An online pharmacy can be defined as an internet-based vendor that sells medicines on an e-commerce platform facilitating multiple payment options. The independent internet only showcases the online branches of brick-and-mortar pharmacies, under online pharmacies' purview.
The online pharmacy industry has garnered $68,382.3 million revenue in 2021, and it is projected to grow at a rate of 16.1%, to capture $261,684.5 million revenue in 2030.
Presently, a rise has been experienced in E-commerce platforms, such as online shopping. It includes sales of prescription and non-prescription medicines. Online pharmacies are garnering huge popularity, as they offer better prices compared to offline stores, with easy access, lower transaction, and lesser cost.
Moreover, online pharmacies offer high accessibility to people with limited mobility and those in remote areas. They also send notifications, discounts, and doorstep delivery within a short time, and validate the prescription from a licensed pharmacist.
The rise in teleconsultation and diagnostic support boosts the sales of medicines from online pharmacies. E-prescriptions are generated through teleconsultation and remote consultation, which enables the purchase of drugs from online pharmacies. It has resulted in saving the time of patients and making healthcare providers more efficient.
The sales of online pharmacy products offered through app-based platforms reached $40 billion. The rising internet penetration and increasing usage of smartphones are major contributors to the surging purchase of medicines from app-based online pharmacy platforms.
After the second wave of COVID-19, the online pharmacy sector is garnering huge popularity, with surging orders of medical devices, health supplements, personal protective equipment, and commonly available drugs.
Due to a shortage of cash during the lockdown, a large number of people living in metro cities preferred to order online medicines through online payment instead of visiting offline pharmacies.
Mobile health is transforming online pharmacies by providing efficient assistance to healthcare professionals and patients. The mobile application offers numerous benefits such as providing assistance to pharmacists, tracking patient disease history, and calculating individual drug doses. Moreover, mHealth transforms smartphones into point-of-care diagnostic tools for monitoring blood pressure, which gains massive attraction among consumers.
