“Similia Similibus Curentur” or ‘Let likes be treated by likes' or the law of similars is the principle behind homoeopathy. Since the discovery of homoeopathy in the late 18th century, the practice has spread across many countries in the world. Today, India is one of the leading markets for homoeopathic treatment and medicines. Other emerging markets include the UAE, Singapore and some pockets of Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. These are also the markets where eCommerce has established a strong foothold. YRC ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/ ;) maintains that going online could help homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics claim back their lost traction.

Expansion strategy

In regions where homoeopathy is popular, a few reputed names of practitioners and pharmacies also appear. These entities enjoy a strong reputation in their respective local markets. But the problem is market confinement. Not many homoeopathy practitioners or pharmacies and clinics are seen to be making efforts to expand to other cities or other parts of the same city. Of course, a practitioner has limits to which he/she can attend to clients. But there is no restriction on expanding the number of branches or serving a larger client base under a brand name. Adopting eCommerce could be a smart way to achieve this. With salient features of eCommerce like online appointment booking, online ordering, and home-delivery, traditional homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics can quickly rejuvenate its market position. This will entail market research, identifying and crafting UVP, assessment of IT requirements, etc. However, more important than the expansion strategy is embracing and viewing the profession in the contemporary sense of growth, expansion, modernization, and competitiveness.

Go for technology

A big boon that comes with eCommerce is that it makes an enterprise utilize technology. Without the right IT systems in place, eCommerce is simply not possible. Most homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics are still lagging when it comes to the use of technologies. But once they choose to take the online channel, they will also have to build and maintain their own website/app, use software systems for order processing, inventory control, delivery tracking, billing, etc., use analytics for marketing insights ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/services/market-research/ ;), strengthen their online presence through digital marketing, etc. Without any purpose or goal, it may make no sense for an enterprise to spend on technology.

Leverage from digital marketing

In the era of smartphones and the internet, missing out on digital presence could cost dearly for homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics. Having an eCommerce website/app would mean nothing if the potential clients never get to see or visit it on their screen time. This calls for digital marketing. The scope of digital marketing can be extensive. But its effectiveness lies in its ability to quickly attract audiences on digital platforms and motivating them enough to bring them to the website/app and possibly trigger purchases or achieve the desired conversion target. Digital marketing could play a big role in the brand positioning of homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/health-and-wellness ;) if they could rightly capture and portray the significance of this traditional therapeutic system of medicine with a sense of association.

Go global and rise to reputation

Homoeopathy, despite its therapeutic significance, is popular only in a handful of countries. Identifying the right markets and developing products and services aimed at those markets could mean an opportunity to go global. This is just the opposite of what many traditional homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics are doing by confining themselves to their local markets when they could go global. Today, taking professional services international is not as big as it used to be a decade or two back. Technology and eCommerce changed that to a great extent. A lot of planning and preparations are required for sure but it is very much achievable.
Coming to competition in homoeopathy retailing ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/health-and-wellness ;), there are only a few selected brands with a strong global reputation. This also means that the competitive hurdles are limited in the short run. Success would not come easy but with the right vision and planning, growth and expansion powered by eCommerce is capable of smoothly propelling a homoeopathy pharmacy or clinic to rise to a reputable market position.

Traditional homoeopathy pharmacies and clinics may find it difficult to compete against the modern-day enterprises of modern medicines and treatments. But it cannot be denied that this traditional therapeutic system of medicine has a strong client base in many countries. The problem is that the clients are widely scattered even within a country. ECommerce, with its other benefits, seems to be a likely solution to bridge this gap.
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YRC is a Management Consulting Firm with its presence across India & Dubai.
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