Enhancing the Efficacy of Pharmaceutical E-Commerce Through Omni-Channel Coordination

Abstract

In the current era of e-commerce, the pharmaceutical industry has not experienced the same level of growth as regular commodities due to the high costs associated with home delivery and the perceived risks associated with purchasing drugs online. This paper proposes an omni-channel strategy to address these challenges, involving an “order online, home-delivery offline” approach between e-pharmacies and drugstores, with telemedicine serving as a coordination mechanism between e-pharmacies and hospital doctors. The proposed strategy achieves a seamless patient experience during online diagnosis. To analyze its feasibility, the paper employs optimization techniques to compare the profits of supply chain members in both omni-channel and non-omni-channel scenarios. The results demonstrate that the proposed strategy is both practical and efficient, boosting patients' trust in e-commerce and improving the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry.