Why Prescription Delivery Startups Will Deliver?

• Sasi George
• June 9, 2020

Technology has taken on a greater responsibility during the COVID crisis to assist patients reach out to their doctors via the telemedicine route. And the ever increasing popularity of telemedicine is putting wind into the sail of one another domain, that is: prescription delivery start-ups.

As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the lives of people in many nations without distinction to class, creed, region, sex, language or religion there was a surge in users to adopt prescription delivery apps. And new users are opting it for the convenience that comes along.

Last year proved to be promising for prescription delivery startup funding both in terms of number of deals and revenue, taking into considering the past five years. There were 52 funding rounds for prescription delivery companies last year amounting to $556 million, according to Crunchbase data.

Prescription Delivery Start-Ups

Coronavirus and the need for social distancing have forced the market to become more creative regarding delivery options available for pharmacies. A California-based startup NowRx is encountering a huge increase in the number of referrals from physicians for their service.

NowRx is a pharmaceutical company that offers prescription delivery to patients within the hour.

The last act a patient would be interested in after a virtual appointment with a healthcare professional is to walk down to a pharmacy and stand in-line for his medicines. Industry experts believe it is the rise of telemedicine that has helped drive patients to converge on prescription delivery services.

NowRx has gained the status of a full-service pharmacy and tied up with major insurance firms and offers free same-day delivery of prescriptions. From the revenue outlook, NowRx’s first quarter for this year has gone up by 28% compared to the last quarter of 2019.

And the company has experienced addition of new consumers by 82% in Q1 this year as compared to Q4 of 2019.

New Players In The Pharmacy Market

Large pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS have always been offering prescription delivery services. As the situation now demands a growing number of Prescription Delivery start-ups have burgeoned and funding rounds for these firms have been steadily rising.

It has been noted that majority of VC funding for prescription delivery startups this year has been lapped up by Alto Pharmacy. The firm raised nearly $250 million in Series D in the beginning of the year. And therefore the total funding so far adds up to $278 million.

Telemedicine & Prescription Delivery

Telemedicine apps here have a good opportunity to link their services to prescription delivery services. Prescription delivery start-ups have to ensure to work with physicians to get the message across to patients regarding online pharmacies that are ready to cater to their needs.

As the pandemic struck the slogan ‘Stay home, Stay safe’ was doing rounds. Over and above ‘Work from home’ also was another catalyst due to which the medical fraternity had to quickly figure out ways to reach patients when seeing them in person was not an easy option. This made scores of people to turn to telemedicine, which further induced people to swarm online pharmacies.

There will always be some resistance to change in health care, or a slow paced change. But with tremendous innovation and development, providing better access to medication is moving in the right direction. Few patients will still want to leave their house to pick up a prescription after experiencing the convenience of a virtual visit at home.

Vagaries In Demand

Full-service pharmacies such as Alto and NowRx that are seeing a rise in demand and firms like telehealth startup Nurx and The Pill Club are identifying more users requesting prescriptions (in their case), for birth control.

Nurx came across a 50% increase in new patients for birth control since March and now has 240,000 patients for birth control. In fact the firm has seen an increase in demand in most categories, with birth control being the most in demand.

The Pill Club saw 28% more patients in California sign up for the service in March, compared to the previous month. The start-up shipped about 45% more orders of a one-year supply of birth control to new patients during the extended lockdown period.

The Pill Club also shipped about 20% more emergency contraception to new patients in California in March, compared to February.

Prescription Delivery Post-COVID

Even though the pandemic has made the populace accept certain behaviours as typical during the quarantine season, such as grocery delivery, donning masks, Zoom-Happy-Hours, what begs to be answered is which of these ‘quarantine practise’ will remain as life goes back to normal.

Prescription delivery could certainly be one of them. Once someone experiences it, there is no going back.

Firms are now trying to imbibe what the credit card firms have been practising for long. Transfer of the prescription from various doctors for all members of the family to one portal. Firms like Alto has seen a large spike in such transfers, and had to enhance staffing as a result.

Delivery pharmacy will stick around beyond this immediate surge. It would shift to mainstream and will be a permanent paradigm shift.

 

7 Predictions For Retail That Will Shape The Future

Unforeseeable changes are in motion as the society moves from a nonchalant world to one under containment. Even as countries open up their economies, physical distancing will soon become a way of life until there is some sort of a respite from the virus in the form of a vaccine.

New mannerisms formed by consumers during the pandemic would in most probability have turned into habits altering the retail landscape, given below are few predictions for retail.

Uncertainties abound, but taking into considerations the happenings world over, we have worked out these seven disruptions or rather predictions for retail that could point towards initial changes that could dishevel the retail industry in the future.

Predictions for Retail

E-commerce Will Gain Ground

One intense social change would be the shift of retail to the digital realm. Last year 12% of goods were purchased globally through online channels, this is a dramatic swing from 6% in 2015.

What the coronavirus pandemic has effectively done is to accelerate e-commerce adoption more as a necessity than a luxury. As more people become reliant on online channels this is the panacea most sort after.

Online grocery is the torchbearer in this development. Obtaining groceries without leaving the confines of your residence or stepping foot into a crowded brick and mortar store is most sought after.

While there could be a drop in the demand after the lockdown is curtailed, rest assured hordes of consumers will permanently shift to e-commerce having relished this luxury.

51% of South Korean consumers bought food and beverages using smartphones in March which is the second-highest rate globally.

Contactless Payments

Consumers are adopting contactless payments through mobiles and cards. This is per se due to safety concerns of having to handle cash or touching POS terminals.

Globally 21% of customers utilized digital wallets to buy products in a physical store in March.

Mastercard reported that 70% of its transactions in Europe were contactless. They have now gone on to raise the limits for contactless payments across 29 European countries by removing the need of a PIN to access it.

Walmart has modified its self-checkout stations to enable contactless shopping experience.

Extended social/physical distancing will further instil this habit in customers. This would be in continuation to enhanced precautions even after lockdown restrictions are alleviated.

Leaders Race Away

Amazon and Alibaba are the online giants that control almost one-third of the e-commerce market globally. The pandemic only went ahead to nurture them to cement their positions and dominance in the global market. Amazon recently hired 170,000 new employees as consumer spending on Amazon soared by 35%.

Titans in this domain, will come out of the pandemic hungrier and stronger. This would in fact reshape the retail landscape for good and could turn out to be a huge leverage over the rest.

A diversified supply chain

After having joined the WTO China raised its position as a manufacturer globally. And their annual economic output enlarged sevenfold breaching $14.5 trillion last year. China is the largest exporter and manufactures one-third of the global manufacturing output.

The pandemic closed factories which in turn recorded a huge drop in productivity. It also went on to break supply chains that made it difficult for manufacturers to source components and for retailers to procure finished products. This indisputably highlighted the world’s dependence on China, thereby specifying that nations need to diversify than being reliant on a few nations.

The current shortages have stoked calls from political leaders of both parties in the US to initiate producing critical supplies domestically. Japan too has committed to invest at least $2 billion to aid Japanese multinationals shift manufacturing operations out of China.

Re-commerce

Safety, economics, and hygiene could bring about deep-rooted changes in the resale or pre-owned industry. Second-hand shopping, garage sale of garments, apparel rentals which have been in the mainstream in recent years could face decline.

A plethora of online resale players, namely Depop and ThredUp, that had been on the track to gain repute alongside admired resale entity, such as eBay.

Even though prospective economic repercussions from the fallout of the pandemic should have heightened resale trend, the psychological fear of infection and safety could make consumers circumspect about wearing handed-down clothing.

These same fears could impact clothing rental services wherein consumers borrow apparel or accessories to use for a fee.

Pickup Options

Retailers relying on personal interactions could encounter a drop in store traffic as physical / social distancing is being pursued stringently. Online shopping will continue to gather strength and the focus will get transferred to last-mile connectivity.

Curbside pickup would turn into a boon for many. Retailers could also consider the drive-thru model as it is recognized by folks being well-versed due to similar options in food delivery.

While retailers could lose out on upsell from consumers browsing their physical stores, retailers also need to explore more pickup options in order to find a way to control delivery costs that cut into margins. In March, one-quarter of globally connected consumers viewed click-and-collect option as an important delivery feature.

Technology will be interwoven with commerce

Technology has had a major role during the pandemic. The trajectory of technologies, such as cloud computing will accelerate making businesses more flexible. Robotics will see tremendous growth to reduce human-to-human interaction. Chinese delivery app Meituan Dianping started using autonomous vehicles to deliver grocery orders to customers in Beijing.

IKEA acquired an augmented reality startup that enables consumers to visualize new home furnishings in their living spaces from the comfort of their homes. The growing role of tech will be more pronounced now.

The length of the outbreaks and pace of recovery are still unknown. Half of industry respondents agreed that having digital presence is an important part of their company’s value proposition. This sentiment would get even higher.

The coronavirus pandemic has underscored the important role technology plays in consumers’ lives as well as the role it serves for businesses that continue to adapt and operate under such conditions.

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7 Marijuana Marketplaces That Will Take You Places

• Marijuana is a commonly cultivated plant that is trafficked, used as an illicit drug and as the wave for its legalization grows, it is gaining the attention of investors, manufacturers, and researchers.

There are many operating in the online marijuana marketplaces for order and delivery – the market is ripe and waiting to be tapped to reach its full potential.

Despite the plant being illegal under federal law, the U.S. legal marijuana industry was pegged at $14 billion last year with 350,000 jobs for handling of plants. A total of 33 states have legalized marijuana for medical use and in them 14 lets adults legally use the drug for recreational use.

That number will rise as more people are accepting the idea of legalizing marijuana across the US.

Medical cannabis will become more prominent. Medical was highly responsible to get the cannabis industry up and running this decade, but then got derailed for recreational use. People aiming for adult-use of marijuana are also looking at how they can use cannabis for wellbeing and medical purposes.

A lot of states will vote based on the future of medical cannabis in the 2020 elections. We take you through a detailed version of the opportunities in the cannabis industry and how online marijuana marketplace is giving customers the high they yearn for.

Legalization of Cannabis

There is acceptance of the plant as a legitimate option for people suffering from medical problems like chronic pain or seizures.

Cannabis industry is promising to turn into an attractive opportunity for investors due to promising returns, expansion to other states and diverse product offerings.

Lot many states are welcoming the legalization of cannabis as there had always been a strong push from the market to make cannabis legally available. And legalization will in all probability curb crimes relating to underground markets for cannabis.

There isn’t much doubt that the expanding European cannabis market will make it an attractive investment landscape.

Tapping Into Online Marketplaces

Majority of online marketplaces for cannabis are targeting customers with apps that lets you browse for nearby dispensaries, order, make payments and get it delivered to you quickly. The growing consumer demand, Geographic limitations, and quick order fulfilment has opened new avenues for cannabis.

Although the basic offering of most marijuana marketplaces is order management and delivery, newer marketplaces are trying to offer value to target their audience.

Sale of Cannabis in Weight

A few of online marijuana marketplaces are

greenRush: is considered to be a dominant player in cannabis delivery circuit. They currently offer their services in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon. With a recent series of funding, they plan to expand to several more states.

Eaze: Eaze delivers medical marijuana in San Francisco region but will take effect in California post-legalization.

B GREAT which produces full-spectrum upscale CBD items. There are even more products like deodorant, hand soaps, throat sprays and nasal sprays that has CBD as one of its ingredients.

Meadow: has an app called Meadow MD that connects patients and doctors for effective consultations. The differentiating factor in comparison to other online marketplaces, is that it develops tech solutions for the marijuana industry

Grassp: Like Hospitals and Medical centers, Grassp focuses largely on the security of medical marijuana patients and their records.

Jane: This California based start-up focuses on customization via data analytics and real-time updates on dispensary products.

Say Hi: One of the latest entrants in the domain, Say Hi is a highly edited online marijuana marketplaces. Consumers can find sophisticated, design-minded cannabis products that aren’t available at other outlets.

Growing Opportunities

CEO of Vanguard Scientific, a firm that provides service resources for cannabis and hemp botanical extraction, says just the ongoing discussion of legalization and decriminalization will continue to drive market growth.

Today Medical Cannabis is legal in 32 states in the US and District of Columbia and 14 allow recreational use, but the drug is still illegal at Federal level. Business owners and members of the National Cannabis Industry Association is pulling all strings to legalize marijuana, or at least to align banking and tax laws accordingly to rope in funding.

Canada is capitalizing due to the situation in the US. Canadian companies can export to any region, making them to be among the first firms signing international cannabis trade deals.

Although the growth is slow in the US, opportunities are galore and many small and medium businesses are cropping up to capitalize in this growing market.

Exploring the B2B Space

A marketplace, Confident Cannabis, offers solutions for growers, sellers, and labs so that you are in the know as to what you are smoking. They are creating software for labs to test and track potency of the cannabis.

By 2021, medical cannabis should be legal on the Federal level, and individual states can decide whether they want to legalize it recreationally. There are multiple of factors that will lead to this: the election cycle, and providing U.S cannabis firms access to capital markets.

Existing brokers and other businesses rely on the offline network which has led to the shutting down of a couple of large B2B marketplaces.

Entourage Effect Capital a cannabis-only private-equity firm that has deployed more than $50 million into 34 companies is confident that firms will take efforts to be more efficient.

Conclusion Marijuana Marketplaces

According to the Marijuana Moment, there were 975 cannabis-related bills drawn awaiting state legislatures and Congress for 2020 sessions. There would be a lot more regulatory activity in 2020 at both the state and federal levels.

The world is split into two with regards to marijuana, one half feels it would destroy the society while the other half believes that there are too many positives in marijuana to be overlooked. At the same time, an oversupply of marijuana and the cost of operating in such a highly regulated industry is taking its toll.

But the data continues to show a rising curve. With legalization picking pace, this is the right time to intrude into this industry and capitalize on the growing demand.