Apollo Healthco Ltd to expand pharmacy network in Bengal

Kolkata: Apollo Healthco Ltd, a part of Apollo Hospitals Group, which operates the Apollo Pharmacy chain and the online platform Apollo 24/7, is planning to establish 80 to 100 new outlets across Bengal within the next two years. This expansion aims to increase its market share from the existing 25% to 40% in the state.The omni-channel healthcare player is focusing on tier-2 cities in the state, while the Kolkata market accounts for about 35% of its current sales.At present, the company operates about 900 outlets in the state, of which 500 are in Kolkata. With the new outlets, the number of stores run by the company in the state will increase to around 1,000, according to Madhivanan Balakrishnan, CEO of Apollo Healthco Ltd and Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Apollo Group."Our goal is to further boost our market share by 35%-40% in Bengal and 50% in Kolkata in the upcoming years. This growth will come from the online quick delivery in the city and its outskirts, as well as a growing network of offline stores. In Bengal, the Apollo Pharmacy outlets generate around 1.5 lakh invoices daily, with Kolkata accounting for 35% of this volume," Balakrishnan told TOI.The company, which started a 29-minute delivery service in Kolkata last year, is also upgrading its pharmacies with micro-warehousing infrastructure to stock fast-moving medicines. Balakrishnan said, "Today, more than 85% of the city's orders are covered under the fast delivery service. Now we serve about 80% of our orders in 29 minutes, while the rest are delivered in two hours."