Mail.ru launches online pharmacy

Mail.ru, one of the largest internet businesses in Russia, has announced the launch of an online pharmacy. The announcement of Mail.ru’s online pharmacy All Pharmacies follows just four months after a new telemedicine law came into effect in Russia.

On 1 January of this year, a new law came into effect, allowing Russians to benefit from several online healthcare services. The law also allows physicians to issue online medical prescriptions. So, Mail.ru’s launch of an online pharmacy isn’t a big surprise.

How All Pharmacies works

The online store allows consumers to find and order thousands of prescription drugs or medical products. After ordering what they want, consumers can get the products at the nearest pharmacy the next day. As East-West Digital News found out, Mail.ru’s next stap is to offer same-day-delivery. Mail.Ru Group plans to offer a same-day service as a further step.

Consumers ready to order drugs online

“Half of the users show readiness to order non-prescription drugs online”, says project manager Alexander Kotlyarov. “The project leverages on the experience we gained from our project Mail.Ru Health and a variety of ecommerce projects, including Delivery Clu and Yula”, he explains.

Other online health companies in Russia

Mail.ru isn’t the only major player in Russia that’s busy in the online health scene. Two years ago, telemedicine startup Doc+ launched, which lets people call a doctor for a home visit. Last summer, the online platform received a 4.5 million euros investment from search giant Yandex and investment fund Barin Vostok Capital Partners. And in May of last year, the Russian bank Sberbank acquired a controlling stake in Docdoc, another telemedicine startup from Russia.