According to a Salesforce survey, in the first quarter of 2021 Italy was first in Europe and fourth in the world for the increase in digital commerce: with a growth of 78%, in fact, exceeds the global average of sales on e-commerce which reaches 58%.
A stunning result – and certainly due to the pandemic, which has radically changed the consumption habits of the population – compared to the first quarter of 2020, in which online shopping grew by 26% in Italy and by 17% in the world.
Despite this, not all sectors go hand in hand in online sales: healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device companies are entering this world only recently, thanks to legislation that has not governed the channel for a long time online for these areas.
However, more and more companies have found a way to satisfy the demand for medical devices and pharmaceutical products online in full-blown terms: according to research conducted by Netcomm Digital Health & amp; Pharma, in 2021 the e-commerce of medical products in Italy had a growth rate of + 43% compared to 2020, thanks to the impact of the pandemic on consumption. In particular, the value of health products sold online amounts to € 1.5 billion, with about 18 million Italians who have chosen to buy online. At the same time, with a view to maintaining a high level of safety and quality within the EU, the authorities continue to carry out a very careful surveillance activity, aimed at finding sites that do not comply with current regulations: numerous platforms, in fact, have been blacked out.
The “confusion” in this regard, as already specified, is due precisely to the absence of a regulatory framework governing e-commerce in the medical sector: the new European Regulations, officially entered into force in 2021, provide the possibility of selling online, but they do not specify limits or distinctive rules in this regard.
Despite this, the forecasts speak for themselves: e-commerce, even in the medical sector, is destined to grow more and more and definitively overcome the offline channel.
For this reason, we at Selmedico have immediately invested in the online channel taking into consideration the new traceability, transparency, and surveillance rules relating to the new European regulations.
Want to know more about e-commerce in the medical device sector, current regulations, and future market forecasts? Take part in the free webinar organized by Selmedico in collaboration with the Italian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Italy-China Foundation!
The webinar will be held on December 16, 2021, from 18:00 to 18:45, and you can register at this link: https://selmedico.com/
