Digital pharmacy medino reveals 28,900% increase in vitamin D sales amongst the top pharmacy products of a pandemic, according to shoppers

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These are the top health, wellness and self-care products in a pandemic compared to a regular year, says medino

Chart showing medino's top two products and unit sales of March 2019 compared to March 2020.

It has been clear to see that in the past year, the health and wellness e-Commerce sector has changed. During a pandemic, shoppers usual patterns of seasonally-driven buying and everyday essential items have dramatically shifted from the norm. Online pharmacy medino, who grew by 600% between January and September 2020 vs the same period in 2019, analysed their product sales from the past two years to discover what shoppers deemed the must-have pharmacy products of a pandemic.

With Coronavirus changing the meaning of ‘everyday essentials’ for the public, vitamin D, paracetamol and antibacterial hand gel were prominent in shoppers baskets during peak pandemic months of February – June 2020, and again in January 2021 as coronavirus cases rose highly once more.

medino's data showed a 1570% increase in purchases of Nurofen Plus 32 Tablets: as the pandemic developed, paracetamol was shown to help ease coronavirus symptoms.

When higher levels of Vitamin D were rumoured to help prevent the contraction of coronavirus, shoppers responded with an increasing number of purchases. Between January 2020 and December 2020 there was a 28900% increase in purchases of HuxD3 20,000 IU 30 Vegetarian Capsules, consistently making vitamin D one of the top products bought. According to medino data, there was also a 1570% increase in purchases of Nurofen Plus 32 Tablets, with paracetamol being suggested by health experts as a product that helps to ease coronavirus symptoms such as fever.

In January 2019, a regular buying year, and 2020 – when coronavirus had not fully entered public awareness in the UK – these products were nowhere to be seen in medino’s data of the top products sold.

medino's data showed that normal personal grooming pharmacy products, such as Palmolive Shave Stick 50g, appeared in their top sales data for the first time in 2020 in June as lockdown restrictions were eased.

As the first UK lockdown started to be lifted by the end of March and groups of six began to be able to meet outside, on 1st June 2020 the top products sold included a tentative sign of normality: usual personal grooming pharmacy products, such as Palmolive Shave Stick 50g and Salactol Wart Paint 10ml, appeared for the first time in their top sales data since 2019.

Vitamin D has become an essential health item for shoppers, having been thought to help prevent users from contracting COVID-19.

Similarly, the data also clearly showed when tighter rules began to once again be implemented. From September 2020 to the end of the year, as the tier system was introduced across the UK and the second lockdown was announced due to rising cases, the top purchases of these months were once again dominated by Vitamin D, which accounted for over 6% of total sales.

Following analysis of their data, co-founder of medino Christian Jakobsson said:

"Where usually we can predict shoppers top buys due to seasonal needs, 2020 has been extremely different. We’ve noted through our sales the story of the pandemic, both the ups and the downs.

We’re proud that we’ve been able to deliver these new essential everyday items of antibacterial gel, vitamin D and face masks all across the UK. With many unable to regularly shop in person or unable to find products in the local shops during the pandemic, we’ve been able to help and support so many people, which our growth shows."

Much like the government safety slogans, shoppers have created their own rules of essential pharmacy items, according to medino's data analysis.

About medino

medino’s mission is to enable convenience as a core pharmacy shopping experience. With relentless digital focus, the company was founded by Lars Elfversson, who founded European multimillion technology company Netlight Consulting with 1500+ exceptional consultants over 6 countries, Christian Jakobsson, digital sales and marketing leader who started and developed start-ups in Paris and London, Henrik Blomkvist, technology leader integrated in the start-up scene with a proven track record of developing services for global audiences, and Viktor Holmberg, technology expert within machine learning and AI with extensive experience in large infrastructure systems.

They have grown medino to become a key player in the health and well-being industry in their two years of operation. They have scaled fast and will continue to do so with the new funding they’ve secured.

Their vision is to become the natural choice for all pharmacy shopping and target customers transitioning from retail pharmacy shopping to online - to simply become "The pharmacy in your phone".

You can find out more about medino here: www.medino.com/about-us

Written by Natasha Edwards