Quick Summary: The idea of taking your pharmacy business to e-commerce is not new. But during the pandemic, it emerged as the extremely popular way to purchase medicines due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Consumers seem to be turning to the internet pharmacy market due to its convenience, low cost, and other benefits.
Now in the post-pandemic world, online pharmacies are not just the convenient way of taking prescriptions and delivering medications at patients’ doorsteps. In the age of digital health care, the role of pharmacy and pharmacists is evolving, making it vital to take your pharmacy business online.
However, if you still have doubts on why to take your pharmacy online or start an online pharmacy? Continue reading to find your answer.
Why start an online pharmacy in the USA?
Today, consumers are prioritizing their health and wellness like never before. According to the study conducted, the global online pharmacy market is expected to reach USD 202.3 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 16.8%, during the forecast period from 2021-2027.
Further, the “U.S. Online Pharmacy Market- Industry outlook and forecast 2021-2026” report shows a rise in Direct-To-Patient drug sales, increased demand for advanced ecommerce technologies, and high adoption of eprescription among US customers.
To stay up in the pharmacy business, owners must understand the need of going online with the eCommerce platform.
You should also read: Why and why not use Shopify for healthcare eCommerce?
Benefits of developing an online pharmacy application in the USA
Investing in the online pharmacy can drive your pharmacy business towards excellence and provide the following benefits for consumers and business owners.
Online pharmacy app development: Types and key features
Top online pharmacy apps in the USA
1. CVS Pharmacy (4.7 stars with 569K rating):
CVS is the largest pharmacy chain in the USA. Currently serving more than 5 million customers in the USA. The company is owned by CVS Health (Consumer Value Store Health).
Features:
- User-friendly interface
- Search medication
- Shop using prescription with a single scan
- Discount, deals, and rewards
- Refill prescription
- Check drug interaction
- Healthcare provider services(search and call doctors and physicians)
- Video counseling with a healthcare provider
- Order prints and more from your device and online albums for same-day pickup
2. Capsule Pharmacy (4.9 stars with 5.7K Ratings):
The app offers their customers same-day medication delivery with zero delivery charges.
Features:
- Manage prescribed medication for individual and family
- Easy medication refilling
- Same day medication delivery free of charges
- Chat or message pharmacist for any query
- The app coordinates with doctors and medical insurers if required
3. Pill Pack by Amazon Pharmacy:
Pill pack is an Amazon-owned online medication delivery service that provides free medication delivery within two days. It is unique in the sense that it provides personalized medication packaging, simplifying medication management.
Features:
- Medication order and delivery
- Medication management for individual and family
- Delivers refills
- Works with health insurance plans
- Access to caregiver
- 24/7 Support from pharmacies
- Pay with amazon prime option to save maximum
How can you make more money by adding pharmacy eCommerce features in your online pharmacy app?
To build a holistic model of an online pharmacy app, one must consider all stakeholders including customers, pharmacists, manufacturers, doctors, insurance, and physicians. To better understand this model we can take a previous example of a Pill Pack online pharmacy service by Amazon.
The business model combines insurers, pharmacists, manufacturers, and customers in the one-loop to deliver better care. So if you are contemplating building the best online pharmacy delivery app you can get the idea from the above top pharmacy apps in the USA.
In all three apps, you can see most of its features are taken from the eCommerce service such as on-demand delivery, customer support, add to cart features, add discounts and coupons, and so on.
Taking your pharmacy business online with eCommerce features provides you with faster and better outcomes. Moreover, it gives you full control over your business and empowers you to make better decisions with its analytical features and insights.
And most importantly, you can sell multiple healthcare and wellness products online including perfumes, supplements, oral care items, skincare items, OTC medicines, senior care items etc.
This will allow you to double your revenue streams which ultimately results in double revenue.
The compliance requirement for the online pharmacy app development
Growing drug shortages and poor regulatory compliance are a threat to online pharmacies and the entire healthcare system. According to the recent survey conducted in 2017 by the US National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), found that nearly 96% of websites selling prescription medicines were acting unlawfully.
However, if we see the number of customers that are preferring to buy online medication in the US is rapidly increasing. Even though the demand is high, medicines are not like buying groceries and fashion accessories, patient life is at stake. Therefore, there is a strong reason behind the regulation of online pharmacies.
Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy has to call USA policymakers to reform drug importation policies. It has also been critical towards the introduction of the regulation of patient data protection. So that criminals can not buy patients’ information from the domain to carry out illegal activities and online scams.
App compliant with HIPAA is more secure as it will keep all your patients’ data highly secure. HIPAA has several technical requirements which your app must address. Basically, HIPAA governs the way you are storing, using and sharing the personal health information of the patients. Meaning, if your app is compliant with HIPAA, your app will automatically become more secure.
How can we help you to build an online pharmacy app with eCommerce features?
In the third wave of digital eCommerce, the role of pharmacies and pharmacists has drastically evolved and still has a great potential to change the economics of pharmacies.
If you are planning to be a part of this transforming ecosystem, it’s time to move forward and make smart decisions for your pharma business. You can build an app according to your requirements and business model and choose between web app, mobile app, cross-platform app, MVP app etc.
We at SyS Creations can help you to make better decisions about your app development. We are a healthcare-focused IT company with expertise in healthcare enterprise consultation, app development, designing, and analytics.
Our team includes healthcare app developers, UI/UX designers, business analysts, QA engineers and healthcare compliance specialists who have solid experience in the healthcare domain.
What makes us unique is our healthcare knowledge, our Canadian quality of work, American quality of innovation, QA process and post-app launch support.
