A retail pharmacy in India needs two different pieces of software, and it helps to buy them separately. The first is store software for billing, batch and expiry tracking, and the Schedule H1 register. This is where Marg ERP, GoFrugal's pharmacy edition and Vyapar Pharma compete. The second is B2B ordering to buy from distributors, where Pharmarack's retailer app is the best-known platform. Choose store software on how well it handles batches, expiry and statutory registers. Choose an ordering platform on which of your distributors are active on it. Pharmarack did not publish a subscription price on the official page we accessed, so treat "Pharmarack subscription price" as a question to raise with the company or your distributor. If you are a distributor rather than a retailer, read our pharma distribution and accounting software guide instead.
Executive summary
- Record-keeping is a legal requirement, not a feature. The Drugs Rules, 1945 require supplies of Schedule H1 drugs to be recorded in a separate register at the time of supply, with prescriber and patient details, drug name and quantity, maintained for three years and open to inspection (CDSCO — Drugs Rules, 1945).
- B2B ordering is platform-led. Pharmarack describes PharmRetail as a B2B e-commerce platform connecting retailers and distributors, and PharmConnect as a multi-principal stockist ordering platform. It publishes no subscription fees on its homepage (Pharmarack).
- Marg publishes store software prices: Nano ₹5,550, Basic ₹10,300, Silver ₹13,900 and Gold ₹26,000, plus 18% GST (Marg).
- GoFrugal's pricing page was under maintenance when we accessed it, so budget for a quote (GoFrugal).
- Expiry loss is the biggest controllable cost. In our illustrative model, cutting expired stock write-offs from 2% to 1% of purchases at a store buying ₹5 lakh a month saves ₹60,000 a year, well above typical store software prices.
Market context
Indian pharmacies work under drug regulation layered on top of GST, which makes their software needs stricter than those of general retail.
Statutory registers. The Drugs Rules, 1945, published by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, set out how certain drugs must be recorded. For Schedule H1 drugs, the supply must be recorded "in a separate register at the time of the supply giving the name and address of the prescriber, the name of the patient, the name of the drug and the quantity supplied and such records shall be maintained for three years and be open for inspection" (CDSCO — Drugs Rules, 1945). The Rules also require labelling for drugs containing Schedule H1 substances, including the caution "SCHEDULE H1 PRESCRIPTION DRUG - CAUTION".
For software, this means:
- flagging Schedule H1 items in the item master
- forcing capture of prescriber and patient details at billing for those items
- producing a printable, date-wise H1 register on demand
- keeping records for at least three years, with backups
Batch and expiry. Every medicine carries a batch number and expiry date, and the same product arrives in several batches with different MRPs. Pharmacy software must bill the right batch, usually first-expiry-first-out, handle returns to distributors before expiry, and report near-expiry stock early enough to act.
Payments. Pharmacy baskets are often small. The Government's UPI ten-year release reports that 86% of person-to-merchant UPI payments in FY 2025-26 were below ₹500 (PIB), so fast UPI matching at the counter matters.
B2B ordering. Retail pharmacies typically buy from several local distributors. Traditionally, orders went by phone, WhatsApp or sales representatives. Ordering platforms such as Pharmarack digitise this. Pharmarack's homepage describes PharmRetail as "India's leading B2B e-commerce platform empowering Retailers and Distributors with technology for a seamless trading experience", offering easy ordering and real-time stock visibility, and PharmConnect as "A first-of-its-kind multi-principal stockist ordering platform" (Pharmarack). These are the vendor's own descriptions. We have not verified market-leadership claims.
We found no official count of retail pharmacies using software, so we do not quote one. See also our healthcare software hub and medical billing software guide for clinic- and hospital-side tools.
Evaluation framework
The weights below are App Advisor's methodology for independent and small-chain retail pharmacies. They are editorial.
| Criterion | Weight | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Batch and expiry management | 20% | Batch-wise billing, FEFO suggestions, near-expiry reports, expiry returns to distributors |
| Statutory registers | 20% | Schedule H1 register with prescriber and patient capture, printable on demand, retained records |
| Purchase and distributor integration | 15% | Purchase bill import, distributor price lists, link to B2B ordering platforms |
| Billing speed and substitution | 10% | Search by brand, composition or salt; barcode; quick substitution |
| GST and accounting | 10% | GST invoices, HSN, returns data, accounting ledger |
| Payments | 5% | UPI QR, card terminals, credit customers |
| Multi-store | 5% | Stock transfers, central purchasing |
| Price transparency and TCO | 10% | Published pricing, users, renewals |
| Support | 5% | Local partner availability |
Vendor comparison
Prices below are from official vendor pages accessed in September 2026, with GST extra where stated.
Store software (billing, inventory, registers)
| Product | Published pricing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marg ERP Pharma | Marg ERP pricing: Nano ₹5,550; Basic ₹10,300 (1 user full rights); Silver ₹13,900 (1 user full rights + 1 view-only); Gold ₹26,000 (unlimited users); 18% GST extra | Widely used in pharma retail and distribution; licence term not stated in the text we captured, so confirm annual versus perpetual | Marg pricing |
| GoFrugal Pharmacy | Not published on the page we could access (pricing page under maintenance) | GoFrugal lists on-premise and cloud editions and a 30-day free trial | GoFrugal pricing |
| Vyapar Pharma | Not published on the page we could access | Vyapar's pricing page loads prices dynamically | Vyapar pricing |
| Wondersoft Pharmacy | Quote | Retail pharmacy and chain software | Vendor sales |
B2B ordering platforms
| Product | What the vendor says | Published subscription price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmarack Retailer (PharmRetail) | B2B e-commerce platform connecting pharmacies to stockists, with easy ordering and real-time stock visibility | No subscription fees published on the page we accessed | Pharmarack |
| Pharmarack (PharmConnect) | Multi-principal stockist ordering platform for visibility, engagement and efficiency | No subscription fees published on the page we accessed | Pharmarack |
How to think about Pharmarack pricing. Many searches ask for the "Pharmarack subscription price". The official homepage we accessed invites partnership conversations and lists no fees. Before signing up:
- ask Pharmarack directly whether retailers pay a subscription, and how much
- ask your main distributors whether they are active on the platform and whether they cover any cost
- confirm whether orders placed on the platform import into your store software as purchase entries, or whether you must key them in
Browse the pharma distribution category and healthcare software category for more options.
Total cost of ownership
Illustrative model — assumptions stated. Hypothetical pharmacy figures. Software prices are published list prices only. Expiry and time savings are assumptions, not customer data.
Assumptions
- A single-store pharmacy with 2 billing counters and 1 owner login: 3 users
- Purchases: ₹5,00,000 a month (₹60 lakh a year)
- Expired stock written off: 2% of purchases today, 1% with batch and near-expiry reports acted on weekly (assumed)
- Time spent on manual H1 register and order calls: 10 hours a month today, 3 hours with software and an ordering app (assumed), valued at ₹300 an hour (assumed)
- Marg Gold at ₹26,000, treated as year-1 cost (confirm licence term); ordering platform cost "R" per year (not published)
- GST excluded; hardware excluded
| Line | Today | With store software + ordering platform | Annual effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expiry write-offs | 2% × ₹60,00,000 = ₹1,20,000 | 1% × ₹60,00,000 = ₹60,000 | ₹60,000 saved |
| Admin hours | 10 h × 12 = 120 h | 3 h × 12 = 36 h | 84 h × ₹300 = ₹25,200 saved |
| Store software (Marg Gold) | Existing or none | ₹26,000 (year 1) | −₹26,000 |
| Ordering platform | — | R | −R |
| Year 1 net benefit | ₹59,200 − R |
What the model shows
- Expiry control drives the return. A one-percentage-point cut in write-offs is worth more than the software licence at this purchase volume.
- For smaller stores, Marg's Silver edition (₹13,900) or Nano (₹5,550) may be enough if user limits fit. Check those limits against your counters.
- Without a published Pharmarack price, the platform's value depends on distributor adoption in your area. Ask before assuming any cost or saving.
A pharmacy demo checklist
Pharmacy software demos often focus on billing screens. The problems that cost pharmacies money appear elsewhere. Bring this checklist and ask the vendor to show each item with realistic data.
Billing and substitution
- Search by brand name, composition and partial spelling.
- Suggest substitutes with the same composition and strength, showing stock and margin.
- Select the batch that expires first automatically, with an option to override.
- Bill loose strips or tablets from a pack and adjust stock correctly.
Schedule H1 and prescriptions
- Force capture of prescriber name and address and patient name for Schedule H1 items.
- Print the H1 register for a date range, in a format suitable for inspection.
- Show that H1 entries cannot be edited or deleted without a logged reason.
- Store prescription images against bills where the pharmacy chooses to.
Purchases and distributors
- Import a distributor's purchase bill electronically rather than keying lines.
- Handle schemes such as free quantity and trade discounts on purchase.
- Record a return to a distributor for near-expiry stock and track the credit note.
- Show which items are below reorder level, by distributor.
Expiry and stock
- Report stock expiring in 30, 60 and 90 days, by value.
- Show dead stock with no sales in a chosen period.
- Support physical stock verification by rack or shelf.
Accounts and GST
- GST invoices with correct HSN and rates.
- Credit customer balances and reminders.
- Daily cash, UPI and card reconciliation.
Ordering platform connection
- If you use Pharmarack or another ordering app, show whether orders become purchase entries in the store software, and how batch and expiry details arrive.
Data safety
- Automatic backup, and a tested restore.
- Export of items, stock, sales and H1 records.
Score each vendor on the items that matter most to your store. A system that handles expiry returns and H1 registers well is usually worth more than one with a slightly faster billing screen.
Implementation roadmap
Week 1: Item master and compliance set-up
- Build or import the item master with brand, composition, HSN, GST rate, pack size and Schedule classification.
- Flag all Schedule H1 items and configure mandatory prescriber and patient fields for them.
Week 2: Opening stock by batch
- Count stock batch by batch, with expiry dates and MRP.
- Enter distributor balances and credit customers.
Week 3: Purchases and ordering
- Set up distributors and price lists.
- Register on your chosen ordering platform and check which distributors are live.
- Test whether platform orders flow into purchase entries.
Week 4: Parallel billing
- Bill on the new system alongside the old one for a week.
- Print a sample H1 register and check it contains all required fields.
Weeks 5–6: Go-live
- Move all billing to the new system.
- Start a weekly near-expiry report and act on it: return, transfer or promote.
Week 8: Review
- Compare expiry write-offs and stock-outs with the pre-software baseline.
- Review GST reports with your CA.
Running expiry control week by week
Buying software does not reduce expiry losses on its own. A simple weekly routine does, and the software makes it quick.
Every Monday (20 minutes)
- Run the near-expiry report for the next 90 days, sorted by value.
- Mark items that can still be returned to distributors under their return terms and raise returns immediately.
- Move slow near-expiry items to the front of the shelf and brief counter staff to offer them first where appropriate.
Every month
- Review dead stock with no sales in the last 60 or 90 days.
- Lower reorder levels for items that repeatedly approach expiry.
- Compare expiry write-offs as a percentage of purchases with the previous month.
Every quarter
- Review distributor-wise returns and credit notes received.
- Renegotiate return terms with distributors whose products expire most often.
- Check that the Schedule H1 register prints completely for the quarter.
Buying discipline. Ordering platforms make it easy to order more often in smaller quantities. Use that to cut stock levels on slow movers rather than to place bigger orders. The illustrative model above shows why: at ₹5 lakh of monthly purchases, each percentage point of expiry avoided is worth ₹60,000 a year.
Risks and compliance checklist
- Schedule H1 register captures prescriber name and address, patient name, drug name and quantity at the time of supply (CDSCO — Drugs Rules, 1945).
- Three-year retention of H1 records, with backups, available for inspection.
- Printable register on demand for inspections. Test printing before you need it.
- Batch-wise billing so the correct batch and MRP appear on every bill.
- Near-expiry process with distributor return timelines known.
- User permissions. Staff cannot delete bills or edit H1 entries without a log.
- GST compliance. Correct HSN and rates, reviewed by your CA.
- Data export confirmed, so records survive a change of vendor.
- Ordering platform terms (fees, data use, distributor coverage) understood in writing.
KPIs to track
| KPI | Target direction | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Expired stock written off (% of purchases) | Down | Largest controllable loss |
| Near-expiry stock value (next 90 days) | Down | Early warning |
| Stock-outs on top 100 SKUs | Down | Lost sales and customer trust |
| H1 bills missing prescriber details | Zero | Compliance |
| Average billing time | Down | Queue management |
| Share of purchases ordered digitally | Up | Ordering efficiency |
| Days of inventory on hand | Down | Working capital |
How to choose
- Single pharmacy, 1–2 counters, want published prices? Compare Marg editions against your user count, starting with Marg ERP Pharma.
- Chain or large store needing central control? Get a quote for GoFrugal Pharmacy or Wondersoft Pharmacy and test stock transfers.
- Mobile-first small store? Ask for current Vyapar Pharma plans and confirm H1 register support.
- Spend hours phoning distributors? Ask your distributors which ordering platforms they use, then evaluate Pharmarack Retailer.
- Distributor, not a retailer? Read our pharma distribution software guide.
FAQs
What is the Pharmarack subscription price?
Pharmarack's official homepage, as we accessed it, did not publish subscription fees for its PharmRetail or PharmConnect platforms (Pharmarack). Ask Pharmarack or your distributors directly for current terms.
What is Pharmarack used for?
According to Pharmarack, PharmRetail is a B2B e-commerce platform that connects pharmacies with stockists for easy ordering and real-time stock visibility, and PharmConnect is a multi-principal stockist ordering platform for distributors.
Which software is best for a medical store in India?
For store operations, shortlist software with strong batch and expiry tracking and a Schedule H1 register, such as Marg ERP Pharma, GoFrugal Pharmacy or Vyapar Pharma. For buying from distributors, add an ordering platform that your distributors use.
Is a Schedule H1 register mandatory for pharmacies?
Yes. The Drugs Rules, 1945 require supplies of Schedule H1 drugs to be recorded in a separate register at the time of supply, with prescriber and patient details, drug name and quantity, kept for three years and open to inspection (CDSCO).
How much does Marg pharmacy software cost?
Marg's pricing page lists Marg ERP Nano at ₹5,550, Basic at ₹10,300, Silver at ₹13,900 and Gold at ₹26,000, plus 18% GST (Marg). Confirm the licence term and pharmacy-specific features with Marg.
What software do pharma distributors use?
Distributors need batch-wise inventory, scheme and discount handling, salesman and route management, and accounting. Our pharma distribution and accounting software guide covers that segment in detail.
Can pharmacy software maintain the H1 register digitally?
Pharmacy software can capture prescriber and patient details at billing and generate an H1 register. Make sure the records are retained for three years, cannot be altered without a log, and can be printed on demand for inspection.
