E-commerce giant Amazon has ventured into the online pharmacy space in India starting with Bengaluru and plans to expand it to Pan India scale eventually. This puts Amazon in direct competition with existing players in this space like Pharmeasy, 1mg, NetMeds, etc. The demand for online pharmacy has seen a sharp surge during the lockdown period, with customers preferring to have the medicines home-delivered. Amazon sees great potential in the online pharmacy segment which complements its e-commerce backbone.
“As a part of our commitment to fulfill the needs of customers, we are launching Amazon Pharmacy in Bangalore allowing customers to order prescription-based medication in addition to over-the-counter medicines, basic health devices, and Ayurveda medication from certified sellers. This is particularly relevant in present times as it will help customers meet their essential needs while staying safe at home.”
Said an Amazon India spokesperson, commenting on the launch.
The company assures Genuine medicines with secure packaging and assured savings. Amazon is offering up to 20% discount on prescription medicines. The customers need to search for prescription medicine in the common search bar in the Amazon shopping app, upon finding the correct medicine they need to select the quantity and click on proceed to buy, following this they will be presented with the option to upload the prescription by either clocking using the phone camera or selecting from an existing image in the phone gallery. Following this, the order will be completed and delivered to the customer in due time.
The development comes at a time when the online pharmacy space is seeing consolidation, with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries close to buying out Chennai-based Netmeds for $120 million. The Economic Times recently reported that PharmEasy and Medlife are exploring a possible merger, where PharmEasy could acquire its rival for $120-150 million. At the same time, 1mg is rumoured to have held talks with PharmEasy for an acquisition.
