Launched yesterday (November 24), the new click-and-collect service allows Echo users to decide whether to have their medicines delivered for free to their home or pick up their prescription in one of Lloydspharmacy’s participating branches, the multiple announced.

Those opting for in-person collection through the Echo app will still receive reminders suggesting when they need to take their medicine or order new supplies.

The new service follows a “successful trial” and allows patients to order their medicines online while knowing they can access “support from their local pharmacy team”, Lloydspharmacy said

Echo CEO Benoit Machefer said yesterday that “since day one” the company has wanted to offer its patients the ability to collect their medicines in pharmacies, as they offer “benefits that we simply cannot replicate online”.

“Until now patients have had to make a hard choice between online and community pharmacy. As of today, we’re offering them the best of both worlds,” he added.

Echo was acquired by McKesson UK – Lloydspharmacy’s parent company – in June last year. McKesson UK CEO Toby Anderson said yesterday that the company will “continue to invest” in expanding Echo and will explore “how we can make its propriety technology and solutions available to all our customers within the complex regulatory landscape”.

Echo is currently available to patients based in England only.

“By working side-by-side with community pharmacy to provide a seamless digital to physical experience, we believe we can give patients the pharmacy experience that best meets their needs, while giving in-store pharmacists more time to focus on the face-to-face services only they can provide,” Mr Anderson added.

Echo – which currently works with more than 9,500 GP practices – reported a revenue rise of 300% on pre-pandemic levels, McKesson announced in August.