Flipkart launches Health+ vertical: But it has its task cut out
Last year, Flipkart made a tentative access into the profitable however extraordinarily aggressive on line pharma and fitness space. It entered into a few sort of knowledge with on line pharma employer 1 mg. But it become a short-lived partnership because the employer become later taken over with the aid of using Tata, that is slowly however actually making its presence felt in e-commerce.
But undeterred, Flipkart is now making sparkling movements withinside the healthcare area thru the release of Flipkart Health+. As a part of this development, it has signed agreements to accumulate a majority percentage in Sastasundar Marketplace Limited which owns and operates SastaSundar.com, an internet pharmacy and virtual healthcare platform. It has a community of greater than 490 pharmacies.
Starting with e-pharmacy, Flipkart stated, it’d upload new healthcare offerings which include e-diagnostics and e-session over time.
But it isn’t going to be clean for Flipkart
“Flipkart Health+ will leverage the blended strengths of the Flipkart Group, which incorporates its pan-India attain and era capabilities, with SastaSundar’s deep understanding to offer clients give up-to-give up services withinside the fitness-tech ecosystem,” the employer stated in a statement.
Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President and Head – Corporate Development, Flipkart, stated, “With developing focus and recognition on fitness heightened with the aid of using the pandemic, there may be a massive possibility and call for for cheap healthcare and ancillary services.”
SastaSundar become based in 2013 with the aid of using B L Mittal and Ravi Kant Sharma. With its version of personalized utility of era and community of pharmacies, it has made inroads withinside the aggressive market. SastaSundar is subsidized with the aid of using traders like Mitsubishi Corporation and Rohto Pharmaceuticals.
But Flipkart Health+ has to brace up for robust competition. Its archrival Amazon is already withinside the business. So is India’s home-grown titan Reliance that has a tie-up with Netmeds. And then there may be additionally on line biggie PharmEasy.
The right information is that the Indian e-fitness area has the capacity to touch $sixteen billion 2025, in keeping with a document from RedSeer Consulting. It is predicted to attain fifty seven million households.
The downside, however, is the truth the brick and mortar scientific stores as a collective are seeking to stall the emergence of e-pharma outlets. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) are pulling out all stops to curtail the emergence of e-pharmacies. The affiliation is even terming the e-pharmacies operations as ‘illegal’.
All eyes are at the authorities this is stated to be operating on an e-pharmacy regulations.