The eCommerce stores and marketplace are growing, so is the trend of online pharmacy. With the booming trend of contactless shopping, the final solution gained popularity and securely entered the eCommerce market.
So if you are planning to develop your online pharmacy app, you need to be well versed about its features and development implications.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has devastated the World’s healthcare systems, and it has caused a tragic number of sick people and deaths. But the one thing that is witnessed is that advancements are required in healthcare systems.
Many healthcare mobile apps available in the market are useful for the Hospital, Patient, and Doctors. Hence it is an appropriate time to develop an online medicine app. Here is a guide that can help you throughout this process.
What Is An Online Pharmacy App?
An online pharmacy is a website or application that provides access to its users to search and buy medicine online and get them delivered to their doorsteps.
As technology changes, mobile apps are transforming the healthcare industry with new technology trends. The online pharmacy app is divided into two types:
# Pharmacy Marketplace
The pharmacy marketplace app allows its customers to buy medicines online from any pharmacy that has made itself registered on the pharmacy marketplace. With this, customers get access to a wide range of choices, compare prices, and then place their order.
By registering themselves to this marketplace allows pharmacies to skip creating their online pharmacy app. It can be a good opportunity for pharmacy startups as this can drive customers to them.
# Branded Online Pharmacy App
The pharma company developed the online medicine app using its brand name, style, and various other elements. These kinds of best online pharmacy apps are a nice way to connect the customers directly with the company.
How Does Best Online Pharmacy App Works?
An online medicine app works the same as any other eCommerce store, and the only difference lies in that online pharmacy app users come to buy medicines online.
Some online pharmacy apps are online medicine home delivery apps that follow modern eCommerce trends practices. There are quite a few differences between an online pharmacy app and a traditional eCommerce store.
Still, the significant difference is that while online shopping through a pharmacy app, you will require a prescription, and traditional eCommerce stores don’t ask their users to provide prescriptions.
Developing an online pharmacy app is a good decision as it has benefits for both customers and the pharmacy company and stores:
Online Pharmacy App Benefits For Its Customers
1. Privacy
Sometimes, customers don’t feel comfortable asking for some specific drug for their private medical condition, and when buying medicine from a medical shop, other customers can overhear them.
The online medicine app solves this issue. Now customers can privately buy medicines online with discounts and then get them delivered to their doorstep or pick the package by providing the chemist with the order number and prescription.
During COVID 19, social distancing became crucial, and it was advisable to avoid human contact. Apart from COVID 19, several other infectious diseases incorporate a high risk of spreading through human connection.
Hence opting for contactless delivery through the best online pharmacy app is the best option.
Some of the pharmacies also have online medicine home delivery where customers can place contactless orders, and they get their orders delivered to their doorsteps.
3. Less Waiting
It is an obvious benefit as customers have to place orders online and then directly pick up their packaged order from the chemist shop.
Or else get your order delivered to your doorstep. It will avoid them hours in the queue to get their list of prescriptions.
4. Better Prices & Price Comparisons
Branded pharmacy apps offer their customers many discounts, promos, and other offers to allow their customers to buy medicines online with discounts. It provides users with better prices compared to the prices available in physical shops.
The pharmacy marketplace offers customers improved opportunities to save money by offering them price comparisons since there are many competing vendors in the market to choose from.
5. Better Choices
Sometimes, some prescriptions are not available in the local pharmacy but can be effortlessly found when you buy medicine online.
Therefore online pharmacy apps are a better option to search for your medicine from the wide range of medicines and brands available in the market.
Pharmacy App Benefits For Pharmacies
1. Boost Customer Experience
As per Raconteur’s study, an online medicine home delivery app makes patients’ lives effortless, specifically when the app is incorporated with the National Health Service (NHS).
Like for example, in the UK electronic prescription service was developed, which allows chemists to assure that they are selling dangerous drugs to the patients who their doctor has prescribed.
2. Profit Increase
Developing an online pharmacy app is a thoughtful way to boost revenue as there has been an increase in the number of people buying medicine online.
3. Cutting-Edge Competition
The online pharmacy app is flourishing rapidly, and there has also been an increase in the number of people who buy medicine online.
It can be a thoughtful way of investing to establish your pharmacy as an advanced, customer-centric, and caring pharmacy.
4. The Opportunity To Upsell Additional Goods
With the help of add-on features integrated by the custom mobile app development company, in your online medicine app.
You can now suggest your customer’s alternative options for medicines and offer them appointment scheduling. Build agile marketing plans that depend on current global health trends and customer behavior.
Basic Online Pharmacy App Features
When we talk about pharmacy app development, a list of features and android app development services play a vital role in providing users with the best customer experience and ROI.
# User Interface Features
Be it an eCommerce mobile app or an online pharmacy app, login and registration is a basic feature that needs to be integrated into your online medicine app.
- Search for Substance by Name or by Filters
The online medicine app should be built so that it is easy for the customers to find their products using some filters and parameters. Before you initiate app development, you need to specify these features in advance after analyzing the customer issues and demands.
Each of the drugs should have a detailed, verified description. So that customers would come to know the ingredients and use of medicine, precautions and danger should also be mentioned in the description.
It is one of the key features of the ordering process, and hence at this stage, customers should be able to edit the shopping cart by adding and removing their medicines.
Nowadays, customers appreciate it if they can make instant payments using credit/debit cards, money wallets, or other payment gateway options.
So you need to make sure that your online medicine home delivery app should be updated with various payment gateway options.
- Pick up And Delivery Options
You should always provide your users with convenient options. Therefore your online pharmacy app should have both pickup and delivery options.
Patients who suffer from chronic diseases need constant support and medications, so the features like order repeating help them place their previous order with a single click.
# Pharmacist Interface Features
This feature will help pharmacists track their current inventory and know how many drugs are available at present.
This feature will help pharmacists with medical delivery. They will be able to pack the placed order, assign it to the courier company, and further schedule it to pick up and track delivery status.
To avoid drug scams, ask your iOS application development company to integrate a prescription checking feature where pharmacists can check on and verify prescriptions before accepting the order.
The billing feature can help pharmacists to track the payment status to every order.
# Admin Interface Features
It is a vital feature as all the personal and financial data related to the customers are stored here.
Before you plan to develop this functionality, take up the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards into your account.
The healthcare marketing ideas made by individual firms are different. But before you develop, make sure to use customer behavior analytics features and other marketing tools to develop your personalized sales strategy.
Reporting and Analytics section is significant to gather a data-driven understanding of sales, inventory management, customer behavior, employee productivity, and many more.
Additional Online Pharmacy App Features
Advanced features will help you with the best healthcare mobile app development strategies to be considered.
Here is a list of advanced features that can help you develop an innovative, engaging and useful online pharmacy app for your patients.
1. In-App Consultation
You can develop an innovative feature where users have immediate access to instant consultation with a doctor before they buy medicines online with a discount.
It will allow customers to buy medicine from your online pharmacy app after consultation directly. For this, you need to partner with some doctors and clinics to provide their services on your online medicine app.
2. Local Store Search
Sometimes, people want to visit a physical store to check on some medical devices before buying them. To integrate your online shopping app with features to search for local stores near them, visit and try on the device before they buy them.
3. Multi-Language Support
If you plan to open your online pharmacy app on a large scale and even plan to deliver medicines internationally, you should incorporate your app with a multi-currency, multi-language option. So that people in different countries can use the app in their preferred language.
Also, there might be situations where some medicines would be prohibited, and then you must check on the legislation in advance.
4. Chatbots
It will help to facilitate customer support and services. It will aid in providing customers with an enhanced user experience.
5. Lab Test Bookings
In addition to scheduling a consultation call with a doctor, you can also provide your customers with a feature to book their lab test booking at discounted prices.
6. Photo Prescription Recognition
If a patient has a handwritten prescription and wishes to get access to the drugs mentioned by doctors directly, then the feature of Photo Prescription Recognition will be helpful.
As with this feature, users can click a photo, and the app will read the writing and provide customers with the medicines they need to order.
7. Notifications and Reminders
You can also integrate a feature of reminders for medicine in your online pharmacy app as this will remind users to take their medicines on time.
The Effective Cost To Build An Online Pharmacy App
When you plan to provide your users with real-time experience, developing an online medicine home delivery app is not an easy task for an iOS application development company.
It takes a lot of effort and is a long time procedure, but its success entirely depends on the client’s requirements. An online medicine app’s cost estimates will vary upon the list of specializations, features integrated, and various other factors.
The cost of a pharmacy app will also differ from country to country. An estimated amount is between $20,000-$30,0000 to develop an online pharmacy app.
Conclusion
The partnership of pharmaceutical companies and online medicine apps has driven the market to new heights.
If you are a pharmaceutical company or an IT startup interested in the healthcare sector and want to develop your online pharmacy application like PharmaEasy, Netmeds, and many others.
It is the perfect time for you to launch your startup. Share your idea with the Custom mobile app development company now and develop a user-friendly, safe, and secure online pharmacy app.
