Flipkart Health+, the digital health business of e-commerce platform Flipkart Group, has launched its mobile health app, which will sell medicines and other healthcare products and services. This comes three months after the company first entered the healthcare space by acquiring a minor stake in e-pharmacy startup SastaSundar.
The online healthcare segment, which is already crowded with players like Amazon Pharmacy, the Reliance-backed Netmeds, the Tatas-owned 1mg (it will be in its super app), and Pharmeasy, will see even more competition with Flipkart deciding to take its health business into a separate, standalone app.
The Health+ app, which will not be included in the main Flipkart app, is currently available on the Google Play Store but will soon be made available on iOS. The company said that the Health+ app can be accessed on low bandwidth as well, which will make it accessible to customers across 20,000 pin codes in India.
To add more healthcare services soon
Prashant Jhaveri, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Health+, said, "Through Flipkart Health+, we aim to solve the critical gap of accessibility to genuine medicines and healthcare products and services across the country, especially in the remotest parts of the country that have been underserved until now."
Flipkart Health+ app, the company said, has been designed and developed with a user-friendly interface that will appeal to customers, irrespective of their technological adeptness.
To begin with, the Flipkart Health+ platform will have around 500+ independent sellers who have a network of registered pharmacists for validation of medical prescriptions and accurate dispensation of medicines.
"Even though it is an intermediary marketplace platform, Flipkart Health+ has put in place various quality checks and verification protocols, which will facilitate delivery of genuine medicines and healthcare products from independent sellers to the customer’s doorstep," the company added.
Flipkart Health+ also plans to provide third-party healthcare service providers who will offer other value-added healthcare services like teleconsultation and e diagnostics to the customers.
For the record, the Indian digital health market is expected to be worth $6.4 billion by 2024 from $1.5 billion in 2018, growing at a 27.4% CAGR.
