The ongoing digital transformation has covered most of the fields of activity in our lives. For instance, many problems that emerged in medical services have disappeared thanks to successful website and app solutions. For instance, we don’t need to waste hours in a line to get a consultation or a prescription.
But does this transformation work only for people? No way. On-demand veterinary services have also gone digital, and today, we can tend to our four-legged or winged companions right from the coach, receive an expert assessment of their health conditions, seek nutrition advice, or even order drugs online.
What are the prospects for veterinary app development, and what is the demand for these products? How to build on-demand vet apps to gain a foothold on the market? Read on to learn more about the world of veterinary apps.
Market overview
Telemedicine apps for vets and pet owners are one of the least saturated markets. Generally, it’s a huge experimentation field, so you’ll have quite a lot of space for creativity and a chance to establish yourself on the market.
In the last several years, app developers have got more opportunities and purposes to join the vet app development niche. The pandemic boosted levels of pet ownership, and an explosive growth in the need for vet apps became evident: in March 2020, daily downloads of this kind of app increased by 40%.
The trend doesn’t seem to be losing momentum, even two years after the boom. We should expect to see the 17.6% annual growth rate of the veterinary app market till 2030 with a generated revenue of over $546 million early in the coming decade.
With that said, vet on-demand app development presents unlimited profitable opportunities for business growth. But to become a part of this emerging market, you should learn more about this kind of digital product.
How vet on-demand apps work
A veterinary telemedicine app represents a communication platform for online vet consultations, where pet parents can find and contact vets from anywhere in the world.
On-demand vet apps usually have video call and texting options for their clients. Video consultations allow performing a pet checkup through a device camera alone. In many cases, a video call is enough to check the general health of a pet or diagnose some issues. If you already understand the issue and just want to ask your doctor a quick question, you can use an in-app chat.
Apart from online vet appointments, these platforms enable users to book consultation, get prescriptions and save a history of their prescriptions and vet visits, use an IoT-powered pet tracking system, or even buy specific products for their pet’s needs. All of that is wrapped up in solid data protection.
Vet apps are both client- and doctor-oriented. So, what advantages can both parties gain by using these products?
Benefits of vet on-demand apps
When people see a traditional service going online, they instantly think that it will become more convenient and time-efficient. Well, it is true. But a vet telemedicine application is far more than being able to consult with your vet anytime, anywhere.
What are the other reasons pet owners choose online vet appointment apps over traditional consultations?
- Licensed professionals – A good vet on-demand app has a quality vet selection system, so you can consult expert doctors and be assured of their expertise.
- Close-at-hand appointment scheduling – App developers often build convenient planning options. For instance, with Google Calendar integration, clients can fit a consultation into their daily schedules with minimum effort.
- Medical data storage – In a pet care app, you can add and save all necessary healthcare information about your pet, including diagnoses and prescriptions. These records will be readily available for you at any moment, which can be especially important in emergency situations.
- Knowledge base – Vet businesses may include an educational section in their websites or apps. There, clients may get acquainted with the specificities of their pet breed, suitable conditions, feeding requirements, animal raising and training hacks, and more.
- Handy vet hospital search – If a video or chat consultation is not enough, you can choose a vet and book a live consultation. For that, vet on-demand apps offer a GPS-based search on an in-app map.
- Selected pet products – A veterinary mobile app can be not only about interaction with a doctor. In some cases, it also includes an online store with specific items for your pet.
- Emergency support – Vet apps may offer round-the-clock support, so in case of an accident, you can get professional help at any time, day or night.
What does a vet app mean for a practitioner or a vet business?
- Convenient patient management – In a veterinary telemedicine app, vets can use their dashboards to track all the scheduled visits and keep their clients’ info at hand.
- Market accessibility – The pandemic stimulated people to get a pet, and the demand for vet services has increased accordingly. With a high-quality on-demand vet application, your business will have a competitive advantage in this ever-growing market.
- Enhanced business performance – Vet apps include handy tools that help establish productive interaction and cooperation between staff members and providers, as well as facilitate personnel education.
- Service efficiency – Online consultations save time and effort not only for clients but also for doctors. A well-thought-out pet care app allows vets to handle more patients per hour.
- Task automation – Unlike traditional consultations, online vet consultation is easier and more productive for practitioners. An online vet visit app automates routines such as appointment management or initial patient screening.
- Customer engagement – If any business has its own digital product, it’s a great boost to the company’s reputation. Get an app, and you will notice an explosive growth of your client base.
- Additional services – Vet on-demand is transforming and goes beyond consultations. You can use your app to sell vet products or offer paid subscriptions, e.g., for educational courses.
As you can see, app development transforms the vet market and actually makes a difference. But what does it look like in practice? Let’s analyze the 5 best veterinary apps available so far.
Top on-demand vet apps
PetDesk
PetDesk embodies the best vet consultation app development practices. It’s an all-in-one space for those who want to maintain their pet’s health and wellbeing and make them live long and happy.
Pet parents can use this app for keeping all health records, prescriptions, vets’ and groomers’ contacts, and all relevant info in one place. PetDesk allows you to contact your vet via messaging or video calls, plan your visits, and even set up medication reminders. This service also has its own blog with pet healthcare tips and other educational content.
Televet
This online veterinarian service offers vet consultation services that can complement traditional diagnostics and appointments. However, product developers emphasize that you can connect with your pet doc only if he or she already uses the Televet app.
The app provides a convenient communication platform, where clients can keep in touch with their vets by using video calls and sending pictures and text messages. It’s a fast and handy way to check your pet’s health conditions, get a treatment plan, and control the process of recovery under the supervision of vet professionals.
PetCoach
PetCoach is not a typical veterinary telemedicine app. Here, you will find your perfect certified vet, trainer, nutritionist, or any other pet care specialist, but not only that. This vet app is known primarily as a huge database providing unique insight into how to raise a happy pet.
With PetCoach, you can reach out to a pet expert at any time for a private consultation. However, if your question is not quite specific, you will probably find an answer among thousands of FAQs, or ask for advice yourself. If you want to use the platform just to learn more about your pet, whether it’s a cat or a goldfish, take a look at numerous articles on breeds, nutrition, health, training, and other topics.
Anipanion
The Anipanion app is another online veterinarian platform that aims at providing a seamless experience of lightning-fast communication with vet experts anytime and anywhere.
The app allows you to consult a doctor about a wide range of concerns, from your pet’s behavior to more specific questions like diet, skin, or eye issues. Also, you can save your consultation notes to review them later and use the summaries in future sessions in order to work more productively with your vet.
Virtuwoof
This platform is a beneficial solution for both vets and their clients. It’s another communication space that contributes to practitioners’ productivity and pet parents’ calmness and confidence.
The Virtuwoof on-demand vet application works on a per visit fee basis. Just choose your vet, attend an online appointment, and receive a consultation summary in an email. The platform warns that Virtuwoof doesn’t work in emergencies, so in the case of an accident you will need to reach out to your local vets.
Main and advanced features of vet apps
To develop a vet on-demand app that can compete and even beat the existing market leaders, you need to design a clear structure for your product.
The following features provide basic functionality that makes the app usable and ready to enter the market:
- A pet profile contains data related to a registered pet, such as name, age, breed, physical characteristics, and health data.
- Vet dashboard gives a handy sum-up of the doctor’s patients and future appointments.
- Admin dashboard allows the product owner to track and manage the number of users, their activity, and payments.
- The documentation section makes it more convenient for a pet owner to gather and save essential documents about his or her pet, and also consultation summaries.
- Chat & video calls are already standard features of a vet app, as these are basic communication options and without them, you’ll probably lose to your competitors.
- GPS tracker helps to find nearby hospitals, in case the client’s issue can’t be resolved online.
- Scheduling allows pet parents and vet experts to plan their appointments in a fast and convenient way.
- Payments help clients pay for vet services, and doctors receive money into their bank accounts. Needless to say, this function must work flawlessly.
- Notifications ensure that users will not miss their appointments, and help pet owners not to forget about some procedures or medicine for their pets.
You can always go beyond basic features and step up your product to create more space for creativity. These are advanced features for a pet care app:
- Round-the-clock support can be a powerful advantage for your product, as many people may want to rely on your service when an accident occurs. But still, this feature is completely optional.
- IoT-powered monitoring includes wearable integrations, such as smart tags and collars. The app can gather insight into pet activity, similar to our fitness trackers.
- Feeding management can be an option for pet owners who use smart feeders. They may want to track when and how much their pets eat, and thus build a healthy feeding routine.
- Interactive cameras allow users to keep in touch with their pets when they are not at home, namely watch their behavior and even communicate with them.
- In-app shopping may appear as a separate section in your vet app. It’s a great feature for companies who sell their products, so they can combine two businesses in one app.
- Educational content is quite a common feature among popular vet on-demand apps. It implies helpful and interesting articles, podcasts, or video content.
- Community connects pet owners and creates a friendly social environment, where pet parents can exchange their experiences and ask for additional help.
After you have designed a feature-rich product, it’s time to think about the ways to get revenue from your app. For that, you can choose from several monetization strategies.
Monetization opportunities with veterinary apps
Subscription
Weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly payments for using a product are a classical monetization tactic, and it’s also relevant for telemedicine apps for vets and pet owners. Moreover, this approach may attract users who don’t want to use your app permanently but rather to have a one-time consultation or just treat a pet illness, for instance.
Commission
On-demand vet apps belong to the category of digital platforms for buying and selling services regularly. Thus, you can also gain profit from this specificity. Commission represents a fixed fee or percentage that you get from each in-app transaction.
However, it’s crucial to strike the right balance between your desired income and the amount of money users should pay each time, in order not to turn commissions into a burden for them.
Featured listing
Unlike other monetization strategies, this one works both for you and for vet experts and companies who use your veterinary app. By paying a set fee, this party gets a chance to get into the app homepage, thus promoting their services more efficiently and generating higher profits.
In-app payments
You can turn your vet on-demand app into a platform for selling your products. These may be food or supplements, pet accessories, devices, or other items that may be useful for pet owners. Another way to stimulate payments may be selling advanced in-app features for those who want to get the most out of their platform.
Regulations to follow during vet on-demand app development
Any specific software that operates sensitive data, especially related to the field of medicine and consultations, needs to follow local and international regulations. It’s not only a matter of reputation but rather an essential step to avoid painful penalties.
So, here are some common laws that regulate vet on-demand app development.
- The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) is essential to comply with in case you want to launch a vet app that offers diagnoses and treatment services on the US market.
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is responsible in the USA mainly for ensuring that no patients’ identification data and their medical history will be disclosed.
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) promotes a sense of competence and professional responsibility for vet specialists and also patients’ privacy protection.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides certification that is crucial for the US market. Although its rules are more relevant for other medical products, on-demand vet apps should also follow these regulations.
It’s important to remember that the rules vary depending on the law of different countries or regions. Wherever you want to launch your veterinary app, it’s highly recommended to conduct in-depth research of regulations that are relevant to your location or consult a local lawyer.
Summing up
On-demand veterinary services are gaining increasing popularity, yet, this sector of the app development market is still quite open and welcoming for new players. It’s your chance to express your creativity and experiment with the format, or just create a classical app of exceptional quality.
In both cases, you need to combine your technical expertise with business management and relevant regulations.
The Eastern Peak team will gladly help you develop a veterinary app that breaks records of popularity among vets and pet parents. Contact us to get a free consultation with our experts.
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About the author:
Oleg Roberman, Chief of Delivery at Eastern Peak
With strong technical background and outstanding project leadership skills, Oleg helps Eastern Peak customers introduce competitive advantages and instill productive changes in every process by resolving complex business issues and managing multicultural teams through innovation and creative thinking.
