Swedish pharmacy market continues to move online

The pharmacy market in Sweden has seen a remarkable transition from bricks and mortar sales to online. Online represented 23% of all pharmacy sales in Sweden. This share has grown very rapidly. Only four years ago, online became 10% of all pharmacy sales.

During the last five years, pharmacy sales have grown only online. Stores have risen a mere 0,9%, whereas online has raised a whopping +577%!

Hjärtat becoming the market leader.

The first big growth story has been the rapid growth of the ICA-owned chain Hjärtat. Over the last ten years, it has grown to challenge the established market leader Apoteket.

In 2012 the revenue for Hjärtat was only 26% of the revenue of Apoteket. In 2021 Hjärtat had grown 78,5%.

It will most probably be a matter of years when Hjärtat surpasses Apoteket.

Apotea’s explosive growth

The rapid rise of the online channel has been driven by the pure-play online pharmacy Apotea. For years it had a near 50% market share for the online channel. Even in 2021, as online has become a significant part of the pharmacy market, Apotea has a 40% market share online.

Even though Hjärtat has multiplied, it has remained a relative niche player online. With 1,5 billion SEK of revenue online, Hjärtat is only 30% of Apotea’s revenues.

Apotea has a big aim of growing rapidly in the future also. In an interview last February, the founder and CEO of Apotea, Per Svärdson, stated that Apotea wants to become the biggest pharmacy chain in Sweden.