Order from a pharmacy within 50 km.
One basket matched to the nearest independent pharmacy.
Everyday health, from a pharmacy near you
Stock is checked against partner pharmacies within 50 km of .
Looking for a prescription or pharmacist-only medicine? Send a request and the pharmacist will quote you.
Send your script to a pharmacist nearby
Upload a photo or type what you need. The matched pharmacy's pharmacist checks it and confirms the price before you pay anything.
What to expect
- The pharmacist may phone you to confirm details or suggest a generic.
- Some medicines need the original script handed over on delivery or collection.
- Certain higher-schedule medicines are collection only. The pharmacist will tell you.
- Medical aid claims are handled by the pharmacy, as they would be in store.
Plain answers about medicines
Short explainers on common medicines and on how pharmacy works in South Africa, written the way a pharmacist would say it at the counter.
General information, not personal medical advice. These are sample articles and need a pharmacist's review before launch.
How an order finds its pharmacy
The matching is simple on purpose, so customers and pharmacies can both predict it.
The matching rules
Draw the circle
We measure straight-line distance from your delivery area to every partner pharmacy and keep those within 50 km.
Check the shelf
Pharmacies that can't fill the whole basket drop out. A full order from one pharmacy means one pharmacist's check and one delivery.
Pick the closest
The nearest pharmacy left gets the order. If it declines, the order passes to the next closest.
Fall back openly
If nobody has everything, you see who has the most and what is missing. If nobody is in range, we say so and take your details for when one joins.
Delivery or collection
The pharmacy delivers with its own driver or courier, or holds the order at the counter. Example delivery fees by distance:
Or let pharmacies bid
At checkout, choose Get bids. Every pharmacy within 50 km that can fill your whole basket has 15 minutes to offer its price. Bids are sealed, so pharmacies cannot see each other's offers.
You see each bid with its delivery fee and distance, and accept the one you want. MedsOnline marks one bid as MOL's Choice to help you decide. Nothing is ordered until you accept.
What a pharmacist always does
Every medicine order is checked by the dispensing pharmacy's pharmacist before it leaves. They can phone you, change a quantity, or decline an order they are not comfortable filling.
Questions
Why 50 km?
It is wide enough to find a pharmacy with stock, and close enough that you can still drive there or phone the pharmacist who filled your order.
Who am I buying from?
The pharmacy shown on your order. MedsOnline passes the order on and stays out of the sale. You pay the pharmacy directly.
Can I order prescription medicine?
Yes. Send your prescription from the Prescriptions page. The matched pharmacy's pharmacist checks it, confirms the price and tells you if they need the original script on delivery or collection.
How does bidding work?
At checkout you can ask for bids instead of taking the nearest pharmacy. Pharmacies within 50 km that have your whole basket get 15 minutes to offer a price, and you choose the one you want. Prices of scheduled medicines are regulated, so bids differ mostly on everyday items.
What if no pharmacy near me has everything?
We show the pharmacy that has the most of your basket and list what is missing, so you can remove those items or try a nearby area.
What happens to my information?
Health information is special personal information under POPIA. Only the pharmacy filling your order sees your basket and prescription.
Online orders for your pharmacy, from your own neighbourhood
Customers within 50 km who want what is on your shelf are sent to you. You dispense, you get paid, you keep the customer.
You stay the pharmacy
Orders are placed with you. Your name, registration and responsible pharmacist appear on every one.
Payment comes to you
Customers pay your pharmacy directly. MedsOnline never holds the money for medicine.
You control the shelf
Mark items in or out of stock. You only receive orders you can fill completely.
Accept, pass or bid
Your pharmacist accepts a direct order or passes it to the next closest pharmacy. When a customer asks for bids, you have 15 minutes to offer your price.
What you need to join
- A community pharmacy recorded with the South African Pharmacy Council
- A registered responsible pharmacist
- A way to deliver locally, or a counter for collections
Incoming orders
What a partner pharmacy sees. Orders you place in this prototype show up under the pharmacy they were matched to.
Orders
What's new at MedsOnline
Platform updates, notes for partner pharmacies and seasonal health reminders.
Sample posts written for this prototype.
Welcome back
Your account keeps things short
- Your name and cellphone are filled in at checkout
- Prescription requests carry your details too
- Your area is remembered, so stock is checked near you
Create your MedsOnline account
Why sign up
- Faster checkout, with your details already filled in
- Prescription requests carry your details too
- Your area is remembered, so stock is checked near you
Own a pharmacy?
Pharmacies join through the Partners page, where we check your registration first.
Built for the pharmacy on your corner
Independent pharmacies know their customers by name, but most don't have an online store. MedsOnline gives them a shared one.
A customer anywhere in South Africa builds a basket. We send it to the nearest independent pharmacy within 50 km that can fill it. The pharmacist there does what they have always done: check, dispense, advise.
How we work with the rules
- Medicine is sold and dispensed only by pharmacies recorded with the South African Pharmacy Council.
- Each pharmacy's details appear on the orders it fills.
- Prescription and pharmacist-only medicines are quoted by a pharmacist, never promoted in the shop.
- Customer health information is handled as special personal information under POPIA.
A real pharmacy's name is on every order
MedsOnline is the matchmaker. The sale, the pharmacist's check and the payment all sit with the registered pharmacy named on your order, so you always know who dispensed your medicine and how to reach them.
- Pharmacy name, address, registration number and responsible pharmacist shown before you pay
- Only that pharmacy sees what is in your basket
- Questions about your medicine go straight to their pharmacist
Your basket
Confirm your order
How did we do?
Your rating helps MedsOnline and our partner pharmacies improve. It takes about a minute.
Your ratings
MOL's Choice
Where the MedsOnline team sets what the site recommends: products in the shop and one bid on each bid request. On the live site only staff would see this page.
Recommended products
Tick a product to give it the MOL's Choice badge. The reason is shown on its card.
Recommended bid
The customer still chooses. The badge only marks the bid MedsOnline recommends.
Open bid requests
Override the rule and recommend a specific pharmacy's bid.