You’ve got all the right goods in your pharmacy but no one’s buying them. The problem? It’s likely your merchandising strategy.
Sales don’t just rely on you having what people need but on them being able to find them and making impulse buys. Here are two experts’ tips on how to have the best pharmacy merchandising strategy:
What you should do:
1. Make sure things are right for the season—whether it’s cold season or allergy season—because you want to hit the spikes. You should have the product before the season hits and to have it there when consumers need it, according to Neil Stern, a senior partner with McMillan Doolittle, a retail consulting firm in Chicago. “The more places you can put these things, the better.”
2. Use big displays for seasonal items, and don’t be afraid to move things around, says George Whalin, president and CEO of Retail Management Consultants, San Marcos, Calif. “With seasonal items, make it more interesting and dynamic and customers will want to come into the store more often.”
3. Really use the front end of your store and change it out by seasonality. “It’s such a critical area of the store that’s often overlooked,” says Stern. “It’s a good place to put things with good margins, as well as new products and some quirky ones—put some surprises there. But change the products out regularly—at least monthly—so this section doesn’t get stale or boring.
4. Create a zone for some items and don’t be afraid to display them more than once because customers can miss items if they’re only in one place.
5. Have new products regularly and introduce them to customers and expose them to it. Advertise that you’ve been getting them in every category. Have a dedicated space that changes all the time but put your new things in it so customers know where to look.
6. Decide what are your customers’ destination purchases vs. impulse purchases then invest in displays of the former, advises Stern. They’re probably things that matter to people, such as vitamins. And once you have a display, make sure it’s easy to find and easily called out.
7. If you sell food and alcohol, partner with the big brands and use their resources for merchandising.
What you shouldn’t do:
1. Don’t treat end caps as the be-all and end-all. “Customers don’t go up and down each aisle so if you just use those you’ll miss a lot of customers,” says Whalin.
2. Avoid standalone merchandisers in the aisle, which interrupt the continuity of getting things seen by the consumer.
3. Don’t place too many items high up, especially if you’re in an area with a large elderly population.” The goal of the store is to showcase your product so customers can see new things and get at them,” Whalin points out.
4. Avoid clutter—just put up the signs that the consumer is going to use.