2023 will see notable shifts in AI in healthcare: Sameer Maheshwari, HealthKart

The start of a new year is seen as bringing in new operational efficiencies, stronger strategies, a far greater emphasis on building deep bonds with various stakeholders and consumers. In keeping with the current market ecosystem, technology and a human approach are seen as going hand in hand.

As 2023 kicks off, Adgully has approached key industry leaders to Crystal Gaze into 2023, as part of our annual Trending Now series, to highlight the major trends and developments that they see dominating the industry in the year ahead.

Looking ahead at 2023, Sameer Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, HealthKart, believes there will be notable shifts in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, increased focus on holistic wellness, building omnichannel distribution infrastructure, and more.

Key trends dominating healthcare industry in 2023

Looking at the current market growth, we strongly believe that 2023 will see notable shifts in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, remote Healthcare - Virtual Hospitals, Healthcare Communities, and Telehealth along with Retail Healthcare. Personalised Healthcare will also be a huge hit amongst the consumers.

Major expectations

Everything is always about the consumer, so consumers facing fitness and preventive health measures will take precedence for sure.

Additionally, the industry might focus on increasing awareness about the overall importance of health and fitness, increased acceptance towards usage of health supplements and herbs for holistic wellness. Usage of wearable tech to measure performance or activity levels might also gain more popularity in the coming year and health & wellness will take up a larger wallet share than it already is.

Focus areas for HealthKart in 2023

With HealthKart’s R&D capabilities and omnichannel distribution infrastructure, we are excited to lead the way! We aim to focus on: scaling up our in-house brands, increasing offline distribution and expanding internationally. We will also be pursuing inorganic opportunities in adjoining spaces.

Our vision for HealthKart would be to not have us in the minds of the people as only a place that is selling them nutraceutical products, but rather an honest and helpful house of brands which one can always trust, when it comes to health, nutrition and wellbeing. We want to observe, help and educate as many customers/ consumers remove the marketplace space and be more of a partner in good health.

REWIND 2022

Overall advertising ecosystem in India in 2022

2022 was an interesting year for India in the media, marketing and advertising sectors. Digital advertising grew over 2X in India, with over 75,000 brands advertised through digital media during the period.

India is emerging as the largest advertising market in the world in 2022, with digital media set to take over traditional TV media for the first time ever this year in terms of ad spends. Digital media is estimated to become the leading channel with a predicted share of 45%, driven by 33% growth during the year alone.

Last year we also saw advertising on ecommerce sites and platforms with increased investments in influencer marketing. Short-format videos and OTT platforms witnessed growth in 2021, which is sure to continue through 2022 and 2023 as well. The past 3 years have pushed the envelope towards digital, be it advertising, sales, virtual meetings or even consultations so I’m confident that e-commerce is sure to drive the economy ahead.

Key trends & developments in 2022

The whole need and awareness around the preventive healthcare space heightened during the pandemic. This demonstrates the increasing health consciousness among consumers, further triggering a shift from curative care to preventive care, for a healthier lifestyle.

Additionally, remote appointment setting and consultations were also introduced and adopted in the last year. This helped in easy and mass outreach of fitness and health care services, while keeping patients, clients, clinicians and the society at large, safe. Fitness and preventive health are long-term systemic trends that are taking off in a big way and are here to stay. The ease and convenience of getting consultations and fitness training from the comfort of your home, makes it possible for more and more people to engage with and adopt preventive care options.

HealthKart’s performance during in 2022

We just completed 11 years this year. While it seems like a longtime, we will always remain a startup and never let go of the spirit of experimentation and curiosity to identify and solve for customer needs. We are determined to constantly learn, calibrate, evolve and most importantly, continue to have strong conviction on the belief that we can improve the lives of customers by bringing them the very best of nutrition.

We are really proud of what we have achieved last year despite the disruption. We have achieved a run rate of 1000 crore this year. We had MuscleBlaze coming up as the #1 sports nutrition brand in the country w ~25% market share along with HK Vitals becoming the #1 VMHS brand in the online market. Additionally, we expanded our reach to ~20K MTGT outlets and also 140+ HK stores.

Preventive care has always been our priority, which is why all our products are developed with deep R&D efforts focused on holistic health. Our R&D team has 30-40 members consisting of 3 PhDs and 19 food scientists who consistently come up with cutting-edge nutraceutical innovations for the market. Going forward, our focus will be on enhancing our R&D capabilities.