The Problem: Living on Borrowed Time
YourMedicals is not a typical startup story. In its first year, the UK online pharmacy grew to approximately £8 million in revenue, driven largely by demand for a key weight-loss drug. But rapid growth in a regulated sector comes with a hidden cost: payment instability.
Previous gateway providers repeatedly terminated service with only 15 days' notice. Each termination triggered a high-stress scramble to find a replacement, integrate it, and avoid losing revenue. The team was living on borrowed time, never more than two weeks away from a potential payments blackout.
Akil's Take"YourMedicals had the classic retail client request – we want the best tech, best provider, best plugin and best price. Ultimately, in a market often averse to cutting-edge pharma, a provider whose support wouldn't waiver, could move quickly, and improve customer experience became our main priorities. We are delighted with their performance so far with Nuvei. The savings helped too!"Akil Downes, Payments Consultant, Tonkr
The Solution: Nuvei in 10 Days
Akil, a long-term contact of the YourMedicals team, secured a Nuvei partnership in just two days. From signing to go-live took ten days flat. More importantly, Nuvei offered a three-year contract, finally giving YourMedicals the payment stability it needed to plan ahead.
The speed mattered. In a business where every day of downtime means lost revenue and damaged patient trust, ten days from handshake to processing payments is the difference between survival and chaos.
The Impact: £100k Saved, Operations Unblocked
At roughly £500,000 in monthly transaction volume, even small percentage differences in fees compound quickly. Nuvei proved cheaper than Shopify Payments, with estimated annual savings of approximately £100,000.
But the real operational win was Nuvei's backend. Chargeback disputes, previously a slow, manual email-based process, are now handled directly in the portal with a few clicks. Reconciliation and reporting, once a bottleneck, are streamlined. The team spends less time fighting payments and more time growing the business.
Checkout Reality: Two Paths, One Goal
Shopify's limitations mean YourMedicals runs two separate payment options at checkout: an embedded card form, and Apple/Google Pay via a redirect to Nuvei's hosted page. Despite the redirect friction, around 40% of customers choose Apple or Google Pay, underlining how critical mobile convenience is for this audience.
What's Next: Re-platforming and Going Global
With payment stability secured, YourMedicals is now re-platforming away from Shopify Plus to support international growth. A new weight-loss pill is launching, with pre-orders already hitting 50–100 per day.
International expansion is next. Germany is the first target, based on existing customer data. Dubai follows, a known high-retention market. Akil has confirmed Nuvei can support Germany and is exploring Dubai. The three-year contract means these moves can happen without revisiting the payment question every quarter.
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