Zepto rolls out 10-minute medicine delivery in four cities

Quick commerce player Zepto launched Zepto Pharmacy, a 10-minute medicine delivery service, in selected areas of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad, CEO and Co-founder Aadit Palicha said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.

Zepto has spent the past 12 months running the service at a small scale to fine-tune customer experience, supply chain, and compliance processes. Palicha said, "Our objective is to keep operational standards extremely high and not scale too rapidly given the complexity of this category."

The quick commerce unicorn joins the ranks of its rivals, offering similar services. While over-the-counter drugs have been available on these platforms for some time, companies are now expanding with prescription drugs, which come with their own set of regulatory hurdles, including requiring a valid doctor's prescription.

Last month, Blinkit began piloting prescription medicine delivery in select Bengaluru pin codes, offering treatments for respiratory, heart, eye and ear conditions, neurocare, and antibiotics.

The platform also introduced free doctor consultations for customers unable to upload prescriptions for certain drugs. Orders are fulfilled by licensed pharmacies and transported in tamper-proof packaging.

Blinkit’s entry followed Swiggy’s partnership with PharmEasy under a shop-in-shop model, enabling sales of prescription medicines through Swiggy’s dark stores and app interface.