Now, pharmacists can do away with the hassle of maintaining an order list and waiting for salesmen to pick it up. Chennai-based CFS Healthcare has an online application for pharmacists to order prescription and over-the-counter drugs from registered distributors.

Muthukumar Ramanathan, founder, said the application aggregates drug distributors and retailers. The stock details from distributors are displayed on the website, from where a retailer can compare and buy a drug for the best price available.

The use of such platforms can eliminate manual errors and reduce time and effort taken to restock. “Currently, if a retailer wants to refresh his stock, he has to note it down and place an order by calling a salesman. This takes time and increases possibility of manual errors due to miscommunication. Ordering through the platform eliminates such discrepancies,” Ramanathan said.

Rural penetration

The platform facilitates rural penetration where the distribution network is feeble.

“Distribution frequency is sparse in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Retailers in those places can utilise the offline payment mode for ordering,” he added.

For every transaction, the company charges a transaction fee from the distributors.

The network has 50 distributors and 1,200 retailers from Tamil Nadu on its platform. The company is in talks with distributors and retailers in Kerala and Karnataka to commence operations there.

So far the company has invested ₹4 crore and will raise ₹20 crore to scale up its operations.

“Most of the investment will go into technology and market penetration,” Ramanathan said.

Though there are not many players, the company’s major challenge is migration to the online system.

“Though it is difficult, advent of e-commerce and smart phones have made the adoption easier,” Ramanathan said.

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