Walmart’s Flipkart is now joining the e-pharmacy after Reliance and Amazon India. It has collaborated with 1MG based in Gurgaon, whose application is now available on Android one from Flipkart. Users may then order Flipkart’s prescription drugs, book doctor appointments and laboratory tests.
There is still resistance to the e-tailer’s entry in e-pharmacy. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, President & CEO Doug McMillon, Flipkart; told the All India Association of Chemists and Drug Administrative (AIOCD); a body of 8.5 Lakh members, that the relationship is contrary to local laws.
Because of the traffic, Flipkart ultimately tries to fulfill another market requirement. Prescription medications, medical testing, and consultation with physicians are in high demand in the case of a pandemic; as customers seek to restrict their travel. Market stickiness and the average order size up to $15-20; are also some of the factors for major strategic actors like Amazon, Reliance, and Flipkart.
“While we have discovered that Flipkart; the owner of Walmart Inc, USA, has partnered on its website with an e-pharmacy called 1MG.COM to offer ‘Prescription Medicines.’ The relationship is contrary to the laws of our country, “AIOCD told McMillon and Krishnamurthy.
It has also commenced to market non-represcription medicines. “We hope the above-mentioned points will make it very clear to you that e-pharmacies are not legal in our country and will have needless legal consequences. You won’t want to find yourself in these troubles, “added AIOCD ‘s notice.
In contacting a Flipkart spokesman, the AIOCD and its senior executives did not comment on its relationship with 1MG. “Since customers are increasingly searching for preventive care after a pandemic; it has been a natural move for us to expand our portfolio and introduce products across various categories; including immune boosters, respiratory services, diabetic care, digestive treatment, and heart care,” added the speaker.
Prashant Tandon, 1 MG co-founder and CEO, did not make any comments on the subject.
A market research study in August by RedSeer estimated that e-pharmaceutical platforms; including consultancy and laboratory testing, are expected to generate gross sales of 2 billion USD by March 2021; and restore the supply chain and increase the number of new users.
A recent white paper by Ficci-RedSeer said that 6 million new households sought online medicine, taking 9,000,000 households. The recent report by RedSeer reported that at the end of March 2020, e-phars had a gross turnover of $1.3 billion.