Launching an e-pharmacy

Business context

Zigly already ran pharmacies in its own locations, but medicines couldn't be ordered on the website, so that demand went elsewhere. Medicines are bought again and again, so they matter for repeat visits as much as for sales.

The problem

How to sell medicines online responsibly and within the rules, without making ordering so hard that customers give up.

Who it affected

• Pet parents managing ongoing treatment, who needed a reliable way to reorder.
• Zigly vets, who would now review online orders.
• The business, which needed a compliant process it could stand behind.

Goals and how success was measured

• A compliant flow where every medicine order is reviewed by a vet.
• Medicine orders as a share of online orders, and repeat purchase.

Role and scope

• Product lead: wrote the requirement and product document, designed the two prescription paths, and led the integration across Shopify, VetBuddy, Unicommerce and ClickPost.
• Prepared the launch presentation for leadership.
• Worked with Zigly's vets and the warehouse team on the review and dispatch steps.

Discovery and evidence

• Demand came from customer conversations.
• Designing the flow surfaced three risks early:

1. the VetBuddy–Shopify handoff failing during approval;
2. customers dropping off if the vet's call came late;
3. mixed orders splitting into separate shipments, with Zigly paying delivery on a low-value medicine parcel.

Options considered

The solution

1. Compliance first: every medicine order goes to a vet for review before fulfilment.
2. Don't turn customers away: those without a prescription are offered a vet consultation.
3. One fulfilment location: approved orders ship from the Delhi warehouse; licensed centres can be added later.
4. Measure the promise: review time is tracked against a target for every order.

How the flow works:

• Cart: when a medicine is in the cart, a drawer offers prescription upload (camera, gallery, or the last prescription Zigly issued) or continuing without one.
• Path A, prescription uploaded: the order appears in VetBuddy with the prescription. Once the vet validates it, the order is confirmed and the customer gets a WhatsApp confirmation.
• Path B, no prescription: a Zigly vet consults the customer by phone on a recorded line, checks the pet's symptoms against the medicine, and decides. Where a prescription is issued, it is attached to the order and saved to the customer's account, and the order is confirmed.
• Fulfilment: approved orders are allocated in Unicommerce to the Delhi warehouse, and ClickPost handles tracking and customer updates.

Technical and operational considerations

• Each review keeps both the time it started and the time it finished, so review time against the target can be measured for every order.
• A vet consultation in a Zigly clinic produces a digital prescription that can then be ordered online, which links the clinics and the website.

Execution and collaboration

• Three risks were identified during design, before launch. The third, mixed-order shipping, is the main lesson below.
• Worked with Zigly's vets on the review step and with the warehouse team on dispatch.

Challenges and trade-offs

• Convenience versus compliance: allowing checkout before review keeps customers moving, while dispatch still waits for the vet.

Outcomes

Lessons

Shipping for mixed medicine-and-product orders should have been designed up front, so low-value medicine parcels don't carry their own delivery cost.