Since the first time Covid-19 was reported to have entered Indonesia in March 2020, it has become a game changer in digital transformation. 

Although two years have passed and the public's fear of Covid-19 has faded, the transformational effect brought on by this pandemic continues and is expected to strengthen further in the future.

Digital Transformation in Indonesian Health Industry   

The most significant digital transformation in the Indonesian health industry during Covid-19 was the change in people's shopping habits from offline to online. The number of prescription drug purchases on digital platforms has increased dramatically during the pandemic. 

E-commerce Platforms for Pharmacies 

One of the pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia reported that, the sales volume of the pharmacies that joined their network, 30% of which was generated from online sales since Covid-19, and this figure is still growing.

The activity restriction policy implemented by the Indonesian government during the pandemic made traditional pharmacy owners who previously only sold offline begin trying to sell online to avoid a decrease in income. 

The needs of the owners of traditional pharmacies are facilitated by two parties who can see market opportunities, namely :

• Large e-commerce companies such as Tokopedia (with more than 100 million active users per month) are approaching the Ministry of Health and BPOM (Indonesian FDA) to make regulations that allow pharmacies to sell online through e-commerce platforms
• Large pharmaceutical companies that act as integrators between owners of traditional pharmacies and providers of e-commerce platforms

The collaborative effort from BPOM, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, and e-commerce platform providers above has driven the growth of online drug sales, especially prescription drugs, for the past two years. 

Impact of Pharmaceutical E-commerce Platforms

Benefits 

Various parties who benefit include:

• Customers welcome it because they can quickly, safely, and cheaply get the medicinal products they need
• Traditional pharmacy owners benefit from new sources of income from online sales and a broader customer base because they can now serve customers in various regions
• Pharmaceutical companies, as integrators, can strengthen good relations with pharmacy owners, which ensures long-term business relationships
• E-commerce platform providers such as Tokopedia have a competitive advantage because they have successfully built a market niche that competitors are not working on

Challenges 

Future challenges remain because BPOM is still refining regulations and ensuring that a doctor's prescription must accompany all prescription drug sales. BPOM also continues to ensure that the drugs sold are officially registered drugs.

If all these things have been resolved, the customers/patients will be the most benefited party because they can quickly access registered medicines cheaply.

This article was contributed by our expert Hendri Hendri 

Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Hendri Hendri

Q1. Can pharmacies sell online on all e-commerce platforms?

Although currently, pharmacies can sell OTC products on all e-commerce platforms, only in Tokopedia can pharmacies sell prescription drugs.

Q2. Are there any special requirements for pharmacies to sell prescription drugs on Tokopedia?

Pharmacies must be registered as official stores on the Tokopedia platform and may only serve purchases of prescription drugs accompanied by a doctor's prescription.

Q3. What are the demographics of online shoppers for the health category in Indonesia?

Most buyers are still dominated by buyers in big cities in Indonesia and concentrated on the island of Java. For buyers outside Java, 80% of them are still served by pharmacies on the island of Java.

Q4. Is there a decline in online sales after Covid-19?

Until now, there has been no decline in online sales for health products, and it is predicted that online sales will reach 50% of the total sales of health products in the next 3-5 years.