Dhruvil Patel, 26, is a regular on health portals. It’s where he buys nutritional supplements and contact lenses, for a price up to 40 per cent cheaper.
Patel turned to these portals when he learnt the products were offered at factory prices, much lower than the market rates. Often, these offers turn out to be cheaper by 25-35 per cent from the maximum retail price (MRP), the manufacturer’s recommended price.
According to a health survey by Max Bupa last year, almost 40 per cent of Indians conduct frequent online searches for health information. And, that India is second, after the US, in the usage of healthcare websites or portals.
| PAY LESS, LIVE HEALTHY Buying a health device or service from a trusted portal could result in a lot of savings, especially for those who do so regularly | ||
| Health product/ device/service | Average price outside (Rs) | Average price on portal (Rs) |
| Protein supplements | 5,000 | 4,000 |
| Contact lenses | 1,200 | 910 |
| Diabetes meter | 1,990 | 1,550 |
| Basic lipid test | 700 |
350 onwards |
| Source: Industry | ||
Buying a health device or service from a trusted portal could result in a lot of savings, especially for those who do so regularly. The demand for health and beauty products sold online is huge and multiplying. This is because the organised market for such products is barely five per cent of the total market. Usually, health products, such as dietary supplements, proteins, organic foods, health devices and creams are expensive.
Experts say 45 per cent of the demand comes from Tier-II and Tier-III cities; the rest is from metros. A good health portal gets about a million hits a month, of which they are capable of converting at least five to 10 per cent.
“Adulteration and selling of grey products is very common in this segment. With the organised market being two to three per cent, customers have turned cautious and prefer buying from reliable sources,” said Prashant Tondon, co-founder, healthkart.com. Since they buy the products directly from manufacturers, they can afford to offer these at competitive prices, and more conveniently, too, he added.
Examples of portals offering health, wellness and beauty products are himalayahealthcare.com, babyoye.com, healthkart.com and firstcry.com. Among those rendering health services online are medico.com, myhealthrecords.com and mylabyogi.com.
Experts say clients get the same warranty as with offline purchases, including an authorised bill. All a customer needs to do is register on the portal (usually free of charge) and make the payment through a debit or credit card. Some even provide for the facility of cash on delivery.
As for problems with service or products, “the customer needs to inform the company within the stipulated period, and the problem can be solved as genuinely as can be done offline. Our business runs on trust, and it’s custom-made for our clients,” says Aneesh Khanna, co-founder and chief executive at mylabyogi.com.
