Online pharmacies compete for the rise of gunpowder

"The future is either e-commerce or no business." Bill Gates' predictions for more than a decade are constantly being proven in different business areas, and the traditional pharmacy industry is being swept by this e-commerce trend. When people have begun to feel fatigued and bored with 3C and comprehensive electronic marketplaces such as integrated electronic malls, the topic of continuous eruption and intermittent manufacturing of medical e-commerce companies in these two years has caused people to have The so-called e-commerce only piece of "Blue Ocean" is of interest. In particular, with the joining of Tmall Mall, Jingdong Mall and No.1 Store, the territory of medical e-commerce has expanded rapidly. It has become easy to buy drugs online, and even full of selectivity. The smell of gunpowder has gradually begun. The focus of medical e-commerce providers will then shift to how to enhance user experience and services. This will be the key to determining whether they can make a last laugh.

Online pharmacy 100 billion cakes to be divided

In 2012, the battle of China's pharmaceutical e-commerce industry seems to have taken off. On February 28, Tmall announced on the Sina Weibo official website that the Tmall Medical Museum had officially debuted as a signal. At the same time, Jingdong Mall and Online Supermarket No. 1 also began to operate online pharmacies online. In May, Jingdong Good Pharmacist formally went online. This is the result of cooperation between Jingdong Mall and Kyushu Express, the largest private e-commerce e-commerce portal. The two companies set up a joint venture company and are controlled by Kyushu Link to jointly conduct medical B2C business. The No. 1 store is cooperating with Guangdong No. 1 Pharmacy and was just on the line in September. Prior to this, several well-known pharmaceutical e-commerce providers such as pharmacy network, Golden Elephant, and Happy People's Online pharmacy have firmly established themselves.

Can attract so many traditional pharmacies and mainstream e-commerce sites to join, China's pharmaceutical e-commerce market is undoubtedly an attractive cake. According to the authoritative data of professional data research companies, the future market share of China's pharmaceutical e-commerce can reach hundreds of billions of yuan. At present, the total transaction volume of pharmaceutical e-commerce is less than 2 billion, and the market space is huge.

According to media information, the monthly sales of the first merchant accounted for more than 10 million after the Tmall Medical Museum was on-line 6 months ago, and a report in August revealed that the turnover of Jingdong's good pharmacists who had been on the line for only 3 months has accumulated close to 100 million yuan. In February this year, happy people online pharmacies also said that this year's sales guarantee is a billion. Liang Yongqiang, head of the Happy People's Network, also confirmed to reporters that although it is very difficult for a happy person to have an online pharmacy this year, "it is easy to pass 100 million dollars." As far as the reporter knows, even the traditional B2C such as Dangdang and Tencent's pat are also showing great interest in opening up the pharmaceutical B2C market.

Traditional electricity providers are trying to cross the threshold

Ma Xiaogang, deputy general manager of pharmacy network, told reporters that the threshold for medical e-commerce and other e-commerce is much higher, which is why many e-commerce providers who want to test water medicine B2C are kept out.

Ma Xiaogang introduced to reporters that medicines belong to special commodities. Applying for online pharmacies must have relevant qualifications. The most basic hardware requirement is to have no less than 15 physical chain pharmacies. For this reason, most of the traditional e-commerce companies cannot achieve it.

In addition, opening an online pharmacy must also have the “Two Certificates”, “Internet Drug Trade Service Qualification Certificate” and “Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate” issued by the State Food and Drug Administration, as well as the adoption of GSP (Pharmaceutical Business Quality Management Specification). ) Certified logistics distribution system.

According to statistics, there are currently 370,000 pharmacies and 15,000 chain pharmacies throughout the country, but only about 70 of the “two certificates” have been obtained, and it is even rare to have a GSP-certified logistics distribution system.

In this case, Tmall.com, which does not have the medical B2C qualification, has adopted a detour strategy to cooperate with drug dealers who have legal qualifications for operating online pharmacies, and does not directly sell drugs. It only provides display of product information, and links consumers to corresponding products. Complete the transaction on the official website of the medical vendor.

Jingdong Mall and No. 1 store are all chained to pharmacies and have obtained qualifications for operating online pharmacies.

Faced with these competitors from outside the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy network, Jinxiang.com and Happy People's Online pharmacies are the representatives. The pharmacy e-commerce business started from the traditional chain pharmacy has different views.

Ma Xiaogang told reporters that although the threshold for medical B2C is high enough, there are indeed many incomplete online pharmacies that users must identify.

Jinxiang Network CEO Niu Zhengyun believes that more and more e-commerce try pharmaceutical B2C shows that this market has much to offer, “but this market is still not booming, it can only be said to be in the gestation stage.”

Distribution fight speed "Golden Elephant one hour" attracts attention

The rapid development of domestic e-commerce has accelerated the process of pharmaceutical B2C landing. For Chinese netizens who are accustomed to solving online problems, the habit of developing online drug purchases is no longer a problem. Although there are some unqualified online pharmacies that have been removed, they only need to If you choose a well-known big brand pharmaceutical website, there will not be much problem with the quality of medicines.

Therefore, according to analysis by industry insiders, the focus of online drug purchasers is no longer the qualifications of operations and the quality of drugs. Instead, they are gradually shifting to the general issues of online shopping such as logistics and prices. In this regard, it is indicated that consumers have an online pharmacy. The degree of trust is increasing. On the other hand, how to improve the user experience has become a top priority for medical e-commerce companies.

Logistics is an important part of consumers' online shopping experience. Consumers always hope to get the goods as quickly as possible. Because drugs have certain urgent needs, the speed has become a breakthrough point for pharmaceutical e-commerce providers to enhance their services.

“Jinxiang One Hour” is a service Jinxiang.com has just launched in August this year. The CEO of Jinxiang.com told reporters that the reason why this service was launched is based on the needs of users. “The main target of this service is It is a year-round person or office white-collar workers. This group of people are a little headache and reluctant to go to the hospital or there is no pharmacy nearby. The next online list will soon be able to get medicine. From March to the end of August, a small-scale trial run. During the period, Golden Elephant received a total of more than 1,000 'one-hour' orders, and the customer satisfaction rate was basically above 90%."

Under the current traffic conditions in Beijing, the promise of "one hour" delivery seems difficult to achieve. Niu Zhengjun told reporters that in order to ensure that drugs are delivered within one hour, Jinxiang.com has allowed pharmacists to list out a list of 100 commonly used drugs so as to focus on stocking. In terms of distribution, Jinxiang Network has established its own distribution system. They are distributed in different stores and deliver goods nearby, which can shorten the travel time. Niu Zhengjun told reporters that “Golden Elephant One Hour” is still in the testing phase and many aspects need to be improved. For example, the distribution area is temporarily limited to certain parts of Beijing’s Fourth Ring Road, and the drug category is also relatively limited.

"Quick" will become a watershed in online pharmacies?

Like Jinxiang.com, the pharmacy network has also made a full-category "8-hour" commitment in distribution. Ma Xiaogang told reporters that pharmacy network is the first and the only online pharmacy in Beijing with a GSP-certified logistics and distribution company. Based on the special properties of drugs, logistics has high requirements for distribution speed and distribution quality.

As early as 2005, the State Food and Drug Administration stipulated in the "Provisional Regulations on the Examination and Approval of Internet Drug Trading Services" that "enterprises that provide Internet trading services to individual consumers should have drug distribution systems corresponding to the types of online transactions". The requirements issued by the Beijing Drug Administration Department reiterated this requirement, either by establishing a logistics system or entrusting qualified and qualified pharmaceutical logistics companies to complete the distribution. However, at present, the implementation situation is not good. At present, the distribution of most online pharmacies is provided by third-party logistics companies. Many of these logistics companies do not have the qualifications for pharmaceutical logistics, and delivery times generally take 3-5 days.

Ma Xiaogang introduced that pharmacy network relied on more than 40 chain stores in Beijing, Beijing, and Shanghai for pharmacy chain, with 2-3 delivery staff in each store. The service area of ​​the delivery staff was generally within 5 kilometers, and “8 hours delivery” was easily achieved. "Supporting cash on delivery is also a feature of us. It does not falsify the hands of third-party logistics companies, so there is no question of payment for payment."

With the in-depth and detailed management of pharmaceutical e-commerce by the country, there are industry insiders who analyze that the distribution link may become a watershed for the development of pharmaceutical e-commerce in the future. In this regard, Liang Yongqiang, head of online pharmacies for happy people, said that happy people have already achieved express delivery in 2000 cities across the country. “To provide customers with basic services such as good quality, affordable, convenient distribution, and quick access is the fundamental to winning customers. Comprehensive capabilities: These items can all enhance competitiveness, but they are not necessarily a watershed. Medical e-commerce companies must maintain their leadership in the field and must have self-development plans. Blindly following the trend and imitating can be very costly and difficult to succeed.

Ma Xiaogang also does not agree with the "watershed theory," he said that the future of online pharmacies will not be very competitive in terms of price. Simply pursuing low prices will not be the core of pharmaceutical e-commerce competition, and professional services will be competitive. The "Safety Drug Alert System" we just launched is an attempt to provide professional services. Once the purchaser adds the contraindication drug to the same shopping cart, the system will automatically prompt 'can't take it at the same time', and then return to the shopping cart to allow the buyer to modify it. Order. This service is done by our professional pharmacists, and it is still unique in online pharmacies. ”