Swedish retailer Axfood has launched a new online pharmacy service, alongside Axel Johnson’s investment company Novax and online contact lens retailer LensOn.
The new service, initially called 'Hubia' but likely to be renamed in the coming months, is 28% owned by Axfood, and will offer a 'broad and attractive' range of pharmacy products online, the company said, 'at low prices, with fast and secure deliveries, and with innovative peripheral services that contribute to a unique customer experience'.
Wider Range
Axfood currently sells over the counter drugs through its stores, however, it hopes that through the launch of an online pharmacy, it will be able to offer a wider range of prescription medicines for sale to its Willys’ and Hemköp’s e-commerce customers.
“Axfood is working relentlessly to strengthen the shopping experience for customers," said Klas Balkow, President and CEO of Axfood. "Through our participation in the start-up of an online pharmacy we have the opportunity in the future to make it just as smooth for customers to order prescription drugs as OTC drugs.”
Increased Size
The pharmacy market in Sweden is valued at around SEK 40 billion, with the e-commerce segment of this growing the fastest.
“The pharmacy market is enormous, and e-commerce has just begun to gain traction,” said Kim Persson, co-founder of LensOn and CEO of Hubia. “With Axfood’s and Novax’s support we have the conditions to build a really good online pharmacy business.
"We have now come to a phase in which we will recruit a strong e-commerce team and are searching for a number of talented leaders, developers, advisers/pharmacists, marketers and category managers.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
