India's e-health space comprising online pharmacy, consultations and diagnostics grew by 51 per cent on a year-on-year YoY basis in 2021, due to reduced customer acquisition, same day delivery and cross-selling, according to a report by consulting firm RedSeer.
The industry has a huge market opportunity for players in the segment due to the fact that it is poised to touch $9-12 billion gross merchandise value GMV by 2025 and $40 billion GMV by 2040. GMV is a term used in online retailing to indicate a total sale monetary-value for merchandise sold through a particular marketplace over a specific time frame.
The healthtech industry is led by Pharmeasy, Reliance-backed Netmeds, Tata group-backed 1 mg, Medlife, mfine, and MeddiBuddy, amongst others. The Redseer report stated that a 47 per cent increase in Net Promoter Score NPS in 2021 suggested that customers are more likely to recommend the eHealth platforms to their friends or relatives.
The report said India's eHealth sector saw reduced Customer Acquisition Cost CAC, another indicator that the sector is poised to grow organically with better profitability. Same-day deliveries and cross-selling further characterise the sector's performance. There are multiple areas with high potential, and players can choose different growth paths going ahead, according to RedSeer.
E-pharma, even before COVID, dominated the e-health sector. The deep-discounting in the e-pharma vertical was a catalyst for COVID-induced growth, with analysts forecasting a sustainable growth for the industry overall.
It is two years since the COVID-induced pandemic, but it looks like e-health is here to stay: the e-health sector continues to create delights, indicating that it could be the new normal for the healthcare industry, according to the report.
There is a huge headroom ahead for growth indicated by the global benchmarks, wherein healthtech players are already ahead of the traditional ones. India's healthtech sector continues to offer a great value proposition to consumers and businesses alike, even though it is on an exciting journey of disruption. With promising avenues to increase profitability, Kushal Bhatnagar, Engagement Manager, RedSeer said that all this could potentially speed up the e-health sector to reach $9-12 billion GMV by 2025 and $40 billion GMV by 2030.
The disruption by technology in the healthcare industry of India has opened up new channels of access to various facilities. The Indian healthcare system is struggling with restrictions on access to healthcare, a large burden of healthcare expenses, and quality concerns with medicines, diagnostic labs and overall infrastructure. The report further argued that healthtech platforms are becoming the go-to solution for consumers, from providing diagnostic tests and medication to patients to serving as enablers of surgeries.