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With an aim to bring digitization to pharma trade by connecting pharmaceutical companies, super stockists, retailers and stockists through a mobile application, Medi-App was recently launched by Miljon Medi-App, a Mumbai based pharma marketing company.
The Medi-App, a digital B2B platform will help chemists to have direct connection to company, get full knowledge of their product range along with its prices. It enables retailers to place orders at any convenient time and receive companies' notifications for new products, schemes/gifts etc. Similarly the mobile app also offers several advantages to stockists such as direct online link to chemists, no dependency on field staff or salesmen for orders, immediate receipt of order, no dispute on rates or order quantity, full history of purchase by chemists available, online stock availability on Medi-App portal, said John Kuriakose, Director of Miljon Medi-App.
The app provides pharmaceutical companies a direct online link to chemist, stockist and super stockist. It reduces their dependency on field staff to reach out to chemists. The companies can real time track sales at chemist level through the app. The drug makers can access full history of purchase by chemists which helps them accelerate slow moving products in specific areas through tailor-made schemes. With the help of app, the companies can have instant direct communication with chemists, he said.
As of now, chemists who are cornerstone of pharma trade get new product launch information very late. The app has made new product launches easier and efficient. It helps companies to have better and more productive MIS generation and better inventory management.
Win division of Makers Laboratories, Ipca Group is the first company which has launched its entire product portfolio on Medi-App portal. Prashant Godha, Executive Director of Ipca Labs said that he was confident of the potential of Medi-app and the advantages it offered in making WIN division a success.
“We are in talks with other drug companies to have their products on our mobile app. Our app is going to be largest platform of retail chemists in India. Medi-App is the pioneer and specialist in digital pharma marketing. The test marketing of the mobile app has been done with 29 products of Makers Laboratories from May to July this year which has received cent percent success in downloads. The app had 84% of users and has received 38 per cent repeat orders, said Kuriakose.
Shedding light on Miljon’s plan to increase Medi-App users, he said “India has around 10 lakh chemists. Almost none of them have direct access to the pharmaceutical companies. They come to know about product range of drug companies especially generic companies through their field staff/stockists. The retailers hardly have direct access to generics pricing, they come to know it through stockists which are at times not accurate. Our app empowers chemists to get direct access to product range of pharma companies as well as their prices and place orders to companies. We are planning to cover 10 lakh chemists over next five years in a phased manner. During the first phase spanning over a year we are set to reach out to one lakh chemists in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu with the help of field staff and wholesalers. Around 300-500 wholesalers will be recruited to be in touch with retailers and help them download the mobile app. The recruitment process will start from August 10.”
Bringing 10 lakh chemists on board, the company requires Rs 100 crore which will be spent in phased manner over next five years. So in first phase we are likely to invest Rs 10-20 crore in reaching out one lakh chemists. The company will operate through a central warehouse in Ambala. By 2020 the company is estimated to clock revenue of Rs 1000 crore, he informed.
Talking about the company’s revenue plan, he said “The app is free for chemists and stockists. Since we are selling products of pharma companies through the app, the revenue comes from the margin that we keep on the products. The companies cannot directly place their products on the app, they have to enter into tie-up with Miljon and pay certain fees for the same.”
Replying to a query, he added that once 10 lakh chemists are covered, app will be provided to each chemist which he can pass on to his regular patients who can place medicine prescriptions to the chemist through the app. Thus the companies will eventually be linked to the consumers. We are safeguarding the interest of brick & mortar chemists from online pharmacies by using digital platform, he concluded.
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