Recently, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani (Mukesh Ambani) led Reliance Industries and Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce company Amazon are both aggressively entering the Indian online pharmacy field. The industry is expected to reach US$16 billion by 2025. . However, online pharmacies in India are currently in a gray area and are also facing resistance from traditional retailers.

Reliance Industries announced last week that it would spend $83 million to acquire Netmeds, a digital healthcare company that provides drug ordering and doctor appointment services to 5.7 million customers.

Ambani’s daughter Isha said: “We are deeply impressed by Netmeds’s establishment of a national digital franchise in such a short period of time. We are confident that we can accelerate this process through investment and cooperation.”

Just days before Reliance announced this move, Amazon launched a prescription and over-the-counter drug delivery service in Bangalore, India.

Before the outbreak of the epidemic, Indian online pharmacies had not yet been developed; but the sudden epidemic created opportunities for digital medical start-ups and telemedicine companies to accelerate their advancement.

In terms of building a customer base, attracting investment, and increasing consumers' willingness to use e-health services, the past four months have brought rapid transformation for companies in the industry that may take years to achieve.

According to a local report in India, more than 6 million users used online pharmacy services during the epidemic, double the number of users before. Industry estimates indicate that the number of users of online pharmacies will soar to 70 million within five years, and the value of the entire industry will reach $16 billion by 2025.

The recent moves by Amazon and Reliance indicate that the Indian online pharmacy industry will enter a period of integration and mergers. The two medical service companies, PharmEasy and Medlife, have also entered the final stage of the merger, and the combined company will be worth US$1 billion. Wal-Mart's Flipkart also has plans to enter this field. (Chenchen)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate