People need medical stores only in case of emergencies now, say pharmacy owners.
Naresh Sharma needs to keep track of his medicines since he was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes about 10 years ago. The medication includes regular doses of insulin through injections, and he said it becomes hard to keep stock when he is working six days a week. Ordering medicines from online pharmacy apps has come in handy for him, and also helps him keep track of his medications.
Naresh is one of the many people in India who use e-pharmacy apps to order medicines. Owners of physical pharmacy stores say this has affected their business.
Hitesh Jain, owner of a pharmaceutical store near Residency road said the competition with e-pharmacy has become intense after the Covid-19 pandemic. “E-pharmacy apps thrived during the pandemic, since people were home and ordered medicines online. We did see growth in our business when the pandemic ended, but people still prefer e-pharmacy apps, since they find it more convenient. It is not like we are in a huge loss, but the business has gone down significantly,” he said.
He added that people in a medical emergency choose physical pharmaceutical stores now, and people choose E-pharmacy for regular delivery of medicines. “Since there are chances that over-the counter medicines without prescription may cause side effects and these apps provide consultation on call before delivering the medicine without prescription, trust in e-pharmacy apps is built further,” he said.
Naresh said, “I upload the prescription given by the doctor, and the app prepares and delivers the medicines right at my doorstep. All I need to do is to place the order and make the payment from my phone.”
He further said he is forgetful when it comes to checking what medicines he has left. “I even book lab tests online, so a person comes over at my house to take the samples, reducing the hassle of going to a diagnostic lab. Ordering medicines through these apps saves me a trip to the pharmacy,” he said.
E-pharmacy apps such as Pharmeasy, TATA 1mg and Apollo pharmacy have altogether recorded over 16 lakh downloads in India monthly, according to data from SimilarWeb. Out of these, Apollo Pharmacy has about seven lakh downloads, Tata 1mg has over 5.4 lakhs and Pharmeasy has about four lakhs app downloads monthly, since January 2024.
A salesperson at Apollo pharmacy store in Kengeri Satellite town said that the deliveries made through online orders are more than the sales in the physical store. “Most sales are made through app orders, while first aid is sold more in the physical store,” the seller said.
Gaurav Pare, a market analyst said that the market for online pharmacy will keep growing further. “E-pharmacy apps not only have the option to order medicines online, but they have also started adding features like online consultation and lab tests from home, which is more convenient to the consumers,” he said.
He added that the apps are adding newer features for attracting more consumers. “Some of them now claim that they will deliver medicines within a few minutes and hence come in useful during emergencies as well. More new features will be introduced depending on demand and more apps will enter the market as it grows in the future,” he said.
The e-pharmacy market is expected to have projected revenue of about USD 453 million in 2024, according to data by Statista. The market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.4 percent during the period of 2024-2028.
