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I often think about my shopping experience at an online retailer in US - Landsend. I purchased a shirt from this retailer using their web site. I typically do not purchase apparel online, because of concerns related to fit

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

and quality. However, I liked the shirt and decided to purchase it. Although the purchase experience was great, the story doesn’t end here. One year later, I called them to purchase some additional clothes. At this point, I

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

casually mentioned to the CSR that I wasn't too happy with the quality of one of the shirts I purchased from them in the past. The CSR first apologized and then offered to send me a replacement for no additional charge. Si

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

nce this incident, I have probably shopped with LandsEnd at least 8-10 times.

This incident got me thinking - how do you measure ROI on offering good customer experience? and more importantly, what are the acceptable bound

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

aries around customer experience? A company can chose to offer a completely transactional experience with no regard for the customer. These are the companies, who I would argue, have a myopic view of how to make money. I wo

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

uld further argue that a bad, purely transactional experience is actually costing the companies more in terms of “opportunity cost” of losing the possibility of a repeat purchase.

In the Indian context, a lot of retailers

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

think of customer experience as something that starts once the customer enters the store and ends immediately after the customer makes a purchase decision or leaves. The customers certainly need to be treated well during th

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

eir purchase cycle, however, what is even more important is how they are treated after the purchase cycle. Numerous studies have suggested that a retailer’s most profitable customers are ones who make repeat purchases. Howe

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ver, it is ironic that a number of retailers in Indian market tend to focus on the current transaction, without thinking about maximizing the possibility of a repeat purchase.

Lets take this to the online world where a cus

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

tomer is trusting the retailer with their money without even taking an immediate possession of the goods. In this case, it becomes extremely important to ensure that there is a strong, clear and proactive communication with

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

the customer during all phases of order life cycle. A number of Indian online retailers today send email or SMS alerts when order status changes. However, not many retailers actually follow-up with a customer after shipmen

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

t is complete. It also becomes extremely important to quickly resolve any issues related to wrong shipment, defective or damaged delivery or customer returns. I am not suggesting that the online retailers go to the extreme

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

of offering unconditional return policies or exchanges after even 1 year of purchase. However, I do think it is important for a retailer to demonstrate compassion, strong sense of urgency and an honest attempt to resolve cu

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

stomers’ issues. There is certainly the risk of customers mis using the system to their advantage. However, in my opinion, this is a small price to pay in return for winning over 90% of the other customers who had genuine i

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ssues with their purchases.

The user experience on the website is also extremely critical. In the Indian context, majority of the online sites try to maximize the use of banner ads and other promotions to showcase every si

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

ngle marketing message that could appeal to the customers. However, in my opinion, this approach actually makes the experience worse. Too much clutter on the home page is likely to confuse and possibly annoy the customers.

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

I compare the user experience on an eCommerce website to the interior design of a B&M store. It needs to be simple, fresh, inviting as well as easy to navigate. The customers must feel in control and should be able to quick

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

ly find the products and complete the checkout process. In fact, studies indicate that if it takes more than 4 clicks to complete checkout, customers are much more likely to abandon their shopping carts.

There is a huge po

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

tential and market for eCommerce in India. Few players have already established good eCommerce capabilities and there are new ones on the horizon. However, the true winner would be the one who masters the art of offering a

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

great customer experience. Technology platform and the breadth of assortment are certainly necessary in driving sales. However, a strong customer experience is extremely necessary in building lasting customer relationships.

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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It might look strange but it is a fact that your looks or appearance does affect your career or profession - it does (To an extent) affects the selection or rejection of your candidature. You might argue that it's the knowledge and experience of the candidate that is important and I agree with you. It is knowledge and experience that is important and that's the way it should be. You might have read that in last election Tony Blair spent close to 5 million pounds on his beauty parlor…no his looks and appearance. Similar was the issue raised in USA during the last election when Hillary Clinton’s opponent talked about her cosmetic surgery. It is a well known fact the people who look good get a mileage and they do really well in their career … compare to those who are not that good looking. Yes, exceptions are there.

There are so many competitions by running business. So you must do it in a smart way. Check this list to see which ones you can use in order to pull more profits from your business.

Your business is only as good as the number of people who knows about it. For your venture to grow, you need to start spreading the word about your business. You may have the best products your field...

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