MedPlus: The wild card in the new omnichannel order

A unique mix of traditional experience and new-age risk-taking has positioned MedPlus to lead e-pharmacies and offline ones into the omnichannel era

Led by its eccentric founder Madhukar Gangadi, Medplus has grown into India’s second largest offline pharmacy chain

Along the way, it also became the country’s first omnichannel pharmacy

And while the trend has been for offline pharmacies to go online, the reverse is also happening

With e-pharmacies like Medlife planning to develop an offline presence, can MedPlus’ experience give it an edge?

Madhukar Gangadi, founder and CEO of offline pharmacy MedPlus, has earned two very different reputations. Depending on which of his employees you ask, of course.

Some see the doctor-entrepreneur as a maverick, plunging headlong into a new business plan every quarter. From selling products as diverse as furniture, electronics, health insurance and diagnostics to renting out space in the company’s medicine warehouse. These employees say that since MedPlus’ inception in 2006, Gangadi has suggested every possible idea, tried to execute most of them, and subsequently withdrawn from the majority of them.

AUTHOR

Ruhi Kandhari

Ruhi writes on the impact of healthcare policies, trends in the healthcare sector and developments on the implementation of Electronic Health Records in India. She has an M. Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

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