Flipkart forays into healthcare, launches Flipkart Health+ app

Flipkart Health+, the digital healthcare marketplace platform of India’s homegrown Flipkart Group, on Wednesday launched the Flipkart Health+ app. The app will enable users to access genuine medicines and healthcare products from independent sellers and aims to serve customers across 20,000 pin codes in India.

To begin with, the Flipkart Health+ platform will have around 500 independent sellers who have a network of registered pharmacists for validation of medical prescriptions and accurate dispensation of medicines.  

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Indians have witnessed a tremendous shift in favoring wellness and preventative healthcare and there is an increased focus on health and wellness, like never before. Through Flipkart Health+, we aim to solve the critical gap of accessibility to genuine medicines and healthcare products and services across the country, especially in the remotest parts of the country that have been underserved until now,” Prashant Jhaveri, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Health+, said.

“We want to leverage technology in a way that strengthens the healthcare ecosystem and enables it to serve customers better by making accessibility to healthcare simpler even for those residing in distant areas of the country and contributing towards a healthier India,” he said.

Flipkart Health+ app has been designed and developed with a user-friendly interface that will appeal to customers, irrespective of their technological adeptness, the company said. With a robust technology and logistics infrastructure, Flipkart Health+, in line with regulatory framework, shall enable access to medicines and healthcare products and services for various health conditions including acute and chronic illnesses, to more customers across India, especially in remote locations that have traditionally remained underserved, it said.

Even though it is an intermediary marketplace platform, Flipkart Health+ has put in place various quality checks and verification protocols, which will facilitate delivery of genuine medicines and healthcare products from independent sellers to the customer’s doorstep.

In the coming months, Flipkart Health+ plans to onboard third-party healthcare service providers who will offer other value-added healthcare services like teleconsultation and e-diagnostics to the customers.

“Healthcare has become one of the largest sectors of the Indian economy, in terms of both revenues and employment. The emerging rise in digital adoption in India is an opportunity to make an array of medicines and healthcare products accessible across the country,” the company said in a statement.

Initially available on the Android Play Store and will be made available on iOS in future, the Flipkart Health+ app can be accessed on low bandwidth as well, making it accessible to customers across the country.

The company in a statement said that Flipkart Health+ would benefit from the expertise and experience of the Flipkart Group’s reach and last-mile supply chain capabilities, coupled with Sastasundar.com's robust healthcare network across the country.