- Practo claims to have noted a 3X spike since April 2021 in its epharmacy vertical
- Others such as 1mg, PharmEasy and Medlife claim to have seen 120% spike each in usage and transactions
- Epharmacies are looking to participate in India’s vaccination drive to back the telemedicine efforts
As India is going through the worst possible healthcare crisis in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19, online pharmacy startups have noted a massive increase in their usage among the customers looking for medicine, consultations and oxygen supplies. Practo has noted a 3X or 200% spike since April 1, 2021, which is highest among other epharmacy startups.
Warburg Pincus-backed MedPlus has noted close to 190% increase in its usage, whereas other platforms like 1mg, PharmEasy and Medlife have noted about 120% spike each in their usage, according to data shared by research firm KalaGato. It is important to note that Medlife had signed a merger with PharmEasy last year.
The research firm also noted that Reliance Retail-owned Netmeds has noted somewhere around 70-80% spike in its usage since April 1. Interestingly, Reliance is currently testing hyperlocal medicine delivery in Bengaluru, by leveraging Netmeds network.
“We continue to grow the catalogue and we are testing hyperlocal solutions here (with NetMeds). Just as we have hyperlocal capabilities across the rest of the digital commerce orders through our store network, we are looking to service Netmeds orders through stores. A pilot is underway in Bengaluru,” Dinesh Thapar, group CFO of Reliance Retail, said during the company’s Q4 FY21 earnings call.
Besides these players, even Amazon has entered the online medicine delivery segment with Amazon Pharmacy. The offering is currently running in Bengaluru and will be available for pan-India operations soon.
Source-inc42.com
