Online Pharmaceutical Sales in Australia - Industry Research Report

Picture of health: Booming online shopping has aided a rise in external competition

The wider Pharmacies industry has become increasingly polarised between traditional full-service pharmacies and high-volume, low-margin big-box pharmacies over the past decade. But online pharmacies have struggled to effectively compete with either of these models. Pure-play online pharmacies cannot offer the value-added services (like health advice) that their brick-and-mortar counterparts provide, and they cannot compete on price against the heavy discounters. Regulatory controls governing prescription pharmaceutical sales also restrict the product portfolio of online pharmacies. This has meant online pharmacies have also been unable to fully compete on product range. Simultaneously, brick-and-mortar pharmacies have been moving online and rolling out e-commerce platforms to complement their instore operations. This strategy has placed them in direct competition with pure-play online pharmacies. Online pharmacies have also faced growing external competition from other specialist online retailers and supermarkets, which are making inroads into the medicine and personal care product markets.

Industry companies primarily sell pharmaceutical products, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, and associated personal care items, through the internet. The industry includes online pharmacies that predominantly operate online and have just one registered physical shop-front pharmacy. The industry excludes establishments that operate several physical stores that are supplemented with complementary online operations.

This report covers the scope, size, disposition and growth of the industry including the key sensitivities and success factors. Also included are five year industry forecasts, growth rates and an analysis of the industry key players and their market shares.