Global E-Pharmacy Market 2020 Latest Trends, Growth and Forecast

According to the Fortune research report, the global e-Pharmacy market size was valued at around USD 49 Million in 2018. In 2018, Over-the-counter (OTC) segment dominated the e-Pharmacy compared to prescription medicines in the last two years. Although prescription medicines are expected to pick up and grow at a faster CAGR during the forecast period of 2019- 2025, as per Fortune research report.

E-pharmacy or online pharmacy relies on the internet primarily to serve customers by allowing them to purchase different types of medical products, prescription medicines, and OTC drugs online.

Various shipping methods are used by online pharmacies to deliver products at the doorstep of shoppers. All types of pharmaceutical drugs like over the counter (OTC) drugs, prescription drugs, weight loss supplements, painkillers, etc. are delivered by online pharmacies today.

Latest Trends: Global E-Pharmacy Market

Primary reasons for the rapid growth and development of global e-Pharmacy market today include

1. The rise in the number of internet consumers
2. Improvement in web-based and online services
3. Growing applications of e-prescriptions in hospitals and other healthcare services
4. Growing investments made by private companies
5. Formation of robust and effective e-Pharmacy policies by Government bodies globally
6. Millennials increasing interest in online procurement of goods like cosmetics and OTC medicines

• Startups like MedicineFather across the globe are springing up e-Pharmacy market by leveraging new information technologies like AI, Big Data, Blockchain, etc. to improve the customer experience while purchasing medicines online.
• Top e-Pharmacy companies are providing medicines at discounted rates, compared to offline pharmacy stores.
• Selling low-quality or banned drugs, increasing usage of e-prescriptions, street-side kiosks, poor policies for e-Pharmacy, lack of collaboration between government and e-Pharmacy companies are some major challenges for the global e-pharmacy market growth.
• The major players in the global e-pharmacy market include The Kroger Co., Medicine Father, CVS Health, Doc Morris, Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart Stores, OptumRx, 1mg, and Netmeds, The Walgreen Company, Express Scripts Holding.
• Increasing rising in the e-Pharmacy industry is also affecting the market share of the top market players.
• initiatives like mergers, new product launches, acquisitions, and partnerships are taken by top pharmacy companies to solidify their market position.

Global E-Pharmacy Market: By Region

Based on geography, the market segments include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Among all, North America holds the largest e-Pharmacy share of the market.

US E-Pharmacy Market

The North American Region, including the US, is expected to dominate the global e-pharmacy market between 2019-25, as per the Mordor intelligence report.

Reasons for the rapid growth of e-Pharmacy market in the US and North America:

• The increasing number of internet users
• General population over-reliance on the online delivery of consumable goods and over-the-counter healthcare products like vitamin tablets, nutrition supplements, and cosmetics, etc.
Positive government actions to creating awareness about online services

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S is also actively involved in forming strict rules and regulations of e-Pharmacy and making customers aware of the safety tips they should keep in mind while buying drugs online.

Global E-pharmacy: Key Industry Developments

• In January 2019, Swedish online pharmacy company Meds received a funding of US$ 5.5 Mn funding to expand its business in Europe.
• In June 2015, Rite Aid Corp acquired Envision Rx for mail-order pharmacy services including prescription medicines.
• In March 2019, 1mg, an Indian online pharmacy received LegitScript certification from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).
• In June 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. has announced that it will acquire e-Pharmacy company called PillPack, Inc. for around US$ 753 Mn.

Future Forecast

• The global e-pharmacy market is expected to be valued around USD 107.53 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of around 14.26% between 2019 and 2025, as per the zion research report.