The total volume of online sales/booking of pharmacy assortment products (medicines + parapharmaceuticals) in Q1 2026 amounted to RUB 173.1 billion (in final consumption prices, including VAT). The growth rate remains quite high at 24.1% in Russian currency, although this is noticeably lower than last year, when growth was recorded at 33.8%. At the same time, it should be noted that the overall state of demand this year has not greatly pleased market participants. Total revenue of Russian pharmacies increased by only 6.5% compared to Q1 2025, and this result was determined almost exclusively by demand for the drug assortment, while parapharmaceutical sales stagnated, with growth recorded at only +1.3%.

The overall share of the online channel, including booking, continued to grow in Q1 2026. The e-commerce direction currently accounts for 28.2% of the retail market's monetary volume, compared to 24.2% a year earlier (a 4% increase). The dynamics of the largest companies in the TOP-20 still outpace industry averages, with online revenue of top companies growing by 25.7% compared to Q1 2025. Nevertheless, market participants' interest in this direction is clearly declining. During the analyzed period, seven companies in the top twenty showed a decrease in e-commerce revenue, including major players such as Aprel and Eapteka. Of course, the reasons for such dynamics vary by case, but globally, online has ceased to be a direction in which retailers are willing to invest significant funds. In March 2026, the three-year experimental period for the delivery of prescription drugs in three Russian regions ended. It brought no surprises; its initiators confirmed what market participants understood from the very start of the pilot project – within the framework of the formulated principles, such a tool is of no interest to either consumers or market participants.

Interestingly, online sales volumes of drug products with delivery began to decline even before the formal end of the experimental period, starting in January 2026. According to the "Retail Audit of Drug Sales in Russia (total sell out)" from the analytical company RNC Pharma, for the period from January to April 2026, this e-commerce segment lost 12% of its ruble turnover and 21% in physical terms. This was certainly influenced by the favorable epidemiological situation and increased competition in specific categories. For example, delivery sales of Arbidol from Otisifarm decreased by 16% in ruble terms compared to January–April 2025, sales of Ingavirin (Valenta Pharm) fell by 9%, and Miramistin from Infamed lost 13%, etc. However, there were also quite outstanding results: for instance, ruble sales of Postinor from Gedeon Richter with delivery increased 8-fold over the year.

Table. TOP-20 Pharmacy Chains and Associations by Share of Sales Through Own Online Services in Q1 2026

*Among the representatives of the e-com segment, we include only organizations whose core assortment includes medicinal products. These volumes also do not include revenue from participants in the gray online business related to the supply of original drugs from other countries to Russia, or services selling generics not registered in Russia.