ePharmacy is an online service that aids consumers to order medicines online and delivers them to the doorstep. Such an order can be placed through e-commerce platforms, shipping companies, or via mail. Increasing penetration of the internet, e-commerce, and a proliferated adoption of smartphones have enabled the healthcare sector to deploy technologically advanced solutions such as ePharmacy. The global ePharmacy market is anticipated to expand at a lucrative CAGR over the forecast period.
The most crucial market driving factors for the global ePharmacy market growth are increasing penetration of the internet and the proliferation of smartphone users. The modern gadgets and the internet facilitate the healthcare sector to deploy technologically advanced healthcare solutions including ePharmacy. Ease of use is another important market driving factor as it is easy for patients to order medicine online. High demand for online availability of medicines and medical devices is also enhancing the market growth. Other factors driving the ePharmacy market growth include the growth of e-commerce, the difficulty faced by offline retail providers to meet the skyrocketing requirements in remote areas, surging demand for healthcare services, rise in geriatric population, and increasing prevalence of chronic ailments. However, some factors that can hurt the market growth include low penetration of advanced technology in underdeveloped regions and limited availability of the internet.
Competitive Analysis
The global ePharmacy market is highly influenced by the activities undertaken by various existing vendors in the market. Owing to the magnified potential for ePharmacies, the global market is witnessing new market entrants are leveraging skyrocketing opportunities and hold larger share in the market, gaining competitive advantages over market rivals. This is likely to cause the global ePharmacy market fragmented and highly competitive in the forthcoming years. Furthermore, due to the magnanimous potential in the ePharmacy market, many local and regional pharmaceutical suppliers are expected to enter the market and launch their ePharmacy platforms and grab a marginal share of the market.
Some of the noteworthy vendors in the ePharmacy market include The Kroger Co., Giant Eagle, Inc., Walgreen Co., Express Scripts Holding Company, Medisave, Walmart Stores, Inc., CVS Health, Sanicare AB, Rowlands Pharmacy, Secure Medical, Inc., Optum Rx, Inc., DocMorris (Zur Rose Group AG), PlanetRx, eDrugstore.com, drugstore.com Inc., Canada Drugs, and Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd.
Segmentation
The global ePharmacy market segmentation encompasses drug type and product type. MRFR’s research on the market highlights many factors of the market in-depth.
- By drug type, this market has been segmented into prescription drugs and over the counter (OTC) drugs. Based on product type, the market has been segmented into cold & flu, dental, skincare, vitamins, weight loss, and others.
Regional Analysis
All the segments covered in the report are sized by their potential in five major regions of Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), with respective country-level analysis.
North America and Europe are expected to be at the forefront of the industry with business models focusing on data science for aggregation of accurate customer insights. Efforts to modernized healthcare infrastructure, shift to digitization, and high data speeds are factors expected to drive regional growth for ePharmacies. Stimulus checks provided for unemployed citizens in the U.S. is also likely to ring in sales for the market as they procure medicines for enhancing immunity.
APAC and Latin America are economies with latent potential for the market. Mergers and acquisitions are on an upswing in India with online pharmacies rushing to gain market share. The effort by ePharmacies in providing services outside their core expertise such as online video consultation, patient management, and diagnostic consultation can bode well for the market. China and India are expected to contribute majorly to the APAC ePharmacy market. Large potential of the market as well as complemented by a large patient pool can lead to foreign investments.
