Dis-Chem is intensifying its push into primary healthcare and health insurance as it seeks to address what it describes as South Africa’s “fragmented” healthcare system, where consumers often face rising costs, long waiting times and disconnected services.
The beauty and pharma retailer has introduced a Health Hub model that integrates clinics, pharmacies, healthcare funding and digital healthcare services into a single customer experience, marking a significant shift in the group’s strategy from traditional pharmacy retail towards broader healthcare delivery.
The new format, unveiled at Melrose Arch on Thursday, includes virtual GP consultations, diagnostic testing facilities, digital prescription systems and dedicated healthcare advisers.
(Dorothy Kgosi)
The move is part of Dis-Chem’s broader strategy to build what it calls an integrated healthcare ecosystem, with the main focus on reducing healthcare costs and improving access to care.
“South Africans have long had to navigate their healthcare alone, moving between disconnected providers and fragmented systems. This store is our answer to that. It is not enough to just stock health products. We want to actively deliver care,” said Dis-Chem CEO Rui Morais.
The latest annual report shows Dis-Chem operated more than 540 clinics in the 2025 financial year, staffed by 535 registered nursing practitioners. More than 1.2-million consultations were conducted. Telemedicine infrastructure has been rolled out across all clinics to provide access to virtual GP consultations and electronic prescriptions.
Dis-Chem has expanded into healthcare funding products in recent years through the launch of Dis-Chem Health and the introduction of Dis-Chem Life after acquiring a 50% stake in insurance platform OneSpark in 2024. The retailer said these products are intended to improve access to private healthcare and insurance, particularly for consumers excluded because of affordability challenges.
According to the company, its medical insurance and gap cover products could potentially enable an additional 15-million South Africans to access private healthcare services.
The hub model was developed alongside X, bigly labs, Dis-Chem’s innovation and analytics division, which focuses on customer behaviour, data analytics and digital healthcare solutions.
The retailer’s broader strategy reflects increasing competition in retail and healthcare. In its annual report, Dis-Chem highlights digital healthcare, automation, analytics and customer retention as strategic priorities as it seeks to deepen customer engagement and grow market share.
The group reported a 37.2% increase in e-commerce revenue during the past financial year, while total income grew 9.2% and operating profit rose 18.3%.
Morais said the Health Hub concept was developed by rethinking how healthcare and retail services could operate together.
“The genesis of this store lay in a simple but hugely important question: if we could reimagine the future of health retail without any constraints, what would that look like? We did not start with the floor plan of an existing store. We started from scratch, imagining the art of the possible,” he said.
The Health Hub format introduces several operational changes aimed at reducing waiting times and improving service efficiency. Prescription submissions and medication collection have been separated, while digital ticketing systems and app-based script submissions have been introduced to streamline pharmacy services.
Retail product ranges in the store have been reorganised around prevention, treatment and long-term wellness rather than conventional merchandising categories.
Dis-Chem said the model was designed to be scalable across its store network as it expands its healthcare-focused retail strategy.
“The Melrose Arch Health Hub sets a new benchmark for how retail and healthcare can work together to deliver meaningful impact, bringing Dis-Chem closer to its ambition of becoming South Africa’s most accessible and trusted healthcare partner,” Morais said.