Life just got a whole lot easier for veterinarians and pet owners, including Mita Malhotra and her Shih Tzu named “D.”
Malhotra is the VP of Chewy Health, which encompasses all parts of the e-commerce pet company’s healthcare business. That includes Chewy’s online pet pharmacy, along with its technology-based products and services like Practice Hub, one of the newest products that is perfect for Malhotra and her furry best friend.
Practice Hub is a veterinarian-only marketplace designed to streamline pharmacy operations and grow veterinary clinic revenue. It provides veterinarians with a complete e-commerce solution for their clients, and leverages all the benefits of Chewy, including access to 24/7 customer care, free shipping on orders over $49 and quick and reliable delivery.
It works like this: Veterinarians can set prices, create pre-approved prescriptions and earn revenue when customers place an order in-clinic or purchase from them while shopping on Chewy.com. So if Malhotra needs to see her local vet who has onboarded onto Practice Hub, she has two options. She can pay in-clinic during her visit, or go to Chewy.com and shop as she normally does. When shopping on Chewy, she’ll see an option to buy from her vet.
“The entire customer experience is quite friendly and seamless,” Malhotra said.
But developing something that feels seamless is always a challenging process. That’s why Built In Boston sat down with Malhotra, who explained what collaboration at Chewy looked like on this project, and how a product like this impacts hiring at Chewy.
How long was Practice Hub in the works for?
In 2018, we began our journey to build Chewy Health, our connected pet health ecosystem. We’ve always known that providing impactful technology-based solutions directly to veterinarians would be a part of that.
How does Practice Hub fit into Chewy Health’s ecosystem?
Chewy Health is our brand that represents our commitment in the pet healthcare space. Its objective is to make pet healthcare affordable and accessible for every pet owning household in the US.
Additionally, it adds to our full ecosystem of health-related products and services to seamlessly connect customers and veterinarians. For example, Chewy Health comprises of Vet Diet, OTC Med, Prescription Medication, Compounded Medications, Telehealth via our Connect with Vet platform, Petscriptions, which is in use across 8,000 clinics, and now Practice Hub.
Practice Hub is one of the most innovative projects we have launched within Chewy Health.’’
What did innovation and collaboration look like on this project?
Practice Hub is one of the most innovative projects we have launched within Chewy Health in the way that it seamlessly connects customers to veterinarians. We are a mission-driven organization and believe in building durable, friendly experiences backed by product and technology. This project allowed us to exercise our mission orientation alongside building an innovative experience that doesn’t exist in the pet health space today.
I understand that the Chewy Health team collaborated with veterinarians for this project. What was that like and why was that important?
At Chewy, we are committed to being a partner in pet healthcare with the veterinarian community, which is why we are always working to create products and services that are beneficial for both pet parents and the veterinarians who serve them. We have a team of veterinarians who we work with closely when creating our vet-facing services and products. While developing Practice Hub, they served as a great resource. Not only did they provide a practical perspective, they also helped test features and iterate on enhancements, which ultimately allowed us to create an innovative platform that best supports vets and their clinics.
CALLING ALL VETS
How does the addition of Practice Hub impact hiring on the Chewy Health team?
Chewy Health is the fastest growing part of our business and an area we are especially excited to focus on because it makes an immediate impact in the lives of customers. We currently have numerous roles available across the business and are continuing to invest and grow our talent base.
