Europe E-Pharmacy Market - Industry Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028

The Europe e-pharmacy market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.65% from 2022 to 2028.

MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Rapidly Growing E-Health & E-prescription

Due to the progressive nature of healthcare and medicine deliveries in Europe, the approach changing from hospital care to homecare deliveries offers huge opportunities in European patient management across all healthcare systems. Growing adoption of e-health solutions such as m-health, telemedicine, and e-prescription help consumers connect directly to health professionals and receive care and consultations at home. Increasing use of e-health applications and increasing allowance to e-prescription drive the high medicine purchasing orders through e-pharmacies that have recently accelerated the Europe e-pharmacy market growth.

Integration of AI, & IoT

Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things can make pharmacy technologies more powerful. Europe is a technology-driven market for healthcare systems and pharmaceutical industries. Pharmacies with AI, Machine Learning, offer multiple benefits, such as data processing, enabling pharmacists to make quick data-backed decisions and improve customer services. Furthermore, with IoT, drug inventory management will be faster and more accurate; through device-to-device communication. To accelerate performance advancement, pharmacists must be skilled at using emerging technologies of all kinds.

Strategic Operations for Market Expansion by Vendors

The European e-pharmacy market is witnessing massive development with several business strategies implementation. Several strategic partnerships, collaborations, and mergers & acquisitions have been registered in the Europe e-pharmacy market in recent years. Some leading industry players are considering strategic and opportunistic acquisitions of other companies, businesses, or assets. In 2023, the leading industry player SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE and Galenica entered a strategic partnership and established MediService Ltd leading online pharmacy in Switzerland.

SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY MEDICINE TYPE

The Europe e-pharmacy market by medicine type is segmented into over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription. OTC medicine types, including health & wellness and nutrition, dietary supplements, personal care, and cosmetic care solutions, are commonly and majorly ordered by people. The OTC segment accounted for the largest segmental revenue share in 2022. In Europe, most countries experienced a high demand for OTC products. In 2018, Roblek et al. found that customer expresses three typical online behaviors of OTC drugs: searching for information about OTC medicines without any particular purpose, buying OTC medicines, and searching for products or information.

Segmentation by Medicine Type

• OTC
• Prescription

INSIGHTS BY PLATFORM

The mobile platform segment accounted for the largest revenue share in the Europe e-pharmacy market in 2022. The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases drives awareness about medications and therapies in developed countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, Spain, and others witnessed increasing use of mobile devices and associated applications to buy medicines online. Online pharmacies are witnessing the high growth and demand for medicines through smartphones and tablets.

Segmentation by Platform

• Mobile
• Desktop

INSIGHTS BY AGE GROUP

The below-50 age group segment dominated the Europe e-pharmacy market share in 2022. The below-50 age group highly uses internet services & smartphones and highly prefers buying medicine from online pharmacies. The penetration of e-commerce shopping preference accelerates the higher segmental growth.

Segmentation by Age Group

• Below 50
• Above 50

INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT

The Europe e-pharmacy market by product types includes medications, health & wellness and nutrition, personal care & essentials, and others. The medications segment accounted for the industry's highest revenue share of over 75% in 2022. Online pharmacies purchase mostly prescription drugs associated with viral infections such as cold and flu, cough, diabetes-associated drugs, cancer care drugs, etc. On another side, opioids, slimming tablets, and hypnotic and sedative agents are some of the prescription medicines highly sold in Europe.

Segmentation by Product

• Medications
• Health & Wellness and Nutrition
• Personal Care & Essentials
• Others

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

EU-4 & UK is a major region in the Europe e-pharmacy market with high development in the pharmaceutical industry, research and development, production, sale, marketing, and distribution. The huge patient population and higher patient health expenditures are accelerating the application rate of e-pharmacy websites and mobile applications. In 2022, EU-4 & UK region accounted for the highest share of over 59% in the Europe e-pharmacy market. In EU-4 & UK region, major countries such as Germany and the UK have made major progress in the e-pharmacy network. The presence of major and emerging e-pharmacies accelerates regional growth. On another side, the growing patient population and rising expenditure on health propelling regional growth. Furthermore, Italy and Spain have shown rapid growth in e-pharmacies.

Segmentation by Geography

• EU-4 & UK
• Germany
• UK
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Poland
• Netherlands
• Russia
• Switzerland
• Czech Republic
• Nordic Countries
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Norway
• Finland
• Iceland

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

In the Europe e-pharmacy market, several local/traditional/offline and online pharmacies are present in the region, significantly driving the competitive rivalry. In addition, the access to e-commerce channels and their involvement in medication deliveries make the European e-pharmacy market highly competitive. The e-commerce channels allow European pharmacies to provide/offer a wider range of products than local pharmacies, not constrained by the amount of physical shelf storage space.

Key Company Profiles

• DocMorris AG (Zur Rose Group)
• Shop Apotheke

Other Prominent Vendors

• AMX Holdings
• Apteka.ru
• Apotea
• Apoteket
• AZETA
• BestPharmacy
• Chemist4U
• Chemist Direct
• Cocooncenter
• DeOnlineDrogist
• ePharmacy (EAPTEKA)
• Euro-Pharmas
• Express Pharmacy
• EVERER GmbH
• Farmacia Internacional
• Helsinki University Pharmacy [Yliopiston Apteekki] (YA)
• Index Medical
• INHOUSE PHARMACY
• Juvalis
• Lékárna WPK
• Lloyds Pharmacy
• Lekarnar
• Lyf og heilsa hf.
• Lyfjaver
• MedExpress Enterprises
• MonCoinSanté
• Mistletoe Pharmacy
• myCARE
• MediService AG
• Mediservice Ltd
• MEDS
• Newpharma
• Oxford Online Pharmacy
• Prvalekarna
• Parafarmacia-online
• Pharmacy2U
• Pharmacy Direct GB
• Pharm24
• PROTEK Group
• SBER EAPTEKA
• Simple Online Pharmacy
• The independent pharmacy
• The French pharmacy
• UK Meds Direct
• WebMed Pharmacy
• Pharmacy4u
• Vamida

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

• How big is the Europe e-pharmacy market?
• What is the growth rate of the Europe e-pharmacy market?
• What are the growing trends in the Europe e-pharmacy market?
• Which region holds the most significant Europe e-pharmacy market share?
• Who are the key players in the Europe e-pharmacy market?