Preventive online health checkups rise 50% in India: Simpl Checkout Scan

On the back of the tax-saving season, the number of Indians opting for preventive health checkups for themselves and their parents has risen 50 per cent in January and February, according to the Simpl Checkout Scan. The company said it is expected to continue at this pace till March when the financial year 2023-24 will end.

"In the midst of tax declaration season, salaried employees are increasingly investing in preventive checkups for themselves and for their kin in order to optimise their tax savings," said Ashwini Ravindranath, vice-president (Partner Success) at Simpl.

"We are witnessing a 50 per cent increase in consumer spending for these services in January and February, and the growth is expected to continue till March as companies seek details of investment and expense declarations for calculation of tax deducted at source."

Notably, the rise has been in preventive health checkups, which are eligible for a tax deduction and in bookings made via Simpl's 1-Tap Checkout across the enterprise and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands.

The report also said that lifestyle-based checkups including diabetes, vitamin deficiency and hair fall, apart from comprehensive full-body checkups, are the most preferred by Indians.

According to Shamik Banerjee, chief marketing officer at Apolly 24|7, women, in particular, are increasingly choosing checkups for thyroid, Vitamin D deficiency and cancer across the country.

The spike in demand for health checkups, in particular, is further leading to an increase in average order value (AOV), which grew by 35 per cent in January. The highest surge has been recorded in Apollo 24|7, which witnessed a 40 per cent growth in total checkout volume in January 2024 as compared to January 2023.

The report also said that while consumers from metros constitute a majority of the demand share, there is a significant surge in demand from tier-2 and -3 cities with internet penetration and an increased level of awareness about healthcare services and the tax benefits associated with it.

Apart from health checkups, D2C brands such as Myfrido, Healthfarm, Mosaic, Scitron, Get My Mettle and Wellversed are also witnessing increased consumer demand for wellness-based products.