How to Cash In On Your Pharmacy’s Front End | NCPA 2024

Biscaldi,Lauren;

How to Cash In On Your Pharmacy’s Front End | NCPA 2024

October 27, 2024

By Lauren Biscaldi, MS, Managing Editor

News

Article

Total Pharmacy JournalTotal Pharmacy December 2024

Volume 2

Issue 6

Making the store’s front end a priority can increase revenue opportunities and boost pharmacy profit.

Between filling prescriptions and counseling patients, it’s easy to see how a pharmacist might neglect their store’s front end. But the front end is the customer’s first impression of the pharmacy, explained Dave Wendland, vice president of strategic relations at the Hamacher Resource Group, and represents not only the pharmacy’s curb appeal, setting the tone for each customer’s visit, but can be a useful barometer of the business’ health.

Making the store’s front end a priority can increase revenue opportunities and boost pharmacy profit. | Image credit: kamol - stock.adobe.com

Read on for some tips from Wendland’s presentation at the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2024 Annual Convention and Expo, held October 26-29 in Columbus, Ohio.¹

Appearance Matters

Fair or not, consumers form opinions on businesses based on the how the appearance of the building—both inside and outside—makes them feel. It takes no more than 3 seconds for a potential customer to determine if they want to do business with you, and a well-designed front end will make the most of those 3 seconds.

“I don’t know if any of you have visited your chain brethren lately, but they’re not doing great,” Wendland said. “There’s no product on the shelf. It doesn’t say ‘wellness;’ it says ‘greeting cards’, it says ‘candy.’ But your pharmacies can say health.”

Appeal to all 5 senses when designing the front end—sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing—to create an appealing space that welcomes visitors in. “Have something [customers] can see, that they can hear, that they can touch,” Wendland said.

Front end management need not fall only on the pharmacists’ shoulders, either. Being the pharmacist “doesn’t mean you also have to be chief merchandiser,” Wendland added. “If you’ve got somebody working for you who’s super passionate about a particular category of product…assign them the responsibility.” And don’t forget to tap into employee’s other potential talents: “Maybe [an employee] has great calligraphy skills, and they love to draw signs and write things on chalkboards.”

When Wendland works with pharmacies, he begins his journey as the patient would: in the paring lot. “How easy is it for me to get from the parking lot to the front door?” he asked. “Does it say pharmacy every step of the way, once I open that door? Are the first things I see pharmacy related? Or am I met by—I don’t know—a display of kazoos?”

There’s nothing wrong with the kazoo as an instrument, he added, “But think about what message you’re sending, from the moment [the customer] gets out of the car to the moment they go into the pharmacy.”

Experience Is Essential

What do customers want from their pharmacy? The answer is simple: Experience. Pharmacists should consider how they interact with their customers. Is it inspiring? Is the pharmacy differentiated from the competition in innovative ways? Is the storefront clean and well-lit? These small customer experiences all create an overall impression of the business.

“Just because you have the same types of categories as the chain around the corner doesn’t mean that you need to carry the exact same product,” Wendland said. “I would urge you to work with your drug wholesaler or your buying group or whoever offers your store brand and make that a centerpiece of your [product] assortment.”

Spend some time thinking about the products that sell the best, then make a list of those items and figure out how to differentiate. “Your drug wholesaler…may have 20,000 items in their inventory. You do not need to put one each of 20,000 items in your store,” said Wendland. “What you need to do is put the items that your patients are going to expect.”

Pharmacists can—and should—utilize their point of sale and Rx reporting systems to evaluate which categories are most commonly sold. “You can pull reports about the drugs that a certain physician group is writing scripts for most often,” said Wendland, “and then think beyond that to, say, what OTC products do I have that complement that therapeutic category?”

One area Wendland recommends focusing on is what he calls the Power Aisle, or the one aisle in the store that everyone walks down to get to the pharmacy counter. Wendland recommends reconfiguring that aisle to display rotating seasonal products. “It’s going to take a little work,” he said. “Right now, I make sure that cough, cold, and flu is centered in the power aisle, because people are going to be walking right down it to get their prescriptions.” In the spring, this aisle can feature allergy products, and in the summer, first aid and sunscreen. “The power aisle becomes something that [your customers] will become familiar with,” he added. “They know that it’s going to meet their need for the day.”

Understand Your Influence

Independent pharmacies are a crucial part of the health care ecosystem, and a key partner to an individual’s health and well-being. Just one conversation, Wendland explained, can help guide a patient’s outcome and provide unparalleled care.

If 97% of the pharmacy’s revenue is through pharmacy and pharmacy services, “[You might ask, ‘3%, do I really need to worry about it?’ The answer is yes. You have to worry about it, because it does support your pharmacy.”

Outside of their prescriptions, patients might also benefit from some of the nonprescription products the pharmacy can provide. According to Wendland, a typical household spends $388 annually on nonprescription product. Multiply $388 times each household the pharmacy serves for an idea of untapped revenue potential.

“If I was a pharmacist, and I was dispensing a large number of antibiotics… We know that’s a pretty small [profit] from dispensing antibiotics,” Wendland said. “But what benefits an antibiotic?” Probiotics, for example, can be effective to offset the gut damage done by antibiotic therapies.2 Build a well-stocked probiotic display “And then you can say, ‘Oftentimes, patients who are taking these antibiotics find a great benefit in taking this probiotic; this is the one I recommend. And, by the way, it’s going to improve your gut health,’” explained Wendland. “There are so many of these opportunities that are right within your grasp.”

“I would encourage you to put a ‘Pharmacist Recommended’ endcap directly across from your pharmacy counter that has your favorite products on it,” Wendland added.

Maintain The Space

Retail shelves are more than an opportunity to display aesthetically pleasing elements: they serve the important purpose of attracting customers and bolstering sales. According to the 2022 Brick and Mortar Retail Report,3 64% of surveyed shoppers said they had walked out of a store due to poor physical appearance and disorganization.

Wendland recognizes the challenges that pharmacists—busy adjudicating claims, liaising with PBMs, and trying to keep their employees healthy, among thousands of other tasks—likely don’t have the time to also take on managing the store’s front end.

“You need to find someone in your pharmacy who can help you. This is the time to delegate,” Wendland said. “Lean on your wholesaler. If they offer merchandising services, tell them that you want to recommit to your front of store and you want their help. Talk to the rest of your staff and say, ‘How can we enhance the front of store? What are the things we want to communicate to our customers every day?’”

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, either. There are tools available to help with front end design and maintenance, including articles published by NCPA. “Tap into [these tools],” Wendland said. “But to keep your house in order, you really need to use those tools and then repeat, repeat, repeat. It isn’t a one-and-done.”

Check out the rest of our NCPA coverage here.