How to Start a Bestseller Hyperlocal Ecommerce Pharmacy

Are you still contemplating the idea to sell medicines online? Guess, it’s time to get inspired by other players in the industry and get started! 

Online medical stores like Netmeds and PharmEasy have seen a spike in sales across cities amid the Covid-19 crisis. While most of the conventional pharmacy stores continue to function amid the countrywide lockdown, many consumers have switched to buying medicines online. 

Infact, the demand for the overall medicines category has gone up by almost 100% and the surge in the sale of medicines for flu, cold and cough is particularly high on online platforms.

Why do consumers prefer to shop medicines from hyperlocal ecommerce stores?

The number one reason for most customers to shift to online shopping of medicines amid the lockdown is the fear of infections. But convenience is another factor that adds to it. Since a local pharmacy store near a customer’s location is known to the user, it is most probably aware of his/ her prescription and order history. Thus, it becomes extremely convenient and easy for shoppers to rely on online shopping. 

Moreover, panic buying is also another reason for customers to depend on online pharmacies and stock the medicines not only for cold and flu but also those which they need regularly. 

Online pharmacy is here’s to stay

Just like groceries and medicines are extremely essential for a wide range of customers, so are medicines. Unlike non-essential products where customers would rely on the online stores only until this crisis situation exists, a hyperlocal pharmacy store is more sustainable. 

Even after the lockdown, the convenience of online shopping and the ease of receiving medicines at their door-steps will keep customers inclined towards online purchase of medicines.  

What do you need to create a Hyperlocal ecommerce store? 

So now that you are convinced that an online pharmacy is a good idea, let’s see what it takes to build one. After you have obtained your license as a valid pharmacist and have completed the legal paperwork, the next step is to choose a reliable online ecommerce platform. 

There are several options available in the market that promise to help you create your store and drive sales. But to make your store a best-seller, it’s wiser to focus on customer satisfaction rather than simply sales and profit. 

Once you build your online pharmacy store properly and provide customers ease of shopping and fulfil their needs, you will undoubtedly be on the road towards profit. 

StoreHippo ecommerce platform brings you unique features to create your store. Using its inherent features, you can create appealing and customised storefronts give your business the much-needed boost. 

How to start a bestseller online pharmacy store with StoreHippo

1. Create simple and straightforward storefronts

For an online pharmacy marketplace, you can choose to opt for a simple and straightforward website that goes with what you are selling - medicines. 

While paying attention to the website theme and design, it is also important to display your must-have certificates. This will help you generate trust. 

So with a less complicated design that has fewer elements, you should also focus on displaying valid licenses, especially to make your first-time shoppers more comfortable. 

StoreHippo offers various readymade pharmacy and healthcare themes to suit your needs. With the drag and drop features, you can easily tweak the designs and customise your hyperlocal ecommerce theme as per your suitability. 

2. Create detailed product descriptions

Get into your customers’ shoes! Wouldn’t you prefer an online medical store that has clear-cut information about the medicines you want to buy Wouldn’t you want to check out the product expiry date, read the side effects of the drug or the ‘how to use’ guide for what you purchase? 

Well, to sell medicines online, you might want to display as much information as is required and advisable. This does not mean you overdo with lots of content and clutter your pages. 

Displaying a detailed product description will help your customers make a better choice, especially for over-the-counter medicines. It is also advisable to display high-quality images for them to identify their required product easily in the search bar. You can also include customer reviews for certain products on your hyperlocal ecommerce store for a more satisfying shopping experience and ensure that it’s easier for customers to locate. 

Besides advanced search options and guided navigation features, StoreHippo further simplifies your processes by enabling bulk upload of product descriptions through its efficient CMS. Also, it’s in-built features for uploading prescriptions, enabling repeat orders and custom forms allow customers to get what they need at one click instead of manual selection.

3. Setup multiple payment options 

Are you aware that the preferred payment method of online shoppers globally is eWallets. This accounts to 36% for all payment transactions followed by credit and debit cards. 

This sure gives you a glimpse of how important it is to integrate your online pharmacy store with multiple payment gateways. 

By allowing your customers to choose their preferred mode of payment - (cash-on-delivery or prepaid orders), you will be able to cater to more customers than a similar store offering limited options for payment. 

Thus besides increasing your customer base, offering multiple ways of payment will also increase your credibility than any other X, Y, Z online pharmacy store. 

With StoreHippo, you can integrate your website with several payment gateway companies. With PCI DSS compliant gateways, the platform ensures your customers of a secured transaction every single time. 

4. Create a mobile app

Your hyperlocal ecommerce store can be complemented by an app to boost sales. More so, because customers find an app a lot easier to browse from their cell phones. 

At some point in time, you will need an app for your online store. Then why not earlier than later?

StoreHippo offers you the mobile-first technology using which you can create a mobile-friendly website that is easily accessed from all different devices. The screen size automatically fits in and you do not need to duplicate your website into a mobile version. 

It also helps you create online stores that are Progressive Web Apps. This means your customers can access the store from a web browser and get an app-like experience. Our ecommerce platform also offers you Android and iOS apps without any extra coding or cost so that you can sell medicines online with much ease. 

5. Onboard partners 

If you are a legitimate license holder to sell medicines, finding a partner will not be much of a difficult task. With your landing pages already displaying all the relevant information, convincing sellers to list themselves on your website will be easy. 

You can also further simplify the vendor onboarding process by making the registration free of cost. All you need to ensure is that your sellers also hold a valid license for this practice. 

StoreHippo helps to better manage your vendors once they are listed on your online pharmacy store. By providing separate vendor dashboards to manage their seller pages, inventories and deliveries, vendors can be a part of your multi-vendor store and yet sell as individual entities. 

6. Create multiple stores

Why rely on a single store when you can create a chain of sub stores and cover a vast geographical area at one go? Creating multiple stores help you;

Target customers at different geolocations: Say for instance you want to expand your reach outside the city limits too. Limited stores on your hyperlocal ecommerce might not be able to target your customers at far-away locations. Instead, sub stores that come under customers’ geolocation can be used to boost sales. 

Offer geolocation based shipping options: By creating different sub stores, you can ensure direct delivery of products from the store that is nearest to customers’ location and deliver faster. 

StoreHippo multi-store ecommerce helps you set up different stores each with unique storefronts, varied products and pricing. By creating geolocation based stores, you can therefore have better ROI on your marketing efforts. 

Grab the opportunity with StoreHippo ecommerce platform

Setting up a hyperlocal ecommerce for medicines is one of those few options through which you can not only fulfill your entrepreneurial dreams but also get the satisfaction of helping people lead a healthier life. 

You can take this big leap with StoreHippo online platform. By helping you with all the above-mentioned features, it ensures you can achieve customer satisfaction as well as earn good profit. 

Take a 14-day free-trial store and learn more about StoreHippo features today! Reach out to us at [email protected]