Online medicine delivery gains demand

Business models evolve with time, sometimes due to changes in the market and sometimes in the wake of the advent of new technology, resulting in emergence of new exciting trends.

But when the ongoing pandemic took a toll across the world, what do you think was on everyone’s mind? Keeping well and staying safe turned out to be the prime concern.

While quarantining was one way to go, the pharmaceutical industry expected a paradigm shift, with people prioritising a virtual purchase of their essential medicines and other medical requirements.

With stay-at-home orders in effect, customers switched to buying their medical supplies from online pharmacies. Whether they were long-haul couriers or on-demand platforms, medicine delivery apps became increasingly popular during the Covid-19 crisis.

“Nowadays, I prefer to purchase all sorts of medicines online. Since it is really difficult for us to go out physically even to buy some essential medicines from any drug stores especially at the time of the enforced lockdown, I simply go for online purchase,’” said Kawsar Ahmed, a private service holder.

He further explained, “Now, it is getting easier for us to place order medicine online because all online pharmacies are now providing us such a quick service along with their existing offline service.

Like Kawsar, many are now choosing alternative digital pharmacies because of their prompt delivery service with an affordable cost.

According to the major market players, soon after the World Health Organisation announced that Covid-19 had become a global pandemic, the online pharmacies gained popularity among the customers.

Besides, the customers are choosing online service as it provides the delivery service 24 hours a day in a seven days week.

The market players also said the pandemic has changed the customer behaviour pattern in many ways, which push them to opt for online medicine service instead of the traditional in-person purchase.

They also claimed that the demand for online medicine services is increasing day by day among customers, and consequently, the market is also gradually expanding.

The cost of online medicine delivery depends mainly on the distance from the pharmacies, said the market players.

“Our medicine delivery app brings prescription and healthcare services to the customers’ doorsteps. We had earlier started such a new service in Chattogram in 2018 and we also opened up our online service in Dhaka in 2020,” Al Nahyan, a customer service representative of Arogga App, said while talking to The Business Post.

“Currently, we are getting a very good response through our app as we are fulfilling more than 200 online orders each day.”

Anyone can order medicines from anywhere by using the app.”

Nahyan said currently, the app has a 4.9 ratings due to quality services while both their business and services are being expanded.

While talking to The Business Post, Md Shahjalal, operation in-charge of Amar Pharma said, “We started our online service in July last year, which is now gaining momentum this year. We provide medicine service

through our online shop all over the country. We also have courier service for the customers from outside of Dhaka.”

“We have both online and physical stores in the capital. Besides, our pharmacy has collaboration with some online delivery platform brands as well. Though our targeted customers are mainly from Dhaka, our currently average monthly sale is around Tk 90,000 to Tk 1,00,000 through online medicine delivery” he added.

Md Ashikur Rahman Shiblu, accounts manager of Khidmat Drug Outlet said, “We started our online services in 2019. Currently, our online sales volume increased compared with the previous years. We are also offering discounts for the customers who buy medicines from us through online order.”

“Our online monthly sale is around Tk 3,00,000 in which is now double if we compare it with the past years. We obtained a trade license for doing our online business from the Directorate General of Drug Administration,’’ he added.

Arafat Arefin Ankur, operation manager of Osud.com said, “The online medicine delivery services are

gaining popularity in the capital. Some of our customers also buy medicines from us who mainly reside outside the capital city as some medicines are not yet available in the rural areas.”

“Our online sale is around Tk 8,00,000 to Tk 10,00,000 per month while our online sales reached more than Tk 25,00,000 during the lockdown” he added.

The business insider said more than 10 online platforms are providing medicines in the capital at present. Most

of them have both online and physical stores in Dhaka. However, they could not give any idea of the exact market size of online medicine service as of

now.

“The global ePharmacy Market (Online Pharmacy Market) size is estimated to grow $107.5 billion by 2026 from $49.43 billion in 2021, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 16.81 per cent in between 2021 to 2026,” according to a report which is published in April 2021 by Market Data Forecast, a firm working in the areas of market research, business intelligence and consulting.

“Increasing the prevalence of the internet of things worldwide and the growing use of smartphones and tablets are the key factors driving the global online pharmacy market demand,” explained the report.