By Tara Kaifesh for our 99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy blog series
If you’re following your planogram recommendations to a T, you might want to take some time to review your departments and see if your current sizes are meeting the needs of your store. If not, it might be time to resize your departments.
Having properly-sized sections is vital to the strength of your business. Departments that are too small will send shoppers to your competitors, as they may not be able to find the items they seek on your shelves. Sections that are too large also present challenges. More inventory than you can sell results in expired products that you can’t move, higher costs to you, and missed revenue. Making sure your sections are appropriately sized are keys to your success.
To determine whether or not your departments are well sized for your store, look first to your shopper demographics. Do you have a large segment of shoppers aged 50+? If so, it makes sense to devote space to your Nutritional Foods, Incontinence, Compression Hosiery, and Daily Living and Diagnostics departments. Are most of your shoppers adults in their 20s-40s? Develop a larger assortment of popular products such as First Aid and Pain Relief items to support their everyday health. Are your adult shoppers coming in with very young children in tow? Consider expanding your Baby Health, Beauty, and Wellness section or Diaper and Formula sets to meet parents’ needs.
You can also look outside your store to help make decisions about appropriate department sizes. If your store is situated near a hospital, consider offering fewer beauty items and more OTCs to draw patients to your store for post-care support. Perhaps your store has a specialty health clinic nearby – such as a private podiatry practice – which directs patients to your store. If so, expand the corresponding categories in your store to cater to those referrals.
Keep an open mind and be willing to respond to the changing needs of your unique market. You’ll build loyal customers who know they can rely on you to carry the products they seek.
In support of HRG’s TEMPS merchandising program, Tara evaluates and presents new items as a part of the new item review team and is responsible for the monthly analysis and planogram development for one of our key wholesalers. In addition, Tara develops customized merchandising solutions for manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers.Â