Swiggy Instamart has formed a tie-up with PharmEasy, which reportedly delivers prescription drugs in less than 10 minutes, as reported by Moneycontrol. Swiggy has not announced the development; however, this tie-up is currently in the pilot stage in Bengaluru and therefore marks the deeper foray of Swiggy in the e-pharmacy segment. This will target the rapidly growing user base that considers fast and easy access to primary medications as an essential thing.
As part of its pilot program, Swiggy Instamart would offer a wide range of essential medicines such as those for pain relief, fevers, and other medicines that are required on prescription. This will be an add-on to Swiggy’s existing service where it was already delivering OTC articles like pain relief sprays, first-aid essentials, and more.
Swiggy Leveraging Infrastructure from PharmEasy:
Perhaps, the most salient feature of this partnership is the “shop-in-shop” concept where PharmEasy operates its stores in Swiggy’s dark stores-that is, small localized warehouses designed for quick delivery. This way, Swiggy can help streamline the order fulfillment of medicines while being respectful of legal prescriptions, especially. This will enable Swiggy to increase its capability of 10-minute medicines and PharmEasy products by allowing it to reach directly inside Swiggy’s own network of dark stores.
With its entry into the pharmacy delivery space, Swiggy has an opportunity to get closer to competing with other giants in quick commerce, Blinkit, Zepto, and BigBasket, each of which has been struggling for market dominance in the rapid delivery space in India. With a growing need for quick service, Swiggy Instamart is positioning itself as a one-stop shopping for food, groceries, and pharmaceuticals delivery.
IPO in the Pipeline
This alliance is further coming when Swiggy is preparing for its eagerly awaited IPO. The corporation is to open the book from November 6 to 8, 2024 for its IPO. Swiggy is expected to fetch a Rs 11.3 billion valuation. The report suggested that Swiggy has shrunk the size of its primary issue to about Rs 4,500 crore. This will draw the potential interest of the investors especially when growth is expected along the lines of PharmEasy collaboration.
While expanding the Swiggy Instamart e-pharmacy presence in the market, one is led to understand the rebranding of the definition for quick commerce, especially in meeting a need for a great amount of medicine now in such urgent requirements expected, and there can be multiple cities like that with people needing these, provided all goes well at Bengaluru.
