Bringing Convenience and Care to Your Doorstep: The Marketing Strategies Behind PharmEasy’s Success

   
•     Team Digitofy
   
•     December 11, 2023

PharmEasy is an Indian health-tech company providing consumers convenient access to medicines and healthcare products through its online pharmacy and telemedicine mobile apps. Founded in 2015, PharmEasy has quickly become one of the leading e-pharmacies in India with its innovative technology platforms and focus on patient care.

About PharmEasy 

Headquartered in Mumbai, PharmEasy aims to make maintaining good health easier by delivering a seamless pharmacy and healthcare experience to customers across India. The company has a network of over 3,000 partner brick-and-mortar pharmacies and 4,000+ doctors on its platform that facilitate medicine deliveries and online doctor consultations.

What’s New PharmEasy? 

Regularly launches new initiatives to improve medicine accessibility and healthcare in India. Recently, they began delivering medicines via drones to remote areas lacking transportation infrastructure. They also opened several brick-and-mortar stores under the PharmEasy brand to establish an omnichannel presence.

Buyer Personas 

PharmEasy targets a broad demographic in India with its online pharmacy and telemedicine services. However, their primary buyer personas include:

• Middle-aged adults need regular medication for chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. They value convenience and reliability.
• Elderly patients facing mobility challenges or limited access to pharmacies in remote towns and villages. Getting medicines delivered is crucial.
• Busy young professionals in cities who lack time to visit pharmacies but want access to quality healthcare and products.

Marketing Mix

PharmEasy utilizes a skillful marketing mix strategy encompassing how the 4Ps of product, pricing, place, and promotion come together to deliver unparalleled value in pharmacy and healthcare services for Indian consumers.

Product Strategy

PharmEasy aims to be the one-stop solution for all medicine and healthcare needs via an integrated product ecosystem. The e-pharmacy app offers a comprehensive inventory of prescription medicines, over-the-counter drugs, health supplements, healthcare devices, and more to serve as a single consolidated platform for pharmacy needs.

Additionally, telemedicine connects patients across India to qualified doctors for timely online consultations, second opinions, and e-prescriptions on their smartphones. Value-added services include medicine refill reminders, health articles, and built-in insurance claims assistance. Recently launched products also include medicine delivery via drones for remote areas and software to digitize operations of brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

Price Strategy

Pricing is strategically designed to be affordable and offer additional incentives for customer loyalty. Medicine prices are competitively benchmarked with neighborhood pharmacies. Attractive discounts and cashback are provided to encourage app downloads. Free medicine deliveries are enabled on orders above certain value thresholds, along with mechanisms for contactless COD.

Additionally, subscription plans give steeper discounts for chronic, long-term medication needs, while corporate tie-ups allow employee insurance coverage. Claims settlement is streamlined via partnerships with health insurance providers like Star Health. These initiatives ease access by reducing patient out-of-pocket expenditure.

Place Strategy

PharmEasy leverages online and offline channels in an omni-channel approach to maximize its reach and physical availability nationally for customers. This includes digital platforms like the e-pharmacy app, website, and call centers and an expanding network of brick-and-mortar stores across metro cities, smaller towns, and rural centers. The vision is to serve as the neighborhood pharmacy by interconnecting physical and digital infrastructure.

Promotional Strategy

Building strong brand awareness is crucial in the competitive e-pharmacy space. PharmEasy promotes itself across high-reach traditional media like television advertising and radio spots, along with targeted digital promotion via social media campaigns and influencer marketing. Appointing Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan as a brand ambassador during the pandemic conveyed reliability. The startup also advertises in physician trade journals to acquire provider prescriptions. Thus, a judicious omnichannel promotional mix helps reach consumers.

Competitor Analysis 

PharmEasy faces competition from other major Indian e-pharmacies:

1. Netmeds: It also offers teleconsultations and medicine deliveries. It is known for the fastest deliveries and discounts, especially in metro cities.
2. Medlife: Leading e-pharmacy startup known for its subscriptions for chronic medicines and competitive pricing.
3. 1mg: It is the top telemedicine and online medicine platform with a large inventory of brand and generic medicines.

Marketing Strategy

Convenience, reliability, quality, and affordability form the core pillars of PharmEasy’s customer-focused marketing strategy. These fundamental elements are evident across the omni-channel presence, localization efforts, and strategic brand ambassador partnerships that have fueled the e-pharmacy startup’s rapid growth.

Omnichannel Presence

Recognizing the infrastructural challenges of medicine access in India, PharmEasy developed an integrated marketplace spanning digital platforms like their website and mobile app as well as offline touchpoints. This includes an expanding network of brick-and-mortar stores and pharmacy and consultation centers across metro cities, smaller towns, and remote villages. This omnichannel strategy brings medicines from manufacturing facilities directly to customers’ doorsteps wherever they reside. 

It solves crucial last-mile challenges of availability and affordability for acute healthcare needs and chronic medication refills. The startup also launched medicine delivery via drones to navigate regions with limited transportation networks. Overall, the mission is to serve Indian customers nationally by interconnecting online and offline channels under a single brand promise of care and convenience.

Localization

While building up a national presence, PharmEasy smartly customizes and localizes offerings based on the diverse healthcare needs and behaviors of different Indian states. This localization strategy is evident across various aspects like languages incorporated in the app, medications stocked, factoring local health profiles including prevalent disorders, tie-ups with regional infrastructure partners, and tailored delivery models based on the region’s accessibility, whether urban or remote. 

By mapping customer expectations at a granular, hyperlocal level rather than taking a one-size-fits-all national approach, PharmEasy is better positioned to serve the healthcare needs of a diverse country.

Brand Ambassador

Strategically appointing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan as its brand ambassador during the peak uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic helped PharmEasy assure people about the reliability and safety of its services. The key message was timely access to medicines and consultations while avoiding public places. 

Such partnerships accelerate brand awareness and adoption beyond metro cities, where stars wield influence, helping acquire newer consumer segments from small towns. Thus, the ambassador collaboration has been a crucial element in the marketing mix. Final words

Final words

PharmEasy’s pioneering initiatives to increase healthcare access and harness technology demonstrate how it continues to disrupt the industry status quo and work towards a healthier India.