Pharmaceutical: The latest player to enter eCommerce through Automation

Ever wondered how the pharmaceutical industry manages its eCommerce operations?  They are among the finest, demanding, and complex industries. The pharmaceutical automation is expected to grow to $18.1 billion in 2023 from its current standing at $9.3 billion. eCommerce in the pharmaceutical industry is one of the latest entrants in the sector.  For this, automation is successfully contributing to the pharma industry through error-free production, product development, real-time monitoring and synchronization. They also successfully manage supply chain management and logistics. Pharmaceutical automated warehouses and it’s operations is definitely a game-changing solution of pharmaceutical industry. All this could be possible by a successful and intelligent eCommerce automation software.

In an interview with Myra Medicines, they stated, “We use technology in all areas – ordering and stocking medicines, processing orders, delivery, payouts and much more. Our technical system makes order processing easier, analyzing the market better and data science helping stock the optimal quantity according to the market requirement.”

Let’s talk about the aspects for a successful e-pharma platform

Manage your Pharmaceutical Automated Warehouses:

One of the biggest challenges the e-pharma companies are facing is segregating medicines considering the sizes, temperature control, and expiration date. Pharmaceutical automated warehouses can easily segregate your drugs on factors like the most demanded drug, temperature variation, and nearest delivery location. Thus, you can easily manage delivery and maintain customer satisfaction, along the way. Also, e-pharmacies can expect a regulated report on the daily incoming and outgoing drugs. An eCommerce automation software ensures a quick and hasty collection process. They generates a pick-list, and stores the product details stating the exact location of the medicine.

Moreover, according to Mr. Tushar Kumar, Founder, and CEO of Medlife, he wishes to focus on developing more pharmaceutical automated warehouses to cover more cities. He assigned a certain amount of funds to develop technology as the availability of medicines is difficult. The idea of having multiple pharmaceutical automated warehouses helps in enhancing productivity, reducing shipping cost, faster delivery, and ultimately, spread Pan India. Also, the introduction of technology helps in having synchronized data throughout all automated warehouses, removes the need for pen-and-paper methods, and shows real-time inventory updates.

Excerpts on Inventory Management:

In a report on Public Health Centres (PMCs) in Udupi, Karnataka, it was observed that they stock their inventory in a different manner. That means, instead of arranging the drugs in alphabetical order, they arranged the drugs according to the expiration date. Thus, they rolled out medicines based on the nearest expiry date to preserve the stock and this process manages their cost as well. Ecommerce in pharmaceutical indsutry ensures that all the folders are auto-generated, the shipment and transportation are created based on customization. Moreover, Purchase Orders and auto-generated notifications can be sent based on the customer’s selections.

Another such example is Myra – One of the few companies to successfully implement the heterogeneous warehousing, whereas, the only other company who has achieved that is Amazon. Their warehousing structure is heavily integrated and the time taken from placing an order to dispatching it from the warehouse is just under 7 minutes! Imagine, receiving the order within the hour on the busy streets of Bengaluru.

Wisely Use of Customer Details:

Myra acknowledged the importance of technology and the use in their daily activities, stating, “It is very relevant. It is essential that the demand is catered by not just the closest warehouse but the fastest warehouse.” With an eCommerce automation software, customer information is naturally fed in system. Also, you can view recently placed history, track previous history, forecast requirements, and track demand. In this way, you can generate stock beforehand and ensure your customers always avail your medicines. Thus, without a doubt, customer information helps in forecasting demands and increasing sales. Also, automation overcomes the difficulty of manual data entry and number calculations. Through scientific calculations and data, you can forecast the demand and acquire drugs before orders roll in. This prevents your company from over-stocking or laying low on stock. Moreover, customer satisfaction increases, incurs less costs, and the customer information helps predict your orders.

Trouble with your Logistics?:

According to Mr. Kumar, ”The biggest challenge in the Indian pharmaceutical field, from procuring medicines to selling them is getting accurate data on the medicines. Most Indian medicines are not barcoded, hence they are not recorded under a uniform name or code. Which means that there is a possibility of data displacement as one batch of medicines changes hands from the manufacturer to the stocker or warehouse and from there to a sub-stocker or seller.” Logistics management overcomes the said problem by a simple calculation of on-hand information.  The Batch number entered in the system has a unique barcode to avoid any mismatch. Also, with a complicated pharmaceutical logistics process, the logistics operations followed by e-pharma is FEFO (First Expiry First Out). In FEFO, the product dispatch is based on the expiry dates unlike First In First Out.

A good logistics management system believes in achieving e-fulfillment for pharmaceuticals indsutry. They track the products batches from pharmaceutical automated warehouses to the final delivery destination. eCommerce in pharmaceutical industry helps track end to end deliveries or return orders. They also monitor the product status, send alert notifications and status emails to end-users. Also, you can track the deliveries quickly and easily with the properly barcoded deliveries.

Process Order upon Payment:

eCommerce in pharmaceutical industry can easily release orders based on their requirements. They create triggers to fulfill requirements, prepare invoices, and arrange shipments. The seller provides credit period to their dealers with optimum customer information and improve stocks, sales, and increase revenue. With proper customer information, Inventory system reads customer demands and pre-stock themselves accordingly. It may not come to a surprise that efulfillment for pharmaceuticals is one of the most important roles of the pharmaceutical shipping management.

Real-Time Synchronization:

It is a tiresome job to regularly update the data and inventory levels throughout all the channels. It also results in logging errors which may result in under-stocking and non-delivery of orders. Real-time synchronization ensures the orders are accurate and updated in each platform. They also send instant updates to customers upon confirmation of order.

Conclusion

eCommerce through automation has paved its way to the eCommerce sector to a simpler and organized supply flow. Orderhive understands your expectations and helps with a great eCommerce Automation Software. They streamline the shipping and warehouse management process. This results in growing profits and reduction in manpower and cost. Also, it identifies potential customers and delivering products accordingly. Also, as discussed, big players like Medlife, 1 MG, Netmeds, and Practo have captured most of the market in the e-pharma industry. They plan to expand and acquire new startups for their 2020 goals.