Online pharmacy market revenue in Russia 2020-2023
The revenue of online pharmacies in Russia reached 7.7 trillion Russian rubles in 2023. That marked an increase by approximately 48 percent compared to the previous year. The number of e-pharmacy orders also increased, reaching 142 million in 2022.
Online pharma in Russian e-commerce
Online pharmaceutical retail was one of the major e-commerce segments in Russia. Its revenue was even slightly higher than that of the online grocery segment. The industry was under steady development, as more internet retailers offered medications in cooperation with pharmacies. E-commerce and home delivery of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals were legalized in 2020, while prescription drugs could be ordered online but had to be collected in person. In 2020, pharmaceuticals accounted for five percent of the Russian B2C e-commerce sales.
Online retail in Russian pharmacy market
Out of approximately 65.5 million pharmacies in Russia, nearly 16 million were given a permit to conduct online sales as of March 2021. To enable the pickup of prescription medications, e-pharmacies cooperated with offline pharmacy chains. Additionally, several online retailers, such as Eapteka, opened their own physical points of sale. The share of e-commerce in total pharmacy sales saw an increase over the course of 2021, exceeding 20 percent in Moscow in December of that year.