What is an online pharmacy?
An online pharmacy is an internet-based seller that sells medicines and prescribed medicines to customers and delivers orders with the help of mail or shipping companies.
The growth of e-pharmacy/online pharmacy is attributed by 16% to the ever-increasing number of internet users, increased access to web services throughout the world, and increased medicine order techniques adopted by hospitals throughout the world.
The e-pharmacy app development helps to cut down the chain of distributors by directly providing medicines to end-users at a lesser and more reasonable price.
According to a survey conducted by Statista, the online pharmacy market size in 2014 in the US alone was recorded at $29.4 billion which is quite high. The survey also calculated and forecasted the growth will be around $128 billion at the end of 2023 which is considered to be growing at a very fast scale.
Online pharmacies are increasing at a rapid rate just because of their scope.
Online pharmacies have two main components technology and a physical retail store
- Technology :
Online pharmacies mostly rely on web-based or online pharmacy apps for consumers to upload scanned copies of their medicine orders for placing orders. Whenever an order is placed using the online pharmacy, the order is checked by a group of in-house and consulting pharmacists to verify that the medicine orders are completely original and not forged.
- Physical Retail Store :
The supplier pharmacists will recheck the medicine orders in all medicine databases and if they are not valid, they will not dispense the order. If the order is dispensed, it should be sealed and not tampered with unless it reaches the customer. There should be proper documentation regarding every purchase order made over the online pharmacy because if there is any mistake then it can cost the lives of individuals.
An online pharmacy platform is an effective model that helps to reach more customers, helps in better inventory management, better purchasing margins, competitive and reduced prices for medicines, and options for generic medicines.
Research regarding the growth and scope of online pharmacy clearly states that Asia and the Pacific are two regions registering the fastest growth rate of 15.3% over the next few years because of the increasing population in these two areas. China and India are two countries with the highest population base, so they possess high growth potential.
The online pharmacy model has a high success ratio in China and India due to the increased demand for consumer healthcare products in these regions.
Even if online pharmacy has a wide scope in today’s world, there are currently some challenges it faces.
- On the off chance that an online medical store needs to go past OTC medications, they should have the option to "read" a solution against which to sell the medication. As of now, there's no technique to consequently examine a paper remedy and read it. All the best they can do right now is get the patient to check the paper solution and send them the picture which is perused by an individual and afterward, the medication is sold. Another technique is the place the patient puts in a request, the medical store sends a person over with the meds, yet conveys simply after cross-checking with the real solution at the client's place. These strategies are wasteful, can't be scaled up, and are inclined to blunders.
- At this point, there's uncertainty in IT laws in regards to the treatment of sensitive information, on perceiving the legitimacy of advanced solutions. For instance, is a specialist's mark on an examined duplicate substantial? Or then again should a pdf record containing an advanced mark be required?
- There is an absence of lucidity on permitting. In the event that a virtual medical store sells products but doesn't genuinely hold any of them, should it get a pharma permit or not? What's more, if not, in what manner would it be a good idea for one to approach permitting it to sell the medicines? Is it the merchant or a commercial center? In the event that it's the commercial center, who'll direct the merchants?
There are some problems currently with the online pharmacy model but it does not deny the fact that it has recorded significant growth since its inception.
One of the main reasons for the growth of online pharmacies is that visiting a physical pharmacy is a mundane task, it’s not like you have to go to the pharmacy and choose from a variety of products, so buying medicines online is an effective option here.
Now is an effective time to take your pharmacy online, because as it is in the developing phase, you will get an advantage to get an edge over your competitors and establish yourself as a stronger business with a wider clientele to cater to. Keeping lucrative offers in the beginning phase will only help you to attract more and more clients into buying pharmacy online.
Check out Tips to Grow to Your Online Pharmacy Business.
Get in touch with our experts at EmedStore if you are looking for reliable and successful healthcare app development services.
We have helped many pharma clients in 32 countries to grow their business to 12X and deliver excellent customer service with medicine delivery app development service.