With Supplythis, medical ecommerce comes to fore

There are few sectors which are heavily cash-dependent, and one among them is that of medical professionals. Most of the time, doctors prefer to follow traditional ways of operation — primarily cash and conventional ways of purchase.

Purchasing supplies and ordering them online is something not so common with medical practitioners. ​On account of demonetisation and digitisation, the section of pharmacists and doctors that is heavily dependent on cash-based transactions ​and  traditional ways to purchase of medical supply, is witnessing a transformation in their ways of core operations.

Supplythis is bringing in this transformation in this niche segment. More than 800 doctors are already using supplythis.com in Bengaluru and allowing themselves to maximise the time with their patients since this is less time-consuming.

The company is a personalised purchasing service and online medical marketplace for the medical industry. It is a multi-vendor marketplace where doctors can access products from a wide range of options and comparative pricing, without having to deal with medical suppliers and manufacturers.

“We are a direct selling channel for all medical supplies to medical business buyers. We are building a digital distribution platform for the unorganised medical buyers consisting of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. From surgicals, disposables, consumables and pharmaceuticals, everything is available to doctors at this one-stop marketplace,” says Kartik Deshpande, Co-founder of Supplythis.

“Through our platform, they have access to the widest range of products at the lowest prices. Technology is not only changing the way doctors diagnose and treat their patients, but it also gives them the convenience of ordering their supplies online,” he adds.

Prior to his MBA, Deshpande interned at a nursing home. “Because of this, I understood the painpoints of procurement and sourcing they have, compared with products and pricing available to the large corporate hospitals. Current medical procurement is very inefficient given the number of dealers and sub dealers in this segment,” he says.

Presently, with a team of 35 across technology, supply chain, sales and operations, the company is in pursuit to hire more talent. The company, which was bootstrapped so far, is now seeking external funding.

“We recently expanded to Tumkuru and Mysuru, and are now looking forward to launch in the rest of South India within six months,” Deshpande says, on his expansion plans.

“Many horizontal players exist. Many of the funded B2B portals are focusing on many industries. We aim to build a vertical specialisation in healthcare,” he adds.