For the longest time, standalone pharmacies in India have been skeptical of ambitious startups trying to get them online. However, the pandemic shook up the status quo. It prompted a spike in online searches for medicines and medical stores, which in turn encouraged the previously reluctant pharmacies to receive orders online and do home deliveries in their respective neighbourhoods.
This has created a magnitude of opportunities that are yet to be fully tapped into. “95% of the $50 billion retail pharmacy market in India still operates in offline mode. They are not discoverable online for placing digital orders,” says Ravi Chandra, Co-Founder and CEO of MedPay, a Bengaluru-based health tech startup.
Since its launch in 2020, MedPay has been building India’s largest Connected Care Network, connecting offline primary care centers with online platforms and customers. More than 40,000 pharmacies have signed up with MedPay to date to create their digital stores.
“MedPay empowers local pharmacies, enabling them with discovery and eCommerce, thereby addressing the needs of neighbourhood customers looking for prescription fulfilment service with a network of local pharmacies,” explains Chandra. “MedPay operates in tier 1, 2 and 3 markets, and 60% of our orders are from non-metros,” he adds.
Need-driven, not discount-driven
The existing online pharmacy models in India are predominantly inventory-led models that address the needs of patients who can wait for medicine delivery, while availing of some discounts. Patients who need medicines immediately still have to rely on local pharmacies for on-time availability.
"Even so, most stand-alone pharmacies can typically fulfil only 60% of the prescribed medicine requirement", says Chandra. In other words, the patient has to scout for the medicines at other pharmacies, often surrounding the given doctor’s clinic. This can be a tiresome and frustrating experience.
When pharmacies sign up with MedPay, they not only get their digital stores that offer a seamless online ordering experience but also the opportunity to cater to the additional demand coming from various online channels. “Each customer order is broadcasted to multiple pharmacies in the area to ensure the availability and fast delivery of medicines,” explains the entrepreneur, who believes that healthcare fundamentally is a need-driven industry and not discount-driven.
Given that MedPay operates a hyperlocal marketplace, deliveries are handled by pharmacies on their own, as every order comes within a radius of one-to-two km. “Having both the options of walk-in purchase from a local pharmacy and online order with added discounts, digital customers prefer inventory models for chronic care because of discounts while continuing their walk-in purchase for acute care,” notes Chandra.
Transforming the future of healthcare
Recently, the Bengaluru-based startup collaborated with ICICI Lombard General Insurance in an industry-first initiative to provide cashless Outpatient Department (OPD) solutions at clinics, pharmacies and diagnostic centres. This one-of-its-kind health insurance gives customers relief from the arduous process of chasing reimbursements as well as safeguards their hard-earned savings with the cashless mode of payment. In a country where out-of-pocket health expenses are pushing individuals and households into poverty, this is a big step in the right direction.
MedPay’s Connected Care Network – driven by an application programming interface (API) – brings in diverse healthcare stakeholders such as doctors, pharmacies, diagnostics and insurance companies into the digital economy, steadily transforming the future of healthcare.
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