Ping An Good Doctor expands digital personal care and health delivery

The company provides a full-service ecosystem that cooperates with over 10,000 pharmacies throughout large cities up and down the country.

Roll-out to date​

Rolled out in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Ping An Healthcare and Technology works with leading pharmaceutical names including Gouda Drugstore, Nepstar Drugstore, Yifeng Pharmacy and LBX Pharmacy.

"'One-Minute Consultation + One-Hour Drug Delivery' aims to provide users with a one-stop service featuring a quick consultation and one-hour drug delivery.

Featuring personal care products, Western and Chinese Medicines, tonics and equipment, the service responds to 90% of the population in the cities where  Ping An Healthcare and Technology platform is available.

Today, the service covers over 90% of the population of the cities where it's used. The service uses about 100,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) such as Western and Chinese medicines, tonics, equipment and personal care products.

Pharmaceutical opportunity​

The total pharmaceutical retail market reached RMB400.3 bn (€50.4 bn), an increase of 9.0% year-on-year, the company stated in a recent press release. It went on to say that CITIC Securities’ recent research report shows that online pharmaceutical companies only amount to 0.35% of the market, compared to 30% in the US.

In February 2017, the State Council of the People's Republic of China released Opinions on Further Reforming and Improving the Policy of Drug Production and Use​ to develop the connection between medical services and supply and the digital sphere.

It also helps further promote online and offline integration, develop new business types, standardise online pharmaceutical retail services, and encourage the use of new distribution channels such as "Order Online and Collect in Store”.  

On April 28 2018, China’s State Council unveiled Opinions on Promoting the Development of 'Internet + Medical Health ​and also stipulated a route forward “to improve the drug supply service" ​via the Internet.

How does it work?​

A medical platform for online drug delivery services in China, Ping An Good Doctor poses a closed-loop service for online and offline integration. Striving to optimise the user experience, it offers online quick consultation, medical guidance, electronic prescriptions, convenient purchasing and one-hour delivery of medicines.

Through artificial intelligence (AI) consultation, users are paired with a doctor who provides a one-to-one online consultation. Designed to reduce the waiting time and overcome the brevity and lack of in-depth discussion associated with traditional appointments, users are provided with an electronic prescription faster.

Once this has been issued, Ping An Good Doctor will pair the user with their closest pharmacy and the pharmacy will then deliver the required drugs within an hour.

Strategy in the city​

Ping An Good Doctor hopes to cover a total of 200 cities in its domestic healthcare market, with a key emphasis on prioritising 3 and 4 cities. It hopes to expand the service network of One-Minute Consultation + One-Hour Drug Delivery service beyond tier 1 and 2 cities to tier 3 and 4 cities.

With the emergence of a national urbanisation strategy, China is placing emphasis on its tier 3 and 4 cities as a result of its rapid economic development. As population numbers go up, the demand for a protection service concentrating on all aspect of healthcare is expected to lead to the upgrade of its current services.

Along with providing convenient and accurate information relating to medical services available for treatment seekers, the company looks to connect with low tier markets to enables pharmacies to build their customer base and maximise  opportunities to scale.

Leading the internet health care market through its widely-visited platform, Ping An Good Doctor offers online medical and wellness services, such as consumer health care services, health management and wellness engagement.

Cosmeceutical possibilities​

In June 2018, following our attendance at in-cosmetics Korea, Cosmetics Design Asia talked about the appeal and impact ​of cosmeceuticals in China​, focusing on what brands should now be doing to prepare for the growth of companies that are developing this hybrid between cosmetics and pharmaceuticals​.