While medical stores were categorised as essential services, online pharmacies still emerged as the one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic-persuaded lockdown as people opted to buy medicines online to reduce risk of contagion.

In this article, we have listed some of the top Online Pharmacies / Pharma eCommerce Portals in the World as well as India. We will study about the out-of-the-box features that these online pharmacies have; that makes the lives of Consumers much easier, especially during this crisis period.

Like any other eCommerce business,online pharmacy is also can be multi-layered and complex. Here are the three business models that you may come across in Online Pharma.

• Standalone Pharmacy: Under this type of online pharmacy, customers can order their medicines directly from your app or website without using any third-party website or marketplace - A Single Vendor B2C Online Pharma.

• Pharmacy Marketplace: Partner with different pharmacists and get them to list their products on your website, offering customers different options to choose from and achieve great ROI - A Multi-Vendor B2C Online Pharma.

• Pharmacy Chains: Best suited to pharmacy chains that have physical stores in multiple locations, this type of business model allows customers to order their medicines online from a pharmacy chain - A Single Vendor with multiple branches/stores/franchises.

The key features of online pharma eCommerce Portals

I.    Build Trust – By listing out the composition/ingredients of medicines in the product detail page. II.   Safety Instructions – For example - Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers should consult the Doctor before consuming this medicine.

Online pharma companies are expected to attain a combined market size of $2.7 billion by 2023 from about $360 million currently in the next four years, according to a new EY Report on E-Pharma.

1mg.com

One of India’s top Online pharmacy platform with a wide range of Prescription and OTC medicines. Some of the best features that distinguishes 1 mg from other similar eCommerce portals are listed here. 

• An intuitive User Panel

• A convenient medicine searches

• Refined search with categories such as cold, cough, body ache, migraine, fever, diabetes, thyroid, etc

• Upload pf prescription and ordering of medicines

• Expert counselling to help the user to choose the right combination of medicine

• Fitness meals that can also be ordered

• Track Order section with return policy

• Loyalty Program for Customer retention

• Finding nearest diagnosis labs and booking of appointment for tests

As per our report, the pharmacy Market (Online Pharmacy Market) size at a worldwide level was worth USD 42.32 billion in 2019 and forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 16.81% during the forecast period. ... ePharmacy is also known as an online pharmacy, internet pharmacy, and mail-order pharmacy. – Marketdataforecast

Netmeds.com

Netmeds is another popular online pharma platform with these features.

• Buy Medicines Online and get Doorstep Delivery

• Money-Saving Medicine Deals

• Consult Best Doctors Online 24x7 and FREE Follow-up Consultation

• Book Lab Tests Online.

• FREE Access to Health Information

• Timely Medicine Refill Reminders

• Find All About Your Order

‘’The first online pharmacy in the U.K. was Pharmacy2U, which started operating in 1999.’’

CVS Health

An American Healthcare Company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain has implemented unconventional features in their Online Pharmacy.

• Users can import prescriptions for refill from their secure medication history

• Users can use the Scan to Refill feature to scan a prescription's barcode and place order.
• With MinuteClinic, mobile users can quickly look up for MinuteClinic closest to them, browse the types of services they provide, check to make sure their insurance will be accepted.

• Customers can log in to view what deals are available that week, in a circular experience that is personalized to them.

• Users can choose the deals they want to take advantage of that week, create simple shopping lists to help save time when they head into the store, and send available rewards and coupons to apply to those purchases straight to their ExtraCare card.

• Users can use the Drug Interaction feature to check whether a prescription they are taking will have any potentially adverse reactions with other medications and over-the-counter products, foods, or lifestyle influences, such as sun exposure.

• Pill Identifier features can help users identify what a pill is by entering in descriptive information such as shape, colour and imprint.

What should the Product Detail Page of a Prescription Medicine and On-the-Counter Medicine contain

• Labelling of Medicine – Whether it is On the Counter Medicine or is it available only with prescription. If it is a medicine that needs to be taken under prescription, then the upload of prescription should be available.

• Introduction – Introduction usually talks about the overall use of the tablet, why the Doctor would prescribe the medicine and so on.

• Ingredients/Composition – What does the medicine compose and how much mg of the composition needs to be indicated.

• Storage instructions – For example, store below 30 degrees centigrade.

• Benefits of taking the medication – Details like relieves pain and brings down fever and so on.

• Side Effects of medicine – For example, may cause damage to liver or kidney. •    How to Use – Swallow the table with water and do not chew or break it.

• How the medicine works – For example, It relaxes blood vessels by blocking the action of a chemical that usually makes blood vessels tighter.

• Safety Advice–Do not consume alcohol, while on this medication.

• What if you forget to take? – There has been no research on what happens if you skip for a day or two. You may seek your Doctor’s advice on this.

• Alternate brands – List the alternates for the medicines – different brands with same ingredients and medicines for the same use.

• Interaction with other drugs – what happens while taking a medicine with another medicine – possible side effects and so on.

• FAQs – Some important question and answers with necessary information to the Patients.

• Manufacturer and Marketer Address – This is very important information that needs to be provided.

Walgreens

An Online American Pharmacy that is next to CVS Health has these features that give the best Customer experience. 

• Refill in a snap by scanning your barcode

• Track order status for you and your family

• Stay on track with pill reminders to help you manage medications day-to-day***

• Get FREE prescription and general health advice 24/7 from a pharmacy expert in a live chat

Platforms, such as India's upcoming Health Stack, is expected to drive further growth of online healthcare, with teleconsultations becoming more mainstream and patient records digitised and portable. – Economic Times

What is Shared Catalog Feature in Online Pharma

• This feature works in the best manner for pharmacy chains – a single pharmacy with multiple stores,franchises/branches with in a city, or across cities within the Nation.

• The Super Admin will have the master settings for uploading all the products and the information that has to appear on the product detail page, including the price.

• The branches/franchises will have a separate panel for themselves, where they will choose the product and update the available quantity and stock.

Medlife

Another portal to get all your healthcare products and medicines online with just a few clicks.

• Booking a lab test, getting samples collected from home, full body check-up or a wide range of health check-up packages.

• Shopping for ayurvedic, herbal, unani and homeopathic wellness products including other healthcare products like diabetic footwear and BP monitor.

• Upload of prescription

• The best feature - Fast 2 hours express delivery in selected postal codes.

• Medicines delivery to doorstep.

Concept of Omni-Channel in ePharmacy

The option for door delivery should be available in Online Pharmacy business.

In addition, the Customers should be able to place order online and then option for pick up from the nearest store should also be available – this is an excellent feature especially in pharmacy chains type of business model, where the Customers can pick up from the nearest store. If the stock is not available in the nearest store, then, they should be able to choose pick up from another store or get door delivered.

Conclusion

Spurtcommerce team can help you with the development of Industry’s trending and best Online Pharmacy with such avantgarde features that are listed above. For more information and to share your requirement for online pharmacy, write to support@spurtcommerce.com