Independent pharmacies will find it "even more difficult" to survive as the online pharmacy market shows "massive potential" for growth, a study by management consultants Sempora Consulting has suggested.

An online survey of 1,007 "nationally representative" UK pharmacy users, conducted from July 19 to 23, found that 13 per cent of respondents used internet pharmacies already. And, while roughly a third of these expressed intentions to use online pharmacies more, 14 per cent of non-users said they would start using them over the coming year.

Unsurprisingly, online shopping was particularly popular with young people, as more than a quarter of all 25- to 34-year-old respondents said they purchased health and beauty products online.

Some 13 per cent of respondents used internet pharmacies already and 14 per cent of non-users said they would start using them over the coming year

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The most common reason given for shopping online was price – singled out by 30 per cent of respondents as the main advantage – while a quarter said it was convenient and 16 per cent believed home delivery was key. When it came to awareness of internet pharmacies, Boots was the most frequently mentioned brand – named by 41 per cent of the total sample. This was followed by Lloydspharmacy with 21 per cent, Superdrug with 8 per cent and ChemistDirect at 4 per cent. The Co-operative, Asda and Pharmacy2U all had awareness of about 2 per cent.

The findings came after Boots posted strong growth in its website business in its 2011-12 annual report, with "a significant increase in the number of visitors". The last financial year had seen the health and beauty giant invest further in its online offering, opening a £50 million service centre in Burton to support order processing, launching a mobile site and extending its online treatment service.

The Co-operative Pharmacy said it had noticed a rise in its online sales, particularly for products and services relating to embarrassing illnesses. "We have also seen a significant growth in online OTC sales and bulk product buys," business development director Mandeep Mudhar told C+D.

Pharmacy 2U managing director Daniel Lee forecast that online pharmacy businesses would grow because of the "choice and convenience" they offered patients. "With the advent of 4G and access more widely available on a range of devices, from mobiles to smart TVs, the future is online," he said.

But the MHRA warned that the boom in internet pharmacies created potential risks. "In recent years, there has been an explosion of websites offering medicines for sale via the internet. Many of these websites originate from outside the UK and are therefore not regulated by UK authorities," a spokesperson said.

"People who acquire medicines without the benefit of a consultation with an appropriate healthcare professional risk being supplied with medicines that are not safe, or not suitable for them to use."

The medicines watchdog added that the General Pharmaceutical Council has introduced a logo to be displayed on the front page of pharmacy websites, which should help identify whether they were linked to a registered pharmacy.

In July, Vodafone's head of mobile health services had claimed that bricks-and-mortar healthcare facilities, including community pharmacies, would be a "last resort" by 2020.