How to sell medicines online in India:

How to sell medicines online in India:

So let’s get you equipped with all you need to know about starting your own online pharmacy store:

Understand the laws of your country

According to the Indian laws here what is mandatory:

You must have a registered pharmacist on board.

You must have authentic and valid prescriptions for accepting orders.

All bills should be signed by a registered pharmacist.

Ensure you have a registered pharmacist overseeing all the orders before they get shipped.

Finally, the medicines should be sent from a chemist shop bearing a retail license.

Apart from this, there are additional business licenses you need to acquire to legally put up medicinal items for sale online.

Types of models

The industry currently works on 2 business models:

The first one operates just like a local pharmacy storing huge amounts of medicinal products to sell online. Once a customer orders a medicine with a valid prescription, the order is shipped to their doorstep.

In the second one, the online pharmacy store gets the order submitted with a valid prescription, sends it to the closest chemist store that matches the buyer’s address. The online pharmacy’s personnel fetches it from there and gets the delivery done.

Some online pharmacies send their personnel to the purchaser’s address in order to vet the prescriptions. After all, it’s safer to be sure than sorry

How you earn

Apart from the commissions, you earn from the price margins, setting up your own online pharmacy store allows you to welcome manufacture brands to have a share of the display space on your website. While you earn a tangible revenue from these display ads, you can also set up a blog space, another lucrative platform for big brands to showcase their newest products or supplements and harp on their benefits.

Value additions

Here’s a great advantage that you can bestow on your customers. In case they don’t have a valid prescription you can offer to set up an on-call appointment with a medical practitioner or a doctor evaluate their need and prescribe or vet the old prescription for free or a minimal charge. This will surely boost your revenue and create an unparalleled brand recall in their minds.

How To Sell Medicines Online?

How to sell medicines online?

Due to advancements in technology e-pharmacies are growing at a rapid pace. The already increasing e-pharmacy market is predicted to grow further by almost 5 times up to $ 128 billion by 2023. Due to these factors, This is the perfect time to join this revolution and start taking steps toward your online presence right now.

Moreover, the Heavy investment of tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon in the pharma tech business prompts many people to wonder how they can sell medicines online.

Many people hesitate to sell medicines online not because they do not want to, but because they do not know about relevant rules and regulations, and how to set up their pharmacy shop online.

So, in this article, we will try to answer this particular question and also explain the importance of having a mobile app and website. And in the end, some tips that help you to grow your business are waiting for you.

This guide will enable you to understand the steps, and the sequence required when you are setting up an online pharmacy store.

1. Understand The Laws Governing Online Pharmacies

Owing to all these complexities, different countries already have set up laws and rules intended to control the sales of pharmaceutical items. However, they are solely focused on physical stores and not on online pharmacies. Thus, there are many gray areas in the laws of certain nations. Your premises should have to be approved by the local statutory body before you make the first sale.

2. Select And Secure Your Brand Name And The Domain Name

This is one thing you'll need to do as right on time as possible. If you've chosen a proprietary or partnership structure for your business, you'll have to independently register your brand name.

3. Decide The Structure Of Your Business And Get Licenses

If you are a registered medicine specialist, fantastic! If you aren't, you'll have to get one. The medicine specialist might be a paid representative, a business partner, or a board member. Look at the laws prevalent laws in the nation you will be working from, to see whether there is any limitation in regards to this.

4. Pick The Right Platform For Online Pharmacy Store

After you understand the regulations, it's an ideal opportunity to handle all the features on various technology platforms. Pick the best e-pharmacy platform for your online store.

5. Identify Suppliers and Delivery Partners

Since your online pharmacy store will sell sensitive products, medicated formulations, health supplements, and OTC medications - it's incredibly critical you select your suppliers and other partners responsibly.

6. Build up The Workflow And Systems For Your Online Pharmacy Store

One challenge that online pharmacy needs to overcome is how they will handle a medicine order and verify its legitimacy. While dispensing out medicines, you'll need a solid system set up to ensure there are no errors.

Now, you might have already seen how easy this process seems if you have the right planning and the correct agencies that can help you through the pharmacy website development and design.

Why Website is necessary?

One of the first steps you need to take is to contact pharma software providers. Having a working website means that you are ready to open the gates of your pharmacy to wider audiences. With the help of a website, you can take orders from the customers directly and deliver the medicines. However, with this, you need to ensure that it is an interactive and user-friendly website so that the prospective clients do have any problems finding the products that they desire. A good website ensures that your clients are happy with your service and increases their chances of coming back.

Why Mobile Application is necessary?

Smartphones have become the go-to platform for users to make orders. Low-cost internet data plans have enticed many people to come online. According to current statistics, 88% of internet users prefer using mobile apps to buy things. So, to capture the wider customer base, You need to have a pharmacy android as well as an iOS app.

How to increase sales?

Send Promotional offers:

After you have made apps and websites, you need them to stick to your platform. To achieve this, you can set up a refer and earn campaign where customers earn some wallet balance after a customer joins your platform by their referral. You can promote offers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. Do not forget to send regular notifications, alerts offer to all your clients.

Online Marketing Strategies

It is evident that once you have the chemist app ready and the pharmacy e-commerce website running, you need to have proper online pharmacy marketing to make sure people know about your website and there is increased traffic to it. This is where a Pharma IT Company like EMedStore can help you out. It is a premier Healthcare IT company that not only helps you with your online medicinestore mobile app development but also gives you online pharmacy sales tips. Mere development of websites and apps will not reap the benefits of the expansion of your business. You also need to take all the efforts towards marketing it well. The recent market trends have pointed towards going online. 

How to sell medicines online In India and set up an e-pharmacy

Chemists are turning entrepreneurs, and perhaps you can too. There are two reasons why you need to know how to sell medicines online in India – eCommerce and pandemic. 

Online pharmacies grew rapidly in the past year and are expected to touch over $2 billion in the market by 2023. Not bad for a good business idea then! 

But before you get excited and sell medicines online, you need to know what goes into this business. In this blog, we will cover:

1. Types of online medical stores in India 
2. How to set up an online pharmacy 
3. Sell medicines online – 5 ways to reach the right audience 

Contents 

• 1 What led to the growth of online pharmacies in India? 
• 2 Types of online medical stores in India
• 3 How to set up an online pharmacy and sell medicines online 
• 4 Sell medicines online – 5 ways to reach the right audience 

What led to the growth of online pharmacies in India? 

There is an increase in eCommerce stores sprouting up online. After COVID, more Indians were aware of their health and the pandemic showed us how important it was to have access to medicines online.

Several pharmacies switched to an online space, looking for digital solutions to continue catering to their customers who could not step out of their homes. 

The introduction of e-pharmacies set in motion an entire framework that included delivery, logistics, finance, legality and compliance to cater to everyone.

Big players like Tata and Reliance have already bought a major share of online pharmacies to meet the growing demand for medicines being purchased online. 

Types of online medical stores in India

Before you start selling medicines online, find out what kind of Pharma sector you wish to get into. There are pricing, legal, and procuring differences in each sector. 

1. OTC medicine stores – pharmacies 

If you are thinking of your local drug store that sells crocin, pain relievers and cold medicine, (or Over-The-Counter meds) then this is a kind of online medicine store you will find/set up online. By law, Indian OTC medicines are up to 70% cheaper than branded ones. 

2. General medicine brands 

Think Himalaya. The brand sells OTC medicines for hangover relief, pain relief, and cold and also sells baby products, face wash and body care products like shampoo and soap.

These medicines also include ethical or branded pharmaceutical preparations from reputed companies in India.  

3. Ayurveda and Naturopathy 

Over 75% of Indians still actively believe in Ayurvedic medicine. A 300 billion market, Ayurveda is one of the biggest Indian herbal medicine practices globally. They do not require any prescriptions.

If you set up an Ayurvedic online medical practice, you cannot sell allopathic medicine. 

How to set up an online pharmacy and sell medicines online 

1. Obtain a drug license and register your business 

Before you procure medicines to sell online, it is important for your business to obtain all the certificates, licenses and trademarks you need. This helps reassure customers of the authenticity of your brand and the medicines you sell.

Image source – 1mg

To begin with, you will need a drug license from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization and State Drugs Standard Control Organization. Both these organisations issue the following basic licenses –

• Retail Drug License: Even though you are setting up an online medicine business, you will need a retail drug license which is required to run a general pharmacy. According to legaldocs.co, The registration can be done only in the name of an individual who possesses a degree or diploma in pharmacy from a recognized institute or university.
• Manufacturing License: This license is issued to a business that manufactures drugs inclusive of allopathic/homoeopathy medicines.
• Wholesale Drug License: This license applies to your business if you make and sell medicines wholesale. Unlike Retail Drug License, there are not many stringent conditions that one has to meet in order to get this license.

This article by ClearTax explains all the different documents you need to procure before you apply for a drug license. It is illegal to manufacture and sell medicines online without a valid drug license.

You can take the help of legal advisors like Legalwiz.in to know all about e-compliance and legal documents you need to set up the business online.

 

Register your business with Clear Tax

2. Partner with pharmacists 

Before you obtain a drug license, find a qualified pharmacist who can validate the medicines you are manufacturing and selling.

Ensure the pharmacist carries the minimum qualification for the profession (a Diploma in Pharmacy D. Pharm or Bachelor/Masters in Pharmaceuticals). You can also partner with doctors and chemists with licenses, to help set up and sell medicines online.

Why? A certified doctor’s and chemist’s name is important to mention in the application form when you apply for a pharmacy/drug license.

These chemists will be accountable for the quality and assurance of the medicines you choose to sell online.

c. Find an online store provider 

Since you wish to sell medicines online, find a reliable eCommerce platform or online store provider that can guide you and set it up for you.

If you do not wish to immediately invest in a website, start with an online store like ours.

You can even set up a free online store for no cost and upgrade it to a premium one whenever you like. Here is an example of an online medicine store using Instamojo.

When setting up the online store, make sure to:

• Upload photos of your medicines, along with detailed descriptions of the product
• Explain in detail what your business does.
• Add testimonials and reviews from previous customers.
• Mention doctors recommendations
• Add social media handles if any
• Add your licenses icons on the homepage
• Choose from over 30+  themes and pick one that suits your store best (this is for premium store users only)

Sign up for your online store

d. Find a shipping/courier service

Medicines need to reach customers on time, and NEVER late. Prescription medicines require immediate delivery. Therefore, once you set up an online store and stock up on medicines, partner with a reliable online shipping service provider.

Fortunately, if you use Instamojo, you get access to mojoXpress Instamojo shipping service. If you need a shipping or courier service that guarantees immediate delivery, check out this list. 

Sell medicines online – 5 ways to reach the right audience 

1. Reach out to customers with surveys

Carry out a little preliminary research to find out if your customers are comfortable buying medicines online.

Understand their challenges and limitations when it comes to buying medicines online. When you set up your store on Instamojo, it offers you a LIVE chat option where customers can leave their Email ID and a query. This way, you do not lose out on a potential lead (customer) and you can reach out to them via email immediately.

2. Offer doctor consultations on your website/store

1MG – one of the largest online pharmacies in India also offers online doctor consultations to their customers and website visitors. This improves customer engagement on your website/online store as visitors have more than one purpose besides buying medicine.

Also, this way, customers can spend more time on your website and choose the right medicine, post the consultation with the doctor.

You can also use our landing page builder to book appointments without having to worry about managing an entire website.

3. Request prescriptions when needed

Some medicines like sleeping pills, psychiatry medicines etc. need a signed prescription from a clinic/doctor. Before you approve a purchase order, ensure the customer uploads a scanned copy of the prescription before the checkout is complete.

This helps you reach the right kind of customer who needs the medicine urgently. It will also help prevent any legal/ medical malpractice problems that may come your way.

4. Use social media for testimonials, reviews, and information

Unlike other brands, e-pharmacies should not promote their medicines as if to provoke customers to buy them.

Medicines are an essential product, therefore, use your social media handles wisely to talk about safe health practices, COVID updates and raise awareness on general safety and healthy lifestyle practices.

For example, Medlifecare makes use of its Instagram to provide healthcare tips and suggestions to assure its customers. Social media is one way to reach out to your audience. Show your customers you care about their well-being and safety.

Selling medicine online requires the entrepreneur in you to be as ethical as possible. Upload photos of your medical licenses on the homepage, follow up with your customers on how they are doing and ensure you keep them informed about what you are selling.