High street chemists 'inflating prices by as much as 200 per cent'

The lid has been lifted on the scale of the profit margins by the team at a new website chemistdirect.co.uk, who say they can still make money while charging far less than the major chains.

Firms, including Boots and even supposedly low-cost supermarkets, are said to inflate massively the prices on everything from aspirins and pregnancy testing kits to body lotion.

The overcharging can amount to more than 200 per cent, it is claimed.

The founder of Chemistdirect, Mitesh Soma, said: "I find it shocking that consumers have for so long been subjected to such vast mark-ups on everyday items ranging from vitamins, health and beauty products to standard goods such as hairdryers.

"These are lines which should be available to shoppers at a fraction of the price."

For example, chemistdirect sells a pack of 32 paracetamol capsules for 49p. It says the equivalent product from Boots is £1.98, while Waitrose charges £1.30 and Tesco 78p.

The drawbacks with shopping on the web include the time items take to arrive and the cost of postage. Chemistdirect has free post on orders over £45, while lower value orders carry a fee of 99p.

Mr Soma, 31, a business graduate from Leicester, founded chemistdirect with his wife Krishna, a pharmacist.

He said: "Companies like Boots have enjoyed massive profits for years at the expense of the consumer. We aim to blow their cover."

Last year Alliance Boots became the first of Britain's top 100 companies to be taken over by a private equity firm in a deal worth £ 10.6billion. It makes annual profits of £640million.

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Compared with high street chains, web companies have lower overheads in terms of rent, rates and staffing. Boots and the supermarkets run their own web outlets but these charge the same as their traditional stores.

While Mr Soma says his target is the national chains, his business could deliver a blow to the country's 12,250 community chemist shops, which charge on a par with Boots.

If they lose sales to web stores, some could be forced out of business.

Boots said it is cheaper than chemistdirect on some items, including some brands of condoms.

A spokesman said: "We're constantly reviewing our prices and promotional offers to give our customers the best deal.

"Chemistdirect appears to have a different strategy offering some deeply discounted offers across a more limited range of products."