 43 billion ($8.8 billion).
In recognition of Mercury Drug’s contributions to business and to the
growth of the pharmacy retail industry, the company has been awarded and
cited by various sectors. It has been named "Retailer of the Year" by the
Business Writers Association of the Philippines in 1964, "Marketing Company
of the Year" by the Philippine Marketing Association ’s Agora Awards in 2004,
"Outstanding Filipino Retailer" by the Philippine Retailers Association in
2004, "Outstanding Retailer of Pharmaceutical Products" by the Consumers
Union of the Philippines in 2005, as well as "Outstanding Filipino Retailer-Hall
of Fame" by the Philippine Retailers Association in 2005. It has also been
consistently awarded by Retail Asia-Pacific as one of the top performing
retail companies in the Asia-Pacific region from 2004.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following are the terms that will be used conceptually and operationally
from the study. These terms will be the guide to better understand and ease
of reference for the undertaking.

1. Innovation - a new idea, method, or device.

2. Drugstore - a retail store where medicines and miscellaneous articles
are sold.
3. Pharmacy - the art, practice, or profession of preparing, preserving,
compounding, and dispensing medical drugs.
4. Competitive - relating to, characterized by, or based on competition.
5. Advantage - superiority of position or condition.
6. Analysis - a detailed examination of anything complex in order to
understand its nature or to determine its essential features : a thorough
study

10 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
11 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND

STUDIES

11 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
12 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

Foreign Literature and Studies

The beginnings of pharmacy are ancient. When the first person expressed
juice from a succulent leaf to apply to a wound, this art was being practiced.
In the Greek legend, Asclepius, the god of the healing art, delegated to
Hygieia the duty of compounding his remedies. She was his apothecary or
pharmacist. The physician-priests of Egypt were divided into two classes:
those who visited the sick and those who remained in the temple and
prepared remedies for the patients.

In ancient Greece and Rome and during the Middle Ages in Europe, the art of
healing recognized a separation between the duties of the physician and
those of the herbalist, who supplied the physician with the raw materials
from which to make medicines. The Arabian influence in Europe during the
8th century AD, however, brought about the practice of separate duties for
the pharmacist and physician. The trend toward specialization was later
reinforced by a law enacted by the city council of Bruges in 1683, forbidding
physicians to prepare medications for their patients. In America, Benjamin
Franklin took a pivotal step in keeping the two professions separate when he
appointed an apothecary to the Pennsylvania Hospital.

Mercury Drug began from a bottle of sulfathiazole, which was considered a

wonder drug after the war.

Early Man

The world’s oldest known prescriptions were recorded on a clay tablet in

Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), ca. 2400 BC. This Sumerian cuneiform
document describes methods for making poultices, salves and washes. The
ingredients, including mustard, fig, myrrh, bat droppings, turtle shell

12 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
13 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

powder, river silt, snakeskins and “hair from the stomach of a cow, ” were
dissolved into wine, beer or milk.

The earliest known record of a compounded medicine is found in the

Sushrata Samhita, a classical Sanskrit text on surgery and one of three
foundational texts of Ayurveda – or Indian traditional medicine – that dates
as early as the 6th century BC.

However, the origins of pharmacy as a means of curing human ailments and

alleviating human suffering is almost as old as humanity itself. From the
earliest days of mankind, we have taken notes from the natural world
around us to make use of plants as healing agents – creating the first
medicines in the infant stages of what would become pharmacy.

Western Society

By the early 17th century, Western society had created its first pharmacist
guild, and those apothecaries played a central role as healthcare providers.
Two centuries later in the United States, apothecaries became known as
pharmacists, thanks to Edward Parrish of the American Pharmaceutical
Association, as it was then known. Within those bounds, pharmacists made
and prescribed medicines into the 1950s as respected community medical
providers.

Passage of the 1951 Durham-Humphrey Amendment to the Federal Food,

Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 altered the role of the pharmacist. Now
restricted to recommending over-the-counter medications, they began to
focus more on dispensing prescriptions and ensuring product safety. A
movement began during the 1980s to expand the role of pharmacists in the
clinical setting, and by 2003, with the Medicare Prescription Drug
Improvement and Modernization Act, pharmacists were given greater

13 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
14 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

opportunities to again counsel patients on both over-the-counter and

prescription medications.

The role of the pharmacist continues to expand as patient assessment

becomes an increasingly important function – ensuring that the patient-
centered care that roots our history also directs our future.

Local Literature and Studies

With most of the country’s businesses, including its pharmacies, destroyed during the

war, much of the country’s trade shifted to its busy marketplaces.  Mariano Que, inspired by the
new entrepreneurial spirit, used his drugstore experience to launch his own business. At
first, Que bought and sold medical vials and capsules. Que brought the sulfathiazole bottle to
Manilas busy Banbang market and sold the pills in single doses.

The method of selling, known as Tingi-tingi, became extremely popular in the poverty-stricken

Philippines, bringing life-saving medications within financial reach of many more people than
before. Que named the Bambang-located store Mercury Drug, after the Roman god and bearer
of the caduceus, the symbol of the medical profession.

Branching Out in the 1970s

Mercury Drug remained a one-store operation into the 1960s. In the meantime, Que continued
to drive innovations in the Filipino pharmacy sector. By remaining open longer, Mercury Drug
responded to its clients demands for increased access to pharmaceutical products. Ayala
offered to lease space to Mercury, in order to include drugstore services at the center.

Mercury agreed, and once again revealed its penchant for innovation, opening the countrys first
self-service pharmacy in 1963. Two years later, Mercury opened its third drugstore, in
Quiapo, which became the companys flagship and set the model for its further development. In
1967, the company opened a centralized warehouse to serve its growing store
chain, introducing computer-guided temperature controls to safeguard its products. Then, in

14 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
15 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

1969, the company became the first to introduce biological refrigerators in its stores.

This permitted the company to assure the quality of its life-saving medicines. Mercury Drug
began building out its network of drugstores, staying close to the Manila market for much of the
early 1970s. The company also began branching out beyond pharmaceutical sales. The
purchase of MCDC, complementary to its existing drugstore business, led Mercury Drug to
change its structure.

In 1972, Que created the Mercury Group of Companies, Inc. , which in turn oversaw Mercury

Drug and MCDC. MCTC was not the only venture by Que to expand beyond his drugstore
empire. The introduction of the convenience store concept in the Philippines in the early 1980s
represented both a new source of competition for Mercury Drug and a new opportunity. Mercury
developed its own convenience format in response to the growth of competitors such as 7-11.

Typically located next to its drugstores, the Mercury Drug Superstores expanded the companys
range of goods beyond drugs and into wider consumer categories, such as beauty and personal
care products, fast-foods, and the like.

Oligopoly in the New Century

Mercury Drug, meanwhile, continued to grow strongly. In 1976, the company expanded beyond

the Metro Manila market for the first time, and over the next decades added locations in the
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao regions of the Philippines as well. Less than ten years
later, Mercury had expanded its number of branches to more than 450, giving it a near
monopoly grip on the countrys drug sales. By 2004, Mercury controlled as much as 60 percent
of all drug sales in the Philippines.

Indeed, as some critics pointed out, similar drugs could be purchased in India and other markets
for as much as one-third the price Mercury Drug charged. In the early 2000s, the government
began taking action to force the Philippines drug industry, including Mercury Drug, to lower
prices on many life-saving medicines. As part of that effort, the country’s Trade and Industry and
Health departments began encouraging the parallel importation of pharmaceutical generics from
India, which had earned worldwide recognition for the quality of its generic equivalents. « The
country’s smaller independent drugstore owners protested the decision,  in part because it was
expected to serve only to increase Mercurys dominance over the market»as the countrys

15 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
16 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

largest retailer of pharmaceutical products, Mercury was easily able to negotiate discounted

prices from its supplies.

Despite these pressures, Mercury Drug Corporation remained a fixture on the Philippines

pharmacy market. The company also remained one of the Philippines largest
corporations, ranking in eighth place among the country’s largest corporations and third place
among the corporations in the high-quality services/products bracket. Mercury Drug appeared to
have discovered its own miracle drug for success.

Mercury Drug Through The Years

Mercury Drug introduced a customer delivery service. As a widespread flu epidemic broke out in
Manila, Mercury Drug rendered round-the-clock service to meet customer demands for
medicines, selling at regular prices, despite the scarcity and lack of life-saving drugs. The self-
service concept was introduced at its very first store in Makati City, which is today the model for
all Mercury Drug Stores to ensure customer convenience. Mercury Drug was named «Retailer
of the Year» by the Business Writers’ Association of the Philippines for outstanding performance
in the nationwide distribution of drugs and pharmaceuticals.

Mercury Drug installed a temperature-controlled warehousing system to ensure the freshness

and quality of its stocks, and a computerized system for more efficient inventory
management. Mercury Drug equipped its stores with biological refrigerators to maintain the
quality of vaccines and other life-saving medicines and ensure that they are compliant and in
adherence to the highest quality standard. Mercury Drug started operating in Visayas and
Mindanao. Mercury Drug’s new spacious warehouse was inaugurated,  with a modern packing
and delivery system for fast processing and faster delivery.

Mercury Drug inaugurated its head office in Quezon City. Mercury Drug became the first and
only drugstore chain to professionalize its personnel through its DECS- accredited Pharmacy
Technician Course. Mercury Drug makes Gift Certificates available to its customers. Mercury
Drug celebrated its 50th anniversary and gave away Toyota Corollas to six lucky customers in
its raffle promo.

Mercury Drug was awarded Employer of the Year by the Personnel Management Association of
the Philippines . Mercury Drug introduced its exclusive Coupon Calendar, given to its loyal

16 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
17 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

customers to help them organize and manage their schedules, and to help them save on
purchases at the stores via discount coupons which they can redeem at any Mercury Drug
store. Mercury Drug introduced its free Suki Card, a rewards system for its loyal customers that
is fully transferable, without annual membership fees, enabling customers to earn points that
can be used as rebates in their next purchases or to redeem exclusive Mercury Drug
items. Gamot Padala service was introduced by Mercury Drug to offer various options of serving
customers’ orders - Call Order Pick-up and Order Anywhere Pick-up Anywhere – in any Mercury
Drug store nationwide.

A giant electronic billboard was installed at Mercury Drug Quiapo Plaza Miranda, as an outdoor
health education and public service. Mercury Drug was inducted in Consumers Union of the
Philippines’ Hall of Fame. Mercury Drug received the Marketing Company of the Year Award at
the 25th Agora Awards of the Philippine Marketing Association, Inc. Mercury Drug was named
Outstanding Retailer of Pharmaceutical Products by the Consumers Union of the Philippines
and was inducted in the Philippine Retailers Association’s Hall of Fame as one of the
Outstanding Filipino Retailers. Mercury Drug partnered with Citibank for Mercury Drug Citi
Card, the first health credit card giving rebates on all purchases at Mercury Drug and other
Citibank-accredited establishments as well as joint use with Suki Card at Mercury Drug.

The company also partnered with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation for Mercury Drug
MyWallet, a Suki Card variant offering the convenience of an ATM card with the rewards of Suki
points. Mercury Drug started offering adult flu vaccinations in stores under the supervision and
administration of healthcare professionals. Mercury Drug’s pharmacy counseling service, in-
store or call-in, was made available to help customers with their medication queries on
dosage, directions for use, precautions, potential side effects and adverse reactions. Mercury
Drug’s founder, Mariano Que was named «Father of Philippine Health and Wellness Retailing»
by the Philippine Retailers Association.

Mercury Drug activated its pharmacy information service which provides basic drug
information, written in easy-to-understand layman language, to supplement medical
consultations. Mercury Drug opened its second drive-thru service at its Biñan Southwoods
Ecocentrum store. Mercury Drug celebrated its 70th anniversary and awarded P1M each to 70
lucky customers in its Suki Panalo raffle promo. University of Santo Tomas conferred an
honorary degree, Doctor of Humanities, to Mercury Drug founder, Mariano Que.

17 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
18 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

Mercury Drug received the Platinum Most Trusted Brand Award, Pharmacy/Drugstore

Category, in Reader’s Digest 2016 Trusted Brands Survey.  Mercury Drug opened its 1100th
store in Cabuyao City, Laguna at 35 National Highway, Brgy. Campaign Asia-Pacific’s March
2017 Survey named Mercury Drug as Most Recognizable Local Brand. Mercury Drug emerged
as finalist in the Employer of Year search by the People Management Association of the
Philippines .

Mercury Drug launched another first in the pharmacy retail industry – Get Well at Mercury Drug
Diabetes Care Corner - a diabetes specialty corner for diabetics and their families in selected
stores nationwide, offering a complete assortment of products for diabetics, a counseling
service manned by pharmacists trained in diabetes management and on-site demonstrations of
monitoring devices on request. This year, Mercury Drug also introduced scan-to-pay technology
in its stores via PayMaya and GCash QR for added convenience of customers. Suki Senior
Card was also introduced this year for easier transactions of senior citizens, without need to
present their senior citizen ID’s and LGU-issued purchase booklets anymore whenever they
purchase prescribed medicines in Mercury Drug. Mercury Drug clinched the Platinum Most
Trusted Brand, Pharmacy/Drugstore Category, for the fourth time, in Reader’s Digest 2019
Trusted Brands Survey.

The new enhanced Mercury Drug Citi Card was launched, with new and refreshed benefits for
healthier life choices including a welcome offer of 5,000 Suki points for new
applications. Mercury Drug won the top award, Gold Quality Service
Award, Pharmacy/Drugstore Category, in Reader’s Digest inaugural Quality Service Survey in
Asia. Mercury Drug President Vivian Que-Azcona was conferred as first recipient of the
honorary degree, Doctor of Science, by De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute. For
the fifth time, Mercury Drug garnered the Platinum Most Trusted Brand Award in Reader’s
Digest’s 2020 Trusted Brands Survey, Pharmacy/Drugstore Category.

Mercury Drug’s celebrates its 76th anniversary and its winning of the top Reader ’s Digest
Quality Service Award, Pharmacy/Drug Store Category, for the second year. Indeed, Mercury
Drug has come a long way from its humble beginnings in Bambang St. In particular, Mercury
Drug stands out in terms of accessibility with 86% of consumers saying there is a branch near
their home or office, with Puregold and SM following with 59% and 46%
respectively. However, while very few consumers considered Mercury Drug as the retailer they
were going to visit the next time they shopped, more than 6 out of 10 consumers actually found

18 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
19 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

themselves visiting the retailer. According to Kantar, the key driver for increased visits to
Mercury Drug is the consumers’ perceived convenience and accessibility of the store.

Mercury Drug has about 1,000 branches nationwide and has more than 100 stores that are
open for 24 hours.

CHAPTER III

Research Design and Methodology

This Chapter presents the description of the research process of how Drug Store open to
innovations which will allow to cater the changing needs of its custome . It
provides information concerning the method that was used in undertaking this research as well as a
justification for the use of this method. The Chapter also describes the various stages of the
research, which includes the selection of participants, the data collection process and the process of
data analysis. The Chapter also discusses the role of the researcher in qualitative research in
relation to reflexivity. The Chapter ends with a discussion of validity and reliability in qualitative
research and discusses the way in which these two requirements were met in the current study.

Purpose of the study

19 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
20 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of innovation which
will allow to cater the changing needs of their customers. Customers of Mercury Drugs in Baliuag
Bulacan Branch Help by providing informations that may lead to more effective innovation that
gives a good outcome for Mercury Drugs attained to be the Leading Drugs Store
even if they are not the Pioneer Pharmacy.

Data Collection

We, researcher used secondary data for the readers refference kn how effective is innovating in any
Pharmacy or Drug stores like Mercury Drugs in Baliuag bulacan.

We have gatherd some information from this Research (chering Laboratories. Pharmacy.Com: A
Virtual Reality. Kenilworth: Schering Laboratories, Inc, 2000.) about Innovation that can be
usefull jn this Year 2021 sutuation where in we are experincing Covid19. In this research, it was
emphasized the innovation on using Internaet Innovation on online Pharmacy.

Researchers in the field of innovation characteristics research and information technology

acceptance have proposed a series of theoretical frameworks that model the process of innovation-
adoption. These models have been shown to accurately predict intent to adopt and usage behavior
in their respective fields. Currently, there is no published research that has examined consumer
adoption of Internet pharmacy service using such a theoretical innovation-characteristics
framework.

here the over view below:

Statement of Objectives

To date, empirical research on the acceptance of Internet pharmacy service has been limited. No
attempt has yet been made to analyze adoption of this innovative service offering within the context
of a theoretical model. Using a theoretical model adapted from two models in the fields of
innovation-characteristics research and technology acceptance, this study will analyze the
relationships between intent to adopt Internet pharmacy service and selected variables (perceived
relative advantage, perceived simplicity, perceived compatibility, perceived risk, attitude towards
Internet pharmacy service use, subjective norm towards Internet pharmacy service use, total
family income and formal education level). The purpose of this research will be to assess the
relative importance of each of the independent variables in the prediction of the intent to adopt
Internet pharmacy service. Such insight will be valuable to health systems that intend to implement

20 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
21 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

initiatives that involve the use of Internet pharmacy service to provide pharmaceutical care services
to patients in the mainstream market.

Innovation Characteristics

Rogers defines an innovation as “an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an
individual or other unit of adoption.”47 Of primary interest to those who bring innovations to
market and those who attempt to derive value or competitive advantage from these innovations, is
the way in which these innovations are spread and adopted by members of a social system. The way
in which prospective adopters evaluate these innovations and how their perceptions affect adoption
has been the subject of over 4,000 research studies.48

According to marketing diffusion theory, an individual’s decision to adopt an innovative product or

service relies heavily upon how that individual perceives certain innovation-specific characteristics.
A large amount of research effort has been devoted to the study of these perceived attributes and to
which are most important in determining the rate of adoption.49 After reviewing thousands of
innovation studies, Rogers identified five innovation-specific characteristics that influence
consumer adoption of innovation. These Rogersian attributes include: relative advantage,
compatibility, simplicity (which is sometimes measured as its conceptual opposite, complexity),
trialability or divisibility and observability or communicability. As was first suggested by Bauer,
many researchers have gone on to add perceived risk to this list of perceptual beliefs.51,52,53,54,55
A list of the Rogersian characteristics and perceived risk along with their respective definitions and
relationships to adoption are displayed in Table 1.

21 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
22 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

Internet pharmacy service represents a major technological innovation in the field of health care. It
represents the culmination of several technological innovations that began with the introduction of
the personal computer. The diffusion of innovations literature provides an excellent theoretical
framework with which to examine the adoption of Internet pharmacy service. The diffusion of
innovations literature provides careful insight into two important aspects of adoption: 1) consumer
perceptions of innovations and how they shape the innovation-decision, and 2) the characteristics of
consumers that are more likely to adopt technological innovations. What follows is a brief review of
pertinent literature on both these issues.

Review of Studies

One of the first marketing studies that examined the effect of perceptual variables on innovation
adoption was conducted by Ostlund.56 In a study of the adoption of an innovative food product
among 360 housewives, Ostlund hypothesized that the perceived Rogersian innovation attributes
and perceived risk would be better predictors of early product purchase than demographic
characteristics. Using multiple discriminant function analysis, Ostlund analyzed the effect of 13

22 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
23 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

personal characteristics and six product-specific characteristics (listed in Table 2.2) on aided and
unaided recall of purchasing an innovative food product.

The effect of including only the perceived innovation attributes in the discriminant function was
tested against the inclusion of all variables to determine the additive predictive power of including
personal characteristics into the model. In both unaided and aided recall models, the inclusion of
personal characteristics increased the proportion of buyers correctly classified in the validation
sample by only 1 and 2 percent, respectively. The rank order of importance for the perceived
innovation characteristics is listed in Table 2.3. In this study, Ostlund concluded that when

23 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G
24 | B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1

compared to the perceived innovation characteristics, “personal characteristics variables were

unimportant predictors.”

In a follow up study, Ostlund analyzed the effect of perceptual variables and personal
characteristics on the innovativeness of consumers who purchased a cooking innovation.In this
study, Ostlund classified innovators as those consumers who purchased the innovation within three
months after the introduction of the product. Using discriminant function analysis, Ostlund
analyzed the effect of five personal characteristics and six product-specific characteristics on actual
purchasing behavior. The number of personal characteristics was decreased in this study due to an
earlier factor analysis that revealed redundancy among some of the 13 variables analyzed in the
first study. The effect of including all predictor variables and only the perceived innovation
attributes was tested to determine the additive predictive power of including the personal
characteristics. The multiple discriminant function consisting of perceptual variables correctly
predicted group membership in 77 percent of the validation sample, while the function containing
all predictor variables correctly predicted group membership in 79 percent of the validation
sample. Consistent with the findings of Ostlund’s first study, the way in which consumers
perceivedinnovations along the Rogersian dimensions were of primary importance in predicting
innovative buying, while personal variables were of marginal importance in improving prediction.

24 | B S B A M A R K E T I N G