In the healthcare industry, speed is accelerating fast; hence, among the most emerging solutions in this field are digital ones, such as apps for delivering medicine. With an increased demand for an Internet-based health care service, opportunities for creating a medicine delivery app are often convenient for the consumer and streamline the supply of key drugs to be delivered on time to patients.
This blog will discuss the market scope for medicine delivery apps, the essential features that must be included, and the cost of developing one.
1. Market Scope of Medicine Delivery Apps
a) Growth of the Online Pharmacy Market
The global pharmaceutical market is shifting significantly towards the digital platform. As e-commerce and on-demand service boundaries are transcending, how could healthcare lag? Some key drivers in the growth of the online pharmacy and medicine delivery market are:
New Wave in the Post-Pandemic Scenario: Online medical services have gained more momentum due to the pandemic. Lockdown and social distancing measures made online pharmacies an essential service, with more people opting for home delivery of essential medicines.
Mass Penetration of Smartphones: More and more people have been accessing web services through smartphones and internet connectivity; now, people can access medicine delivery services online.
Aging Population and Chronic Diseases: The number of people affected by chronic diseases is burgeoning rapidly with the increase in age groups, and these patients need more medication than ever. Such patients prefer the comfort of receiving their drugs at home.
b) Statistical evidence highlighting medicine delivery market growth
Grand View Research conducted a survey that suggests that, in 2022, the size of the global online pharmacy market was $68 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.7% in the forecast period from 2023 to 2030.
Indian Market Insights: with its high population and growing digital infrastructure, India is experiencing tremendous growth in the online pharmacy sector. The Indian e-pharmacy market is expected to reach $3.3 billion by 2024.
c) Target Market for Medicine Delivery Apps
Geriatric Age Group: Medicines sent to homes benefit older people, primarily the immobile ones.
Literates with Chronic Disease Patients: Patients with chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart-related diseases require timely replenishment of medicines prescribed to them.
Urban Packed Schedule: Online sales service attracts customers from any city who can shop for medicine from home.
Telemedicine Integration: Most applications add telemedicine services to e-pharmacies, giving patients a non-interruptive experience. Patients can make an appointment with the doctor online, and their prescriptions can be delivered.
Increased regulation: The Government of India has been increasing regulation of online pharmacies to ensure a quality and safe environment for market players.
Technological Advancements: AI, machine learning, and big data will revolutionize the medicine delivery market by enhancing the delivery of personal healthcare solutions, inventory management, and improving user experience.
2. Features of a Medicine Delivery App
To successfully develop a medicine delivery app, it must be user-friendly, reliable, and feature-rich. Below is the list of features that the app requires.
a) User Panel Features
Register/Login users: Registering using their email, phone number, or social media must be easy.
Upload Prescription: A feature where a prescription can be uploaded before ordering medicines requiring a prescription.
Search Function: A robust search engine that searches medicines using name, brand, or category.
Each medicine details The product information about every drug, including how to use it, its side effects, and usage.
Track Order: It should track an order’s status in real-time from when a patient places it until it is delivered.
Reminders for Replenishment: Patients should be able to set reminders for medicine replenishment according to the schedules available in prescriptions.
Payment: Multiple options for online payment-credit/debit cards, net banking, UPI, and digital wallets should be available
Delivery Scheduling: Users should be enabled to specify their preferred delivery times, whether they want it on the same day or scheduled.
Notifications and Alerts: Push those messages to customers for order confirmations, shipping, delivery, and special discounts or offers.
In-App Chat/Support: Customers will likely need assistance with something related to their order, prescription, or even medication, so chat support is required.
User Profile and Order History: Track the users’ history of orders, saved addresses, and medical history for personalized service
b) Admin Panel Features
In addition, the Dashboard and analytics will include key performance metrics, such as sales made, active users, and orders raised.
Order management: The Admin must view, process, and monitor all orders in real-time.
Inventory management: It needs to monitor and track stock levels and update product availability according to orders and restocks received.
Vendor and supplier management: This involves managing relations with pharmacies, suppliers, and distributors to maintain a steady supply of medicines.
Prescription Verification: Administrators should verify prescriptions for drugs that require a prescription before processing any delivery.
Control over Customer’s Account, Deal with client’s queries such as return complaints, prescription verification etc.
Admins must be able to generate, apply, and monitor promotional offers, coupons, and discounts for customers.
c) Delivery Panel Features
Delivery Personnel Profile: Delivery personnel should have a profile for their respective accounts of their orders, income, and performance.
Task Management: The delivery agents must be reminded about new orders, delivery locations, and deadlines.
Track Order: They should be provided with real-time maps and navigation to deliver the order in the most efficient route possible
Order Status Change: The delivery personnel can change the status, for example, “Picked up,” “On the way,” and “Delivered.”
Proof of Delivery: They should be allowed to collect signatures or photographs of the delivery for record-keeping purposes.
3. How Expensive Is It to Develop a Prescription Medicine Delivery App?
Development costs of a prescription medicine delivery app can vary immensely for various reasons, such as the app’s complexity, many varied features you may want to implement, the location of the development team, and a thousand other reasons. So here is a more detailed breakdown:
a) Factors Affecting Development Cost
Platform: Do you want your app developed for iOS and Android or just one? Developing for both would make it relatively pricey.
Feature and Functionality: The more functionalities in a feature set, the more expensive app development will be. These might include the integration of AI, telemedicine, or real-time tracking.
App Design and UI/UX: Good UI design tends to improve user experience, though it comes at additional costs.
Third-Party Integration: Payment gateways, prescription verification APIs, and map services might also be added to an investment in your budget.
Maintenance and Updates: All post-launch maintenance, updates, and fixes will demand some investment.
b) Cost Breakdown by Development Phase
Research and Planning: This benchmark involves researching your market, competition, and user requirements. It would cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
UI/UX Design: This design phase aims to create user-friendly, interactive in-app experiences. Depending on the complexity of the design, this can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.
App development is one of the most expensive steps and involves both front-end and back-end development. The most simple application with much less feature-rich functionality costs $30,000 to $50,000 per platform, and if you have something advanced like telemedicine or AI, it can easily go upwards of $100,000.
Testing and Quality Assurance: It would be bug-free so that it would run hassle-free. The code would have a giant audit for further updates. Testing would cost between $5,000 and $15,000.
Launch and Deployment: A small fee to get deployed on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for $100-$300.
Maintenance Costs: Updates, bugs, and improvements must constantly be made. Depending on the complexity and scale of the app, this may require an investment of $1,000 to $5,000 per month or annually,
c) Cost Estimate.
The total cost to complete a fully functional medicine delivery app will vary with its scope and complexity and the development route taken. Still, an average app would cost between $50,000 and $150,000.
4. Monetization Strategies for a Medicine Delivery App
Second, monetization strategies should be integrated at the outset to ensure sustainability in the long term. Among the most commonly used methodologies are the following:
Commission-Based Model: Charge a commission from pharmacies or sellers for every order placed through the platform.
Delivery Fees: Charges are levied according to order value or distance, but express or free deliveries are still offered for premium users.
Provide a monthly or yearly subscription-based model with the perks of free deliveries, discount offers, or premium service.
In-app advertisement-Sponsor with pharmaceutical companies or healthcare providers to have relevant in-app advertisements.
Affiliate marketing: Affiliate with healthcare services like telemedicine providers and medical equipment suppliers and earn commissions for customers you refer.
Conclusion:
The space for medicine delivery is one of the most rising and promising areas. Due to its benefits, it has quickly become a constituent part of any health care system worldwide. To succeed in this niche, you must create an app with an intuitive UI, deliver accurately, and strongly engage users. Of course, the high development cost would be offset through tremendous long-term growth and scalability.
Your medicine delivery app will monitor market trends and the needs of one customer, offering better access to health care for millions of people.
Ready to make a difference? Build your medicine delivery app.
