From the desk of Colleen Volheim, category research and analysis manager
How is your front-end performing? Is your assortment right? Are you carrying the products that offer the most sales and profit potential?
Finding the right mix can take a little work. We can help with the TEMPS® Category Manager program which offers the ideal assortment for front-end HBW categories customized for independent pharmacies. Independents are unique, and while we build our recommendations from reliable data, some stores have limited space and need to make modifications to optimize their profits.
If your store has a smaller footprint, there’s another way to look at your assortment that will be helpful. Grouping front-end categories into the broader segments of health, beauty, and wellness can bring a sharper focus to where you can make the most profits.
I recently completed an analysis to determine how these segments performed comparatively in independent pharmacies, and then which categories were the high-performers within each group. If you look at your inventory from this perspective, you will know which categories will have higher turns and can yield the most sales and profits.
No surprise that health was the top segment among the three. The health segment includes OTCs, among other products, and includes top-selling categories at independent pharmacies – cold & allergy, pain relief, and digestive health. Products in these categories tend to be in higher demand, are typically consistently advertised, and have been popular sources of relief for a number of years.
If you’re wondering what you can do to improve front-end sales, try looking at your assortment in a new way. You may find areas of opportunity that can really make a difference to your bottom line. We can help you with that.