Optimising your pharmacy merchandising planogram: Boost your sales

Managing the pharmacy merchandising planogram is a challenge for pharmacies and laboratories. When well managed, it offers pharmacists an excellent opportunity to stand out from the competition by maximising their sales and profitability.

But how can you ensure that your pharmacy merchandising plan is up to scratch and effective? In this article, find out practical tips on how you can develop a merchandising strategy tailored to your customers’ needs to improve the shopping experience and maximise your sales.

The essential principles of a pharmacy merchandising planogram

Merchandising is an important lever for standing out from the competition and boosting profitability. To succeed, it is important to understand the fundamental aspects of product organisation, to assess customer objectives and needs, and to analyse market requirements and trends.

Understanding the fundamental aspects of product organisation

When organising your sales space, you need to take into account a number of factors such as the size, type and price of products, as well as their availability. You also need to take into account consumer preferences and market trends to organise your products so that they are easily accessible to customers. Finally, your space needs to be well organised and attractive to encourage customers to buy.

It’s therefore important to group products by category and brand, and to ensure that each product has an associated price tag. These are key elements in the consumer’s buying journey, as they will make it easier for them to find the product they are looking for and to make an informed choice when making their purchase.

Assess customer objectives and needs

It’s important to understand what your customers are looking for so that you can offer them the best possible shopping experience. To do this, carefully study their shopping habits and preferences so that you can adapt your merchandising strategy accordingly. You can add or remove certain products, rearrange shelves or use promotional tools to draw attention to certain products. It’s also a good idea to use ‘tip sheets’ for certain products to help consumers make their product choices. You can also provide your customers with a tool such as a touch screen that allows them to search by need, price and brand to make their shopping experience more personalised.

Analysing market requirements and trends

Analysing market requirements and trends in the pharmaceutical sector is crucial to the development, growth and sustainability of companies in this sector. Due to the complex and regulated nature of the pharmaceutical industry, understanding market needs and anticipating developments is essential to remain competitive. In-depth requirements analysis enables pharmaceutical companies to effectively target consumer needs, adapt their products to market demands and meet ever-changing regulatory standards. At the same time, monitoring market trends enables companies to anticipate technological developments, scientific advances and changes in consumer behaviour. This enables companies to make informed decisions in terms of research and development, marketing and sales strategy. In short, analysing market requirements and trends in the pharmaceutical sector is a fundamental pillar in ensuring the long-term relevance and success of players in this industry.

Pharmacies can carry out an in-depth analysis of market requirements and trends by implementing a number of strategies and practices. Firstly, accurate data on customer buying habits, product preferences and specific health needs can be collected through loyalty programmes, customer surveys and data analysis tools. Pharmacies can also partner with research institutes, healthcare professionals and other industry players to access relevant information.

Benefits for the pharmacy and its customers

A good pharmacy merchandising strategy can bring a number of benefits to your pharmacy and your customers:

• Improving the shopping experience and conversion rate: by organising your products so that they are easily accessible to customers, you can improve the shopping experience and encourage sales.
• Increase customer satisfaction: by offering an optimal shopping experience, you can increase customer satisfaction and create a lasting relationship with them.
• Increase product and brand visibility: by highlighting products and brands, you can draw consumers’ attention to your pharmacy and raise its profile.

Implementation strategies

To optimise its merchandising strategy, a pharmacy can implement several effective strategies to attract customers, improve their shopping experience and increase sales:

1. Shop layout and design: Organise the space to make navigation easy and intuitive for customers. Place products with high sales potential in strategic locations and keep aisles clear.
2. Product segmentation: Divide products into clear, well-defined categories. Create sections dedicated to specific needs such as children’s health, beauty, vitamins, etc. This makes it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for and encourages them to make additional purchases.
3. Highlighting promotions: Use attractive displays to highlight promotions and special offers. Customers are often attracted by bargains, and this can stimulate impulse sales.
4. Effective visual communication: Use clear signage and legible labels to help customers quickly find what they’re looking for. Effective visual communication can also highlight product features and benefits.
5. Interactive customer experience: Incorporate interactive elements such as touch screens to provide product information, promotions or even health advice. This creates a more engaging experience for customers.
6. Staff training: Make sure that staff are well trained in products, promotions and sales techniques. Well-informed staff can offer useful recommendations to customers, boosting confidence and encouraging sales.
7. Stock rotation: Change product layouts regularly to maintain customer interest and promote new items. This can also help to manage stock levels and avoid obsolescence.
8. Performance monitoring: Use analysis tools to track sales performance, identify trends and adjust strategy accordingly. This enables merchandising to be continually optimised in line with changing market needs.

Compliance with the pharmacy merchandising planogram

There are a number of tools you can use to ensure that your merchandising strategy is consistent with the way your products are displayed on the shelves. The EasyPicky solution offers an innovative way to quickly and efficiently carry out shelf and assortment surveys, specifically adapted to the pharmaceutical sector. The application works intuitively on devices such as smartphones and tablets. By exploiting the capabilities of artificial intelligence, EasyPicky can carry out exhaustive surveys of all the products in each point of sale, capturing this information via video even when there is no internet connection. The AI built into EasyPicky provides an exhaustive survey of products, shelf layouts and any stock-outs, helping to optimise your field survey and ensure a smooth shopping experience for pharmaceutical customers.