KuaiFang Launches China's First Ultra-Compact Unmanned Pharmacy, Ushering in a New Era of Smart Pharmaceutical Retail
Nowadays, unmanned retail technology has begun to penetrate multiple traditional sectors, triggering wave after wave of industry transformation; however, it remains a blank slate in the pharmaceutical retail sector.
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that KuaiFang, a company deeply engaged in the pharmaceutical supply chain, recently launched China’s first ultra-micro unmanned pharmacy in Beijing.
Most conventional pharmacies occupy an area of over 100 square meters, whereas KuaiFang’s ultra-compact unmanned pharmacy occupies less than 5 square meters. It essentially houses the entire inventory of a physical pharmacy within a single smart vending cabinet, enabling unmanned sales and automated dispensing. Customers can purchase medications on-site by scanning a QR code via the cabinet’s large display, or place orders through a mobile app for home delivery by couriers.
Smart Vending Cabinets at ChaoWei Unmanned Pharmacies (Image provided by the company)
Kuai Fang’s COO, Liu Hengrui, summarized the three advantages of unmanned pharmacies:
The Smallest Pharmacy in the Industry
Kuaifang’s ultra-compact unmanned pharmacy occupies less than 5 square meters yet stocks 1,000 SKUs, with a capacity for 4,000 medication items, making it the industry’s smallest large-scale pharmacy. Figuratively speaking, Kuaifang has fitted a large-scale pharmacy into a refrigerator.
Minimum Cost
Kuaifang’s ultra-micro unmanned pharmacies require no counters, cashiers, or sales staff, making them extremely easy to manage with nearly zero labor costs. The Kuaifang smart vending cabinets can perform all tasks handled by personnel in conventional pharmacies—not only better, faster, and more efficiently, but also around the clock, 365 days a year.
Ubiquitous Pharmacies
Kuaifang is reshaping perceptions of traditional pharmacies. The setup cost for Kuaifang’s ultra-micro unmanned pharmacy is extremely low, with the entire smart cabinet costing under RMB 30,000. In the past, RMB 30,000 was insufficient even for renovation when opening a pharmacy; now, however, a store can be launched for just RMB 30,000. With its minimal footprint, flexible site selection, absence of professional restrictions, and accessibility to all entrepreneurs, this model enables rapid, ubiquitous deployment of Kuaifang’s ultra-micro unmanned pharmacies.
About Kuaifang
In September 2014, the Kuai Fang Song Yao app was launched, and three months later, it secured angel-round investment amounting to several million RMB from Jiuhe Venture Capital. During the same period, competitors such as Yao Gei Li, Hao Yao Shi, and Ding Dang Kuai Yao also entered the market. Traditional pharmacies, internet healthcare providers, and capital investors quickly turned their attention to this emerging sector, with institutional investments propelling the medicine-delivery O2O (Online-to-Offline) industry into a phase of explosive growth.
In June 2015, KuaiFang secured RMB 50 million in Series A financing from Jingji Venture Capital. In October 2015, KuaiFang raised another RMB 200 million in Series B funding from Tiantu Capital. Operational data at the time showed that KuaiFang had expanded its coverage to multiple cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, with both registered users and daily order volume on an upward trajectory. In April 2017, “KuaiFang Medicine Delivery” obtained an additional RMB 60 million in financing from Buchang Pharmaceuticals.
In June 2017, KuaiFang launched its Smart Pharmacy System, aiming to provide information technology upgrade solutions and delivery services to retail pharmacies. According to the plan, KuaiFang will collaborate with 500 pharmacies across 50 cities in China, providing them with the Smart Pharmacy System and delivery services to help them meet the growing online demand and capitalize on the emerging incremental market driven by the outflow of prescription drugs from hospitals.
Currently, KuaiFang offers one-hour home delivery of medications in 15 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. In Beijing alone, KuaiFang operates 18 stores, carries thousands of medication categories, and processes over 10,000 orders on average per day. As a core competitive advantage, its dedicated delivery team in Beijing comprises more than 200 personnel, achieving an average delivery time of just 37 minutes per order, with a peak delivery capacity of up to 50,000 orders.