With India’s consumer health market shifting rapidly towards e-commerce, telemedicine, and preventive care, Bayer is betting on digital-first strategies, local manufacturing, and science-backed self-care to reach 100 million households by 2030. Sandeep Verma, cluster head of South Asia for Bayer’s consumer health division, speaks to Geetika Srivastava about scaling digital platforms, aligning with Make in India, and addressing everyday health gaps. Edited excerpts:
Q. The Indian consumer health market is seeing a major shift towards digital platforms, telemedicine, and e-commerce. How is Bayer India leveraging these trends?
Industry estimates suggest that the share of e-commerce in consumer health is growing by over 20% annually, while telemedicine centers are engaging millions of consumers each month. There is a perceptible shift in the way people are accessing, and engaging with health and wellness solutions.
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At Bayer Consumer Health, we view digital transformation as a key enabler to making self-care more accessible. We primarily leverage digitisation through two key means: First, consumer literacy. We have approached this from two perspectives: condition awareness – providing consumers with credible and reliable information about common ailments and simple tips to address them. For instance, our initiative Saridon Aarampur, a telehealth platform piloted in Uttar Pradesh due to high prevalence of headaches in the region uses voice-based AI to provide consumers with simple self-care tips. Second, access. Since the pandemic, purchase preferences have shifted towards e-commerce. Our surveys revealed that consumers prefer buying multivitamins on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. In response, we began launching select products with a digital-first approach. This has enabled us to reach consumers in various corners of the country, advancing our vision of reaching 100 million households by 2030.
Q. How is the company navigating the regulatory landscape and supply chain challenges in India to support the “Make in India” initiative?
Our commitment to ‘Make in India’ goes beyond manufacturing some of our most-loved brands in the country. It also extends to introducing solutions which are specifically designed to address the specific Indian consumers problems and preferences. For example, our Supradyn pre-natal range which has been developed and made 100% in India, addressing the specific concerns of the women here.
Q. What specific gaps in the Indian market are you aiming to fill with your future product pipeline in nutrition, » Read More
