independent pharmacy Archives - Page 2 of 12

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.

Reach out to your surrounding neighbors with a personal letter

April 4, 2024October 6, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Jen Johnston Recently, I moved to a neighborhood with an independent pharmacy that I can walk to. It’s the neighborhood my husband grew up in. This independent pharmacy has been part of the community as far back as he can remember. I LOVE that we can walk to it. I LOVE that they already … Read more

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.

Marketing 101 for Pharmacy Owners

April 4, 2024September 16, 2015 by Megan Moyer

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.

Connect With Who Really Shops Your Store

April 4, 2024September 10, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Dave Wendland, Vice President, Hamacher Resource Group, as seen in Insight Magazine, July 2015, pages 14-15, and on QS/1.com. In October 2014, an article by Hamacher Resource Group entitled “The Power of Profiling” appeared in Insight. That editorial highlighted five shopper types from a 2013 study: Independent Pharmacy Shoppers: Who, What, and Why? … Read more

The independent pharmacy life cycle

April 4, 2024September 3, 2015 by Megan Moyer

by Jen Johnston

Every business follows a life cycle, and independent pharmacies are no exception. The basic life cycle is this:

Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline

In the introduction stage, your store is introduced into the marketplace. For many pharmacies, this took place long, long ago. At this stage profit is virtually non-existent, and your money is primarily spent on inventory, operations, and promoting the store to potential customers.

In the growth stage, the market accepts your store and loyal customers are established.

As your business reaches maturity, profit and market share peaks, begins to slow down, and then stabilizes. The number of new customers declines and it is the loyalty of existing customers sustaining the business.

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.