BgX: The app linking households to local pharmacies

A delivery app, initially created to service the beauty industry, has been adapted to deliver essential pharmaceuticals during lockdown and to help the most vulnerable.

The founder of bgX claims the app – which he describes as the ‘Deliveroo of medicine’ – could also be part of the solution to the distribution of Covid-19 testing kits and face masks, although it doesn’t offer to fulfil prescriptions. 

It cannot do prescriptions yet, however. 

The app aims to help independent pharmacies survive – many are struggling due the reduction in footfall and the higher demand for deliveries, which some reports say have doubled since lockdown.

Ali Rafi, who co-founded the bgX app with Paria Ghorashi, says: ‘We want to help the elderly and those with underlying health issues to get their pharmacy products safely and quickly without having to go to their local chemist and potentially mixing with other people.’

‘This way we can help pharmacies do their amazing job keeping the UK public healthy, and also take away some of the pressure on local pharmacy staff who currently do not have adequate PPE equipment. 

‘By using the bgX app they can still provide their amazing service but also maintain social distancing.’

BgX origins

BgX – an acronym adapted from the name ‘Blowout&Go’ – changed its business model after Ali personally struggled to help his vulnerable mother during the Covid-19 outbreak.

‘Our business was focused on beauty, make up and skincare but my mum had a bypass in December, which I was there for. She sits in that dangerous category where she’s old with pre-existing conditions.’

When Covid-19 struck, his mother went into self-isolation at home but Ali couldn’t help as he’d since returned to where he lives in Dubai.

‘She was later self-isolating at home but there’s no flights and I’m stuck out here. 

‘I knew she didn’t have face masks, sanitiser and she didn’t know what to do. We very quickly adapted our platform to get pharmacies to deliver.

‘That was the main reason to adapt the platform to cater to pharmacies. We reached out to pharmacies in her area and they jumped on it. 

‘In the space of a day or two we had two pharmacies in her area listed and I was able to go on the app, order her what she needed, and it was dropped outside her house.’

Now the app, available on the app store or Android, sources pharmacies within a five-mile radius and shows what products they have available in various categories within Greater London and the M25.

However, it is soon set to serve more people. 

This month the service will be available in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol and it’s expected to provide a nationwide service by the end of June this year.

Ali has ensured that his pricing structure does not affect pharmacies that are struggling financially. 

Customers are charged a flat £5 fee on top of the normal in-store cost of the items and in certain areas the business has absorbed the costs of paying the various delivery companies for their services.

Customers are able to order a variety of products including pain management, hygiene and protection products like sanitisers and protective gloves and masks, immune support and wellness supplements, skincare, haircare and eye care, allergy relief, inhalers, thermometers and other diagnostic devices.

Most deliveries are made within 30 minutes but can take up to an hour, depending on the order and distance covered.

Deliveries are trackable so customers can see when their products are arriving at their doorstep. Payment for the goods and delivery cost is all in the app so no human contact is necessary.

People can also order online for elderly friends and family who may not be that tech savvy, and can select ‘contactless delivery’, whereby the rider will just ring the doorbell on arrival and then leave the package in safe place.

We’re ready to deliver kits

The founders of the app are also in discussions about deliveries of Covid-19 antibody home testing kits. 

So far it has been reported that the government has only outlined plans for how Britons can conduct the tests at home and it is expected that Amazon and Boots will be used as the main distributors.

But Ali says his business has the infrastructure in place to provide the delivery of kits from local pharmacies, who may struggle to cater to the demand amid social distancing restrictions.

He says: ‘We are actually ready and have done the homework. 

‘We’ve been in discussions with a number of medical companies in the UK to distribute 250,000 anti-body kits.

‘The issue is actually waiting for the government to approve one as there are so many different products to hit the market and none have been certified as safe yet. 

‘The moment they announce that we are good to go and distribute them.’

Joining the scheme

Over 50 pharmacies in central London have already signed up including Go Go Pharmacy and various independent high street chemists.

Inventory is listed in real time so there’s little chance of customers ordering something that’s not in stock.

The service has already been well received by a few chains and saved some pharmacies from having to close their doors.

Dr Omid Masoud superintendent pharmacist at Go Go Chemist Ltd says: ‘The bgX platform has enabled me flexibility during these tough times to continue serving my local community with the vital products that they need. 

‘I have also been able to reach new local customers and offer them the full range of essential Covid-19, health and personal care products.’

Sonal Davda, managing director at Chel Pharmacy Ltd adds: ‘We were considering closing for the safety of our staff because we lack the necessary PPE equipment and have relatively small outlets which make social distancing almost impossible.

‘We are of course extremely reluctant to do this as there is currently unprecedented need for essential Covid-19 health, hygiene and personal care products and we want to continue to care for the communities that we serve.

‘The bgX platform has enabled us the flexibility during these tough times to continue serving our local communities with the vital products that they need.’

Ali says the app has been designed so that pharmacies can join the scheme quickly and easily, even if they only have a rudimentary way of listing their inventory.

He explains: ‘We made it a plug and play offering and any high street business can sign up. We can also give them an option in drag and drop from their inventory list.’

The app and its services are also available in Paris, Dubai, New York, Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles.

More businesses need to become digital

Ali believes that even in a post-pandemic world the need for digital services will remain high and that smaller businesses will need to become more digital to survive and compete with the likes of Amazon and other major retailers that have gone online.

‘We believe in the future of e-commerce and we are here to help the little ones – supporting local. 

‘Footfall will go down so we will help the high street store that wants to deliver.’

He warns that the pandemic is set to change the way we live and purchase goods: ‘This is not a pause, it’s a reset. We will have to wear a face mask. 

‘It’s become normal in large parts of Asia where I have travelled.

‘This virus is not going to disappear, and I think people’s lives will change and the faster you adapt your business to this, the better. The businesses that will survive are the ones that preparing for digital.’