The company first let you order your prescription goods from their website. In order to avoid legal issues, 1001Pharmacies partnered with hundreds of brick-and-mortar pharmacies and acted as the middleman, handling deliveries, payments and listings.
Last August, the company had to stop its prescription delivery service as a French court ruled that delivering prescription goods was illegal. That’s why the company refocused on non-prescription goods, from toothpaste to vitamin C effervescent powder. As long as you don’t need a prescription, you can find it on 1001Pharmacies.
And it looks like this strategy is working as the company managed to raise €8 million despite last year’s ban. 1001Pharmacies still hopes that it will be able to sell prescription goods in the near future.
As this is a highly regulated industry, 1001Pharmacies faces challenges that it wouldn’t face in other countries. But if the startup can crack the code in France, it will create a significant barrier to entry for other potential competitors.
Finally, the marketplace approach is interesting. Not having to manage a huge inventory and many of the less-scalable tasks of an e-commerce startup is a great asset. Clients can even order stuff online and then grab them at their local pharmacy. It’s a great way to know for sure that the pharmacy will have what you are looking.
Pharmacies get a new sales channel, 1001Pharmacies takes a cut, and clients have another way to buy non-prescription goods. As these goods have very high margins, 1001Pharmacies may have found a lucrative business.
techcrunch.com/2015/07/09/1001pharmacies-grabs-8-9-million-to-bring-your-pharmacy-to-the-web/
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