Demand growth rate for hospital supplies in India’s tier-II cities surpass tier-I: JD Mart Consumer Insights

At a pan-India level, demand for hospital supplies saw maximum YOY growth at 55 per cent while that for pathology and operation theatre instruments remained stable

As India grapples with the third wave of COVID, demand for hospital supplies, pathology instruments, and operation theatre equipment rose significantly across India with tier II towns and cities leading the growth curve with almost 2.5X demand generated across tier-I cities, as per the latest JD Mart Consumer Insights.

The most recent consumer trends by JD Mart suggest that demand for hospital supplies, pathology instruments, and operation theatre equipment witnessed massive growth and recorded a YOY rise of 29 per cent. The rise in demand across India’s tier-I cities was also 29 per cent, however tier-II led the growth story with 74 per cent YOY growth. For the trend, JD Mart compared the OND 2021 data vis-à-vis OND 2020 across India’s 1000 towns and cities.

At a pan-India level, demand for hospital supplies saw maximum YOY growth at 55 per cent while that for pathology and operation theatre instruments remained stable. Among tier-I cities, the demand for hospital supplies rose by 29 per cent and that for pathology instruments was 27 per cent. In tier-II, demand for hospital supplies saw a sharp jump of 76 per cent.

Commenting on the trend Prasun Kumar, CMO, Just Dial said, “We are witnessing a significant spike in demand for a wide category of hospital supplies, pathology instruments and operation theatre equipment as hospitals are sprucing up their infrastructure as India navigates the third COVID wave. JD Mart has been successful in enabling and facilitating online purchase of  medical equipment and supplies industry that according to industry estimates is expected to be a $25-30 billion industry in India by 2025. This has resulted in hospitals in tier-II towns and cities have better and quick access to suppliers and manufacturers and a level playing fields in terms of price discovery. This is further reflected in the recent consumer trends on the platform that validate the tier II growth story with a mammoth demand surge of 79 per cent as against the 29 per cent of tier I cities.”

Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore were the top 3 tier-I cities generating maximum demand for hospital supplies. In tier-II, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Coimbatore, Jaipur, and Patna were the top 5 cities that saw maximum demand. Among hospital supplies, adjustable walker, aluminum electric wheelchair, anesthesia breathing circuit, anesthesia pendant, and arthroscopic shaver were the top 5 most searched equipment on JD Mart.

For pathology instruments, Mumbai topped the demand list among tier-I cities followed by Delhi and Pune. Patna, Nagpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Bhopal were the top 5 tier-II cities with maximum demand. For operation theatre equipment, Delhi topped the list among tier-I cities driving maximum demand followed by Chennai and Ahmedabad in the second and the third pace respectively. Among tier-II, Kannur topped the list with maximum demand for operation theatre equipment. The cities of Ludhiana, Indore, Nashik, and Siliguri made the rest of the top-5 tier-II cities with maximum searches.