Only slightly falling behind cosmetics and food, medicines are some of the popular products that Russians purchase online. Almost four out of ten e-shoppers buy pharmaceuticals via the internet, which resulted in 142 million orders from e-pharmacies in 2022. The general increase in online shopping penetration as well as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic positively affected the demand for pharma e-commerce. The segment's share in total pharmacy sales in Russia, excluding Moscow, stands at around 10 percent.
Russian pharmaceutical retail is undergoing a transformation through a steady development of online sales. Given a wide public acceptance toward ordering medicines online, e-pharmacies are expected to increase their contribution to the market.
Leading online pharmacies in Russia
Apteka.ru leads the Russian pharmaceutical e-commerce market with a gross sales revenue of over 73 billion Russian rubles in 2023. The company was launched in 2013 by a pharmaceutical distributor Katren. Another major market player is Eapteka, which has operated since 2011 and was visited by 18 million users in August 2023. Partially owned by Sber and R-Pharm, Eapteka is the fastest-growing online pharmacy in Russia, having recorded a 62-percent revenue growth in 2022. Besides specialized retailers, online marketplaces like Wildberries, Ozon, MegaMarket, and AliExpress Russia sell medications in the market.Attitude toward online pharma shopping in Russia
Generally, the largest share of Russians view digitalization in the pharma industry positively. When asked about the main advantages of e-pharmacies, most respondents named lower prices. Other mentioned benefits were saved time and a wider product range. Most consumers preferred to order medicines from specialized online pharmacies, while one-third also used websites of traditional pharmacy chains.Russian pharmaceutical retail is undergoing a transformation through a steady development of online sales. Given a wide public acceptance toward ordering medicines online, e-pharmacies are expected to increase their contribution to the market.
