99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy Archives - Page 2 of 11

51. Find a new market niche

April 4, 2024October 15, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Julie Massey for our 99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy series

With competition an ever-present threat, you always have to re-assess your business and your position in your community. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie in comparison to your local competitors will help you focus on areas where you need to improve or capitalize on qualities that are your strong suit. One aspect to think about as you look to enhance your offerings is whether you can fill a niche for consumers in your area. Being an independent pharmacy, you have more flexibility to do this than any of your chain or mass competitors.

31. Remove slow-moving items from inventory

April 4, 2024October 8, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Colleen Volheim for our 99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy series

There will always be a few products that just don’t move in your store, for any number of reasons. Naturally, if they consistently don’t sell, you’ll want to remove them from inventory, but oftentimes an item might just experience a temporary dip in sales. This could be attributed to the season or maybe a new product steals some sales temporarily. How do you know when you have a slow-mover on your hands? One thing to remain aware of is item expiration dates. If you find that a product is expiring in the next few months, it’s time to take action.

52. Encourage full-store shopping

April 4, 2024September 29, 2015 by Megan Moyer

57. Develop a healthcare information center

April 4, 2024September 21, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Cari Sass for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

There are so many ways independent pharmacies can differentiate themselves from their competitors. We all know service is chief among them, which includes the personal relationships you can build with patients. You can strengthen relationships and build loyalty with new and current customers by providing healthcare information.

When you add a healthcare information center to your pharmacy, you become more than a store; you become a valued resource in your community. Providing literature with explanations, tips, recommendations, and educational content in a healthcare information center will show that you truly care about your patients’ health and well-being.

22. Implement planograms — part two

April 4, 2024September 15, 2015 by Megan Moyer

By Kyle Lentz for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

This is part two of a two-part blog series covering how HRG builds their planograms and why it’s important for independent pharmacies to follow them to maximize profits. If you haven’t already read it, start with my previous post.

For each product in our planograms, we maintain a current image and current dimensions taken directly from the package by our Visual Assets team. We bring these items into our planogram so we can position them in a manner that makes the most sense for shoppers and is visually appealing for the store owner. Best-selling items and brands usually fill the space called the cone of vision. The cone of vision is the sight line a customer has when looking at a department without having to bend to see products. I say “usually” because there is also what we call destination items. A destination item is a product that your customer will search for and purchase regardless of its position on the shelf.

22. Implement planograms — part one

April 4, 2024September 11, 2015 by Megan Moyer

By Kyle Lentz for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

This is part one of a two-part blog series covering how HRG builds their planograms and why it’s important for independent pharmacies to follow them to maximize profits.

Implementing planograms assures that you have the right mix of products, in the right positions, with the proper amount of facings to accurately fulfill the needs of most of your customers. When we say most, we typically mean 85-90% of the people shopping your pharmacy. There is so much behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a planogram that you would be remiss if you didn’t take advantage of the six month process it takes to create your desired planogram size.

40. “Shop” the aisles

April 4, 2024September 1, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Tom Boyer for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

As a business owner, it’s important you know your operation inside and out. That includes viewing your store through the eyes of your customers. Considering your customers’ perspective of your pharmacy can give you insights that can be helpful to improving their overall shopping experience.

You can start by asking yourself, “Would I shop this store?” Then ask your staff to shop the aisles and get their feedback. Here are a couple of things to check as you “shop” the aisles of your pharmacy.

12. Reward employees for spectacular customer service

April 4, 2024August 28, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Cari Sass for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

Spectacular customer service has become a goal for many retailers. There are many shopping options out there, including similar stores, nearby locations, comparable prices, identical product offerings, not to mention your online competition. Your staff and how they interact with your customers may be that one difference that separates you from your competitors and drives consumers into your store time and again.

It makes my day when I receive excellent customer service. As a matter of fact, I often tell my family and friends when and where this occurred, hoping they go and experience it for themselves. There’s nothing better, easier, and less expensive than positive word-of-mouth advertising.

86. Have an open-house

April 4, 2024August 18, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Megan Moyer for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series

A great way to show appreciation for your customers as well as attract new ones to your store is to hold an open house. It can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like.

If you’re having an open house as a customer appreciation gesture, be sure to have food and beverages, and a giveaway or two. Suppliers may be willing to help you with free or deeply-discounted products to use for giveaways, or perhaps you can work out a mutually-beneficial arrangement with a local specialty company to make giveaways for a reasonable investment.

95. Dust those shelves in the front-end

April 4, 2024August 10, 2015 by Megan Moyer