The Marktforschungsinstitut, the Appinio GmbH with seat in Hamburg, asks since March regularly humans in Germany to the effects of the Corona Pandemie. Only penultimate week before last 1,000 Germans were asked to Amazon Pharmacy, only recently again created on-line pharmacy and daughter of Amazon.com, on-line giant, which offers first however only in the USA pharmacy services. The background to the survey is that prime customers in the USA in particular are offered juicy discounts when they order generics or original preparations from Amazon via the Internet or with the app. The question was therefore whether people in this country could also imagine ordering from Amazon Pharmacy. The online giant’s plans are to also stir up European markets, similar to the USA. Amazon has already secured trademark rights for the EU. On average, 60 percent of German customers could also be enthusiastic about buying from Amazon Pharmacy, partly because discount campaigns with up to 80 percent rebates are on offer. As the analysis shows, German customers have a great interest, which increases the younger the customers are: Of 100 potential customers, 62 percent on average could imagine ordering over-the-counter (OTC) drugs there. Among Rx orderers for prescription drugs, the interest is lower at 49 percent on average. The greatest skeptics, with only 36 percent of purchases made, are found in the group of 55 to 65-year-olds. Among the 25 to 34-year-olds, as many as 68 percent of those surveyed said they could imagine making a purchase.
The analysts see the reasons for the increasing interest in buying drugs on the Internet both in the current restrictions associated with the occurrence of infections and in the planned changes in the drug market resulting from the introduction of the e-prescription on January 1, 2022.
Mail-order pharmacies have already had a significant influx due to the pandemic. Although 58 percent of those surveyed still buy prescription drugs in stationary pharmacies, 29 percent already purchase OTC products online. 17 percent have visited mail-order pharmacies for the first time due to the spread of the virus. In the youngest group in terms of age, the figure was almost 25 percent. In the e-prescription surveys, it became clear that as many as 67 percent on average are willing to order drugs from mail-order pharmacies on the Internet in the future; here again: the younger, the more willing the respondents.