Mobile applications, and technology in general, have permeated every corner of our lives. From handling our workout routines and counting our steps to allowing us to deposit checks into a bank account using just a mobile app.

Unlike desktop applications that are responsible for performing a variety of tasks for us, mobile apps tend to hone in on just one type of task and does it well, which is why your smartphone likely has many different apps responsible for doing many different things.

This is just one reason why mobile app development has become incredibly popular among developers and entrepreneurs.

They get to focus on executing just one important task, whether it’s a grocery list, workout regimen, music player, streaming media service, and so on.

But it doesn’t stop there. Mobile healthcare apps are also trending. If you’re interested in online medicine delivery app development, there’s plenty of potential to tap into big profits.

The Rise of Healthcare Apps

New technology is intended to make our lives easier. Making the healthcare space more affordable and accessible is something people are eager to get behind.

Each year, nearly a fifth of the United States GDP is spent on healthcare alone. Healthcare executives, patients and medical care providers are searching for new ways they can cut costs without losing the quality of care.

Tapping into the mobile healthcare app market has a ton of potential benefits, like allowing patients to manage their chronic conditions, having face-to-face doctor visits on their smartphones, and improving a patient’s overall wellness.

It’s safe to say that mobile healthcare apps are a trend that’s here to stay. 

Let’s take a look at a few healthcare mobile apps used by everyday people as well as apps used by healthcare professionals:

HealthTap

This app, and others like it, allow patients to save themselves an unnecessary visit to the doctor’s office by asking questions and receiving quick answers from online doctors.

The app takes a personal approach by allowing users to build their health profile, get a treatment plan, and communicate quickly with a healthcare professional. They also offer a wide catalog of content including symptoms and illnesses.

Instant Heart Rate

This is a simple app that lets you track your heart rate and check your stress levels by accurately measuring your heartbeat zone and pulse.

It can be used during physical activity or even when you’re sleeping, and produces professional reports you can show your doctor.

SleepCycle

SleepCycle is for those who are struggling with getting a good night’s sleep and want to wake up feeling energized, healthy, and motivated.

It works by tracking your sleep from bedtime to morning and provides a detailed sleep analysis and sleep statistics within the app.

LiveHealth Online

LiveHealth Online allows patients to consult with doctors via the app’s video service. Doctors have the ability to see patients and write prescriptions.

Patients are able to make payments using their health insurance. It’s worth noting however that this type of video call app and features aren’t available in all 50 states.

ACT.md

Unlike other apps on this list, ACT.md is a mobile app geared towards healthcare professionals and service providers.

The app offers a variety of helpful features, like storage of medical files and patient records, secure messaging with your healthcare team, custom reminders, and personalized healthcare plans.

AirStrip

AirStrip is another mobile app intended for healthcare providers rather than patients and offers several features, like the ability to add clinical notes, radiographic images, lab results, and monitoring data.

It connects providers with patients while offering users with insight and engagement capabilities.

As you can see there are simply tons of apps that are working diligently on a specific feature or set of features to help improve healthcare workflows, connect patients with doctors, log data, and so much more. 

These kinds of mobile apps are transforming the healthcare space. So what about online delivery, are there apps already out there like for it?

Online Medicine Delivery Apps

With apps like Uber Eats and Instacart, which allow for food and grocery deliveries, it makes sense that more online delivery apps have emerged, but in an entirely different area—healthcare. 

Now there are online medicine delivery apps like Practo and 1mg that let users order medicine through the app.

These companies have partnered up with local pharmacies so that medication can be delivered right to a user’s doorstep.

This was a huge game-changer in the mobile development world because it’s something that greatly benefits everyone involved, from the developers and entrepreneurs who earn revenue through the app to patients and even drug stores.

For customers using the app, having the option to get their medicine delivered to their homes saves not only time but the hassle involved in physically going to the pharmacy—something that isn’t easy for older individuals who have trouble getting around.

Other benefits for customers include:

• These kinds of apps often offer incentives like discounts and free shipping

• You can set reminders for when you need to refill a prescription

• Some online medicine delivery apps will have information about various medicines and prescription drugs so users have a better understanding of what they’re getting, like side effects of a drug.

• Users can compare prices of medicines from different pharmacies to get the best deal.

• Customers have the privacy of buying online and don’t have to feel uncomfortable with buying any prescriptions at a store in front of others.

• Customers will save money on travel costs, especially those residing in more remote areas

This also benefits the pharmacy who will see an increase in their customer base due to people using the app.

Other benefits for pharmacies include:

• The app will bring in new customers, some from new geographical locations

• Pharmacies can search for medicines and their generic alternatives

• Can offer discounts through these apps

• Refill orders for customers

• Pharmacies have the ability to manage their inventory of medicine digitally, set reminders and even notifications on expiration dates

So what about healthcare app developers? Let’s take a look at how you can monetize a medicine delivery app.

How Delivery Apps are Monetizing

In the era of Coronavirus where people are hesitant to venture out from their homes and prefer to have things delivered to them instead, home delivery apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, Doordash—they’re making a killing. 

Here are a few ways your online medicine delivery app can make money.

Partnership

Users typically don’t want the hassle of paying delivery fees or a subscription for medicine delivery service.

They often want the best deal on the drugs they’re buying, so the best business model for your app may be taking the partnership route.

This model is simple and straightforward. Your app partners with various brick and mortar pharmacies.

When a customer places an order and makes a payment for their medicine with a specific pharmacy (either through the app or at the pharmacy), the store shares the revenue with the delivery service company (based on whatever terms you establish).

This is a win-win situation because the convenience of your app is bringing repeat customers to their drug store.

Subscription model

Some delivery apps follow a subscription model to earn revenue, but it’s not as popular for this niche.

How it works is users must subscribe and pay a monthly fee to use your online delivery services app.

While paying upfront fees to use an app may not entirely suit your user base, offering discounts for users who commit to a 6 or 12-month subscription may be more enticing.

Delivery Fees

It’s common for delivery apps to charge delivery fees as a way of monetizing their app. These fees can either be a percentage of the order total or a flat fee.

For some delivery apps, delivery fees are more successful than charging users with a subscription simply because they would only have to pay a fee when they use the service.

But if your user base consists of repeat customers who will need constant deliveries (as may be the case with medicine delivery), a subscription model may serve you better.

Advertising

Virtually any popular mobile app can earn good money through advertising, and it’s no different for the online medicine delivery market.

But instead of having ads from random businesses splattered across your app waiting for clicks, you can instead host ads for your app partners, or keep their store at the top of search results for a period of time to earn money.

Let’s take a look at Uber Eats—one of the most popular food delivery apps out there. They earn revenue in three ways:

• Delivery fee. Uber Eats charges customers a flat delivery fee that ranges from $1-$5, depending on location.

• Partner revenue share. For every order placed through Uber Eats, they earn a 15%-40% commission from their restaurant partners.

• Marketing and ad revenue. On top of earning commission from orders with their partner restaurants, some of these venues will also pay Uber Eats marketing and advertising dollars to do brand campaigns, email marketing, and social media posts.

As you can see, you can combine different business revenue models to earn the most.

Features for Medicine Delivery Apps

There’s a good variety of online medicine delivery apps out there, like Practo, 1mg, NetMeds, and so on.

While some apps may have something new and innovative to bring to the table, most of these types of apps have the same core features for their customers.

• Login and registration. Medicine delivery apps should always require users to register and login to use the app. They can use a phone number or a password.

• User profile. Most mobile apps will enable users to create a profile to enhance and personalize their app experience. This feature might include details like their delivery address, payment method, and more.

• Upload prescriptions. Users being able to easily upload a photo of their prescriptions to the app is an important and convenient feature. This will enable a pharmacist the ability to review prescriptions without the need to email or fax it in.

• Filters. Make your app’s search functionality better by implementing filters. This will allow users to more easily find the medications they’re looking for.

• Drug information. Every drug should have a detailed description for users to review. This should include things like what the drug is/does, side effects, the name of the manufacturer. This information will also help customers compare prices.

• Alternatives. Users should be able to find generic alternatives to name brand drugs, if available.

These are some core features that every medicine delivery app should implement to make for the best user experience, but you should also think about what advanced features your app can offer to set it apart from competitors. 

Some advanced features might include a chat box where customers can communicate directly with a pharmacist and ask questions. Another advanced feature would be medication reminders.

If drug stores will also be using your app, you want to make sure you have helpful features for them too, like order management, ratings and reviews, order notifications, store details, discount options, and more.

It’s also helpful to have a web-based interface available for pharmacies to make things like order management more easy.

What about the courier? They should also have features for them, like easy tracking and best delivery routes, push notifications, courier profile, and delivery status.

As you can probably guess, there’s simply no end to the number of features you can add. You just want to be sure you’re keeping everyone in mind, from customers and couriers to the pharmacy staff.

Final Thoughts

There’s plenty of room to break into the online medicine delivery app space as long as you’re bringing something unique to the table.

Or instead of a totally unique feature, maybe your app just does certain things better than what’s currently on the market.

Either way, there’s plenty of money to be made for online delivery developers and entrepreneurs.

Put a plan in place with our Simple Starter package which is designed to set your mobile app up for success in just three simple steps.