Threshold one: two certificates are difficult to get
The State Drug Administration stipulates that the online sale of medicines must have the "Internet drug trading service qualification certificate" and "Internet drug information service qualification certificate". As of the end of December 2010, after review and approval, China can provide Internet drug information service website has 2,613, can provide Internet drug trading services website has 57, of which there are 34 online pharmacies for individual consumers. Even the pharmaceutical industry's No. 1 KangZhongJia only started its online pharmacy business in the last few years.
There are 370,000 pharmacies and 15,000 chain drugstores in the country, compared with which the proportion of companies that have obtained the two certificates is far from being very low, which shows that the Drug Administration is cautious about Internet drug transactions. Therefore, although many pharmaceutical companies meet the requirements, but want to get the Internet drug two certificates, is not easy. Industry insiders point out that, according to the State Drug Administration, with three or more retail pharmacy chains, you can apply for the "Internet drug trading service qualification certificate", but the application and wait for approval will take a year. Generally speaking, will look for professional organizations to assist in obtaining the certificate, for example, like Beijing Jiasitang, Shengsheng network, Ma Yinglong, Zhejiang Haizheng and other pharmaceutical giants, are looking for the Northeast a company called net drug technology to assist in obtaining the certificate, and saves a lot of time and cost.
Threshold two: traditional retail chain enterprises to qualify
According to the Drug Administration issued the "Interim Provisions on the Approval of Internet Pharmaceutical Transaction Services," Article IX, to provide individual consumers with Internet drug transaction services, the first condition is that the first enterprise to apply for the enterprise must be a "legally established pharmaceutical retail chain enterprises. ". This strictly limits the opportunity for pure e-commerce models to exist in the pharmaceutical industry, so from the outset it is destined that e-commerce in the pharmaceutical industry can only rely on traditional pharmaceutical retail chains to carry out.
The development experience of e-commerce is that the pure e-commerce model has exploded in growth, completing the cultivation and expansion of the primary market, followed by the traditional retail enterprises have been involved in the network, expanding online business. According to the experience of traditional enterprises in the retail industry as a whole in doing e-commerce, traditional retail enterprises have been expanding their online business, but the experience is still far less than the pure e-commerce model, its share of e-commerce compared to the share of traditional retailing is still far from being very small, and the differences between online and offline prices and channels that plagued the traditional retail industry could not be resolved for a while.
Therefore, as the pharmaceutical industry can only be operated by traditional enterprises e-commerce, although the start of other industries or earlier, but the development of traditional retail involved in e-commerce is similar, is still in the early stages.
Threshold three: logistics restrictions
Pharmaceuticals as a special commodity related to the safety of people's lives, the state has very strict laws and regulations, especially the management of pharmaceutical warehousing, must have to go through the state's GSP management standards in the area of the temperature of the warehouse, equipment and facilities, information systems, management of the drug batch number, etc. Requirements are quite high.
According to Article 9 of the Interim Provisions for the Approval of Internet Pharmaceutical Transaction Services issued by the Drug Administration, Internet pharmaceutical sales enterprises must "have a pharmaceutical distribution system that is compatible with the varieties traded on the Internet", which requires that the applicant enterprise must have a GSP-certified pharmaceutical distribution system. But in fact, e-commerce logistics and distribution of more than SF, Shentong and other third-party logistics and distribution companies, and these third-party distribution companies have not received the pharmaceutical industry's GSP certification, and does not comply with the "Interim Provisions for the Approval of Internet Pharmaceutical Trading Services".
Threshold four: professional physician services
The Interim Provisions for the Approval of Internet Drug Trading Services, Article IX, provides that the online sale of medicines must be "with a licensed pharmacist responsible for real-time online consultation, and have to save the complete content of the consultation of the facilities, equipment, and related management system; engaged in the trading of medical devices, should be equipped with a medical device-related professional qualifications, familiar with the relevant laws and regulations of medical devices. Academic qualifications, familiar with medical device-related regulations of full-time professionals." Professional pharmacist consulting services, this provision raises the threshold of e-commerce services in the pharmaceutical industry.
E-commerce B2C to reduce costs, often set up customer service centers in the third and fourth-tier cities or remote suburban areas, the professional requirements for staff education are very low, basic junior and senior high school education can be competent. The special nature of the pharmaceutical industry, the professional level of service personnel require a high level, must have the pharmaceutical industry-related license. This in effect raises the threshold and cost of pharmaceutical B2C operations.
"Just like seeing a doctor in a good hospital to find a famous doctor to see a doctor, the competition is medical is professionalism, not drugs. So the difference between selling drugs and other industries is to provide one-on-one service, personalized service", "a box of drugs can save a life or make a person's life lost. Because it's a drug, it must have side effects, and as great as the positive effects are, so are the side effects. Even the Six-flavored Di Huang Pills are not to be taken lightly. We have a professional pharmacist, and the FDA requires your professional pharmacist to be on duty 24 hours a day."
Threshold 5: Cannot sell prescription drugs
China's Food and Drug Administration stipulates that "medical institutions are not allowed to sell prescription drugs directly to the public by postal sales, Internet transactions, counter open shelves for self-selection, etc.," and that companies offering Internet drug transactions to individual consumers can only sell online the business's operating non-prescription drugs.
In the United States, the second-largest pharmaceutical retailer, cvs, had sales of $38 billion in 2006 alone, with 70 percent of its sales coming from prescription drugs. In China, the market share of prescription drugs is more than three times that of over-the-counter drugs, but the prescription drug market is basically taken up by hospitals. Prescription drugs have high gross margins, high price points, and a large market share, making them ideal for e-commerce sales, but regulations prevent them from being sold online, which severely limits the overall market share of online pharmacies.
OTC drugs are the mainstream products of online pharmacies, but there are only more than 1,000 types of OTC drugs, with low unit prices and low gross margins, which are not suitable for online retailing. The entire OTC market is roughly 150 billion, of which a large share is in the hospital, less than half of the retail market. And this nearly 80 billion of the market share of health insurance consumption accounted for 50%, the real online pharmacy can fight for the OTC market share of less than 40 billion, it is simply "not as good as selling steamed bread to earn money.
Threshold six: the pharmaceutical system is not open to online
With the improvement of the entire health care system, the purchase of medicines through the health insurance has gradually become the mainstream mode of consumption, many traditional pharmaceutical retail chain pharmacies, such as Neptune Star online pharmacy are actively seeking to be included in the pharmaceutical system. However, the entire health insurance system is not yet open to online pharmacies, online pharmacy sales system can not do with the health insurance reimbursement system effectively docking, consumers can not use the social security card for reimbursement, which has become an important factor restricting the development of online pharmacies.