Blinkit Tests 10-Minute Medicine Delivery Service in Bengaluru

Bengaluru is the site of Blinkit’s pilot program for delivering prescription medications; the company is a major player in quick commerce.  The platform has broadened its range of offerings, which previously consisted solely of over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

According to a review of the new feature by media, Blinkit is now offering for sale, in addition to its other products, nasal sprays, eye drops, antibiotics, ointments and antihistamines.

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In addition to its other services, Blinkit has introduced free doctor consultations for customers who place an order through the app.  Users can take advantage of the free consultations in case they cannot upload a prescription or if the one they uploaded is deemed “invalid”.

This coincides with Blinkit’s aggressive forays into the healthtech sector.  Parts of Gurugram saw the launch of a 10-minute ambulance service by the quick commerce major earlier this year.

Last week, Deepinder Goyal, the founder and CEO of Eternal (Blinkit’s parent company), stated that the number of ambulances in Blinkit’s service has increased from five to 12 (“covering almost half” of the satellite town) since the service launched in January.

“Up until now, we have answered 594 calls, with 50% of these being critical emergencies.  Goyal stated in a post on X on July 24, “Today, our 12 ambulances operating from 6 depots reach patients within 10 minutes 83% of the time.”

He mentioned that the company is developing an in-house paramedic training program to enhance its rapid ambulance service.

After having already shaken up the grocery and essentials segments, quick commerce players are now aiming to conquer other areas, particularly essential services like healthcare.

Although players such as Zepto, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Blinkit already provide OTC medicines, they are now accelerating efforts to enable rapid delivery of prescription-based medicines.

Following the recent advancement, Blinkit has emerged as the newest quick commerce platform to offer medicine deliveries within 10 minutes.  PhonePe launched a service for delivering medicines within 10 minutes via its ecommerce platform Pincode in three cities this April.  In October of the previous year, Swiggy was said to have teamed up with the online pharmacy PharmEasy to provide a 10-minute medicine delivery service.

It was reported earlier that Flipkart Minutes aimed to leverage its connection with sister company SastaSundar to enter the medicine delivery market.  Moreover, earlier reports indicated that Tata 1mg (together with BigBasket) and Apollo 24/7 were at different stages of testing instant medicine delivery.

In addition, new startups like Plazza and Farmako are emerging to provide medicine delivery in less than 30 minutes.  Zeno Health, a healthtech startup, secured $25 million in its Series C funding round in February and launched a 50-minute medicine delivery service in Mumbai shortly thereafter.