US-listed pharmacy retailer China Jo-Jo Drugstores says its online sales have more than doubled in the third quarter as more and more Chinese buy medicines online.
The company’s total online pharmacy sales grew to more than 54 million RMB (US$8.7 million) and its official branded online store sales grew a whopping 500 per cent to more than 26 million RMB (US$4.2 million).
Those sales were achieved through its online arm www.dada360.com. In a statement, chairman and CEO Lei Liu described Chinese consumers’ adoption of online shopping as “prolific”.
“We expect a strong close to fiscal 2016, boosted by a supportive regulatory framework created by the Chinese government in order to expand large chain pharmacies and promote internet plus economy in China, as well as the proliferation of drug benefit coverage in both the government sponsored Social Health Insurance (SHI) program and private insurance program.
“ePharmacy sales within the company’s strategic businesses is positioning China Jo-Jo as one of the leading players and innovators in this fast growing industry. With renewed support from a favorable healthcare reform framework, we believe that China Jo-Jo will stand to benefit greatly from this wave of change and has quickly adjusted its growth strategy to capitalise on this opportunity,” said Liu.
“As one of the early pioneers of the large chain drugstore models in China, China Jo-Jo’s logistics infrastructure and means for product procurement has taken root, developing into a mature platform supporting both China Jo-Jo’s retail and online businesses. As such the company is also transforming into a partner of choice for commercial health insurance providers who also continue to develop alongside China’s nascent healthcare industry. Recently the company relocated its online pharmacy division to central Hangzhou, a growing hub for internet companies in Chinaas a means for attracting the best technologist to help in its ecommerce expansion efforts,” concluded Liu.
The ePharmacy business continues to meet strong demand from Chinese consumers looking for novel ways to shop in addition to competitively priced shopping alternatives. The company now carries over 10,000 products, across its retail and online businesses further developing the company’s brand for safe, high quality products that are competitively priced.
Looking ahead to calendar year 2016, China Jo-Jo says it will continue to execute its management strategies capitalising on China’s growing market for both online and retail pharmacy needs as outlined by the secular trends which call for additional growth and expansion of large chain pharmacies in the country.