In many sectors of the economy, online shopping channels are becoming more and more popular with consumers. This is a trend that was already apparent before the pandemic, and which has received a further boost with the Covid-19 crisis. Among the sectors that have experienced growth in this respect is certainly Health & Pharma.

The first figure to start with is a number: 18 million. This is the estimated number of people who, over the past twelve months, have purchased a Health & Pharma product online at least once. In practice, it is estimated that over the past year, more than 63% of the total number of purchasers of goods and services online in Italy have purchased products belonging to the Health & Wellness segment at least once. Furthermore, the estimated increase in the number of this type of purchaser compared to the previous year was about 6.5%.

Starting from these 18 million citizens who have made H&P purchases online, it is estimated that as many as 5.6 million of these (about 31% of this audience) are purchasers of products in the health and pharma segment that can be considered as ‘regular’ (considering as such those customers who have made at least 4 online purchases in the last 12 months). In this case, the year-on-year growth over 2020 was calculated to be +20.7%.

In 2021, the value realised by online purchases of products in the H&P segment is estimated to be EUR 1.5 billion, an increase of 43% compared to the value achieved in the previous twelve months. The average value of total purchases of health and pharmaceutical products in the year made online by a single buyer is therefore estimated at just over EUR 80, a figure that rises to EUR 112 if buyers are classified as regulars. The latter, despite being 31% of the total, generated 42% of the total purchases.