A complete guide on how to develop an on-demand medicine delivery solution for pharmacy business

A COMPLETE GUIDE ON HOW TO DEVELOP AN ON-DEMAND MEDICINE DELIVERY SOLUTION FOR PHARMACY BUSINESS  We are living in a digital age where we can have almost anything by just making a few taps on our phone.  On-demand delivery services have certainly increased our appetite for instant gratification even for the things which are not needed on an instant basis.  But what about the things which are sometimes needed on an instant basis? Shouldn’t they be available at our fingertips?

MEDICINE DELIVERY APPS: THE NEED OF THE HOUR IN TIMES OF COVID-19 • The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have made on-demand medicine delivery solutions more important than ever before. They have emerged as the biggest support systems to the online medicine delivery systems. It’s because the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdown in several countries where people were unable to go out of their house to buy medicine for themselves or their loved ones.

• Not only this, but the pandemic also caused a sharp decline in the availability of the medicines & drugs as the people started stocking up medicines and hoarding pharmacies for sanitizers and drugs. In such a scenario, people started moving towards using on-demand medicine delivery applications where they can easily check the availability of the medicine and order it without leaving their houses.

• On-demand medicine delivery applications empowered pandemic struck customers to order medicines at their homes with the safety of contactless delivery. This convenience and speed of buying medicines at the times when the whole world was struggling due to an unknown disease quickly gained popularity as more and more people started using online medicine apps.

MARKET SIZE AND STATS FOR ON-DEMAND PHARMACY APP DEVELOPMENT

• If you’re looking to develop an on-demand medicine delivery software, then right now is the best. The e-pharmacy market had its own issues in the past, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge surge in this industry.

• According to the statistics, the healthcare and fitness industry are one of the top business industries to accelerate the development of mobile apps and digital devices. Not only this, but the mobile healthcare market globally is estimated to reach around $90.49 billion by the year 2020 at a CAGR of 33.7 per cent. You’ll be shocked to know that this number was only $21.17 billion in 2018.

• As per Statista, the projected growth for mHealth applications is estimated to grow at around USD $332.7 billion by the year 2025. The below graph clearly shows how the market size for mHealth applications is increasing each year.

WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENT BUSINESS MODELS THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER?

• When it comes to developing on-demand medicine delivery solution, you must consider different business models and choose one as per your requirement and feasibility.

• There are mainly two business models which we will discuss one by one.

MEDICINE DELIVERY SOFTWARE FOR A SINGLE PHARMACY STORE

• This is an operational model, where the customer places the order by giving their prescriptions to the medical store.

• The medical store person then checks if the ordered drug is available or not. If it’s available then the store sends the medicine to the customer’s doorsteps.

• Once the customer receives the medicine, he makes either makes cash payment or online payment to the medical store.

AGGREGATOR MEDICINE DELIVERY APP • In the second business model, you don’t need to own a medical store. In this model, you can establish partnerships with local pharmacies and medical stores. When a user places the order using the app, then the app will find the nearest medical store to the user which is also a partner to the app.

• The application would simply redirect the demand of the customers to the local chemists and the local medical store would send the ordered medicines to the user’s doorsteps. In this business model, the app acts as a common platform where customers can find the nearest chemist.

• In this business model, both the parties which are medical stores and e-pharmacy should sign the terms and agreements before they enter into such partnerships.

TOP 3 MEDICINE DELIVERY APPS THAT YOU MUST KNOW OF • There are many on-demand medicine delivery apps that have emerged over the past years due to its growing demand.

• However, only a handful of them has been successful in winning the trust of the customers.

• Let’s have a look at such top three medicine delivery apps.

 Capsule pharmacy •

Capsule pharmacy was founded in the year 2016 and since then it has achieved a lot of feats. Last year, it made its way to the Forbes list of the largest companies in 2019. This New York based app promises its customer of a same-day delivery for any medicine. This app lets its customers to order medicines either from their prescription or by entering the details manually.

 NetMeds

• NetMeds is an Indian-based company that has garnered over 3 million users in quick time. NetMeds delivers a rich medicine ordering experience to its customers along with offering them with homoeopathic and ayurvedic medicines.  NowRX • NowRX has emerged as the leading on-demand medicine delivery app in the US after just three years of its inception. This app comes with some interesting features such as allowing their customers to chat with the pharmacists and adding their prescription via Alexa. One distinct feature which makes it different from others is that it enables its users to receive the prescription directly from the diction through the app.

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ON-DEMAND MEDICINE DELIVERY SOLUTION • Starting an on-demand medicine delivery business is not that easy.

• There are a lot of challenges associated with it. Let’s have a look at them one by one.

HIPAA compliance affecting app development FDA regulations Data security Cloud integration Conflicts from older enterprise’s traditional system

MUST-HAVE FEATURES FOR YOUR ON-DEMAND MEDICINE DELIVERY APP • If you want to develop a successful on-demand medicine delivery software then you must ensure that it has all the important features in it.

• Let’s have a look at the on-demand medicine delivery app features that you must include.

• A medicine delivery solution has four major apps viz. customer app, vendor app, delivery agent app, and an admin panel.

• Here we will discuss all the must-have features for all these apps. First, let’s have a look at the must-have features for the customer app.

FEATURES THAT MAKE MEDICINE ORDERING EASY FOR CUSTOMERS  Profiles  Upload prescription  Search medicines  Expansive search with filtering options  Refill prescriptions  Multiple modes of payment  Track order  Review and ratings

FEATURES FOR PHARMACY STORE OWNERS Manage drugs Order notification Order management Manage prices Manage discounts Digital prescriptions

FEATURES THAT MAKE DELIVERY AGENTS’ JOB EASY

Quick order notification Complete delivery information Share availability Real-time navigation Track earning & performance

FEATURES THAT EMPOWERS ADMIN TO MANAGE EVERYTHING EFFICIENTLY  Dashboard  Manage inventory  Marketing and promotion  Manage order status  Manage payments & commissions  Reports & analytics

HOW ON-DEMAND MEDICINE DELIVERY BENEFITS USERS AND PHARMACIES?

 For users  Saves time  Saves money  Descriptive  24×7 medicine delivery  Users can check availability  For pharmacies  Superior buying experience  Improving customer base  Offer services beyond geographical constraints  Automated updating of inventory  Increase revenue

WHY GO FOR A READY-MADE ON-DEMAND MEDICINE DELIVERY SOLUTION?  Quick and easy to brand  Keeps your customers satisfied  Saves time and money

 Focus on your core competencies

CONCLUSION • On-demand applications continue to dominate as new industry verticals join this business model such as food delivery, groceries, and now medicine delivery joins the list too. Nowadays, customers are becoming more digital savvy as they expect to buy and order almost everything from their phone.

• With the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and lockdowns in place, on-demand delivery of medicines have become the need of the hour.

• That’s why it’s the best time for all the entrepreneurs to invest in developing an on-demand medicine delivery app. If you’re also looking to get a medicine delivery system of your own then get Yelowsoft’s readymade on-demand medicine delivery software which is an advanced, robust, and next-gen solution with a proven track record.

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