It is a strange thing to say, but customers are generally lazy. By this we mean, they do not expect to have to put in any real "work" when shopping with you. For example, a shelf with lots of products and some hidden behind front facing merchandise presents the consumer with too much hassle. Well-planned and carefully executed presentations promote both shopability and impulse sales. If you think about it, a pharmacy has really three types of consumers and these depend on the outcome each has in mind.

1. The Patient

Some would disagree that a patient is a consumer. However, if you consider this further a "patient" does consume your service. This could be the dispensing service or patient advice. Essentially, that patient will come to you with an outcome in mind, so in fact they are consumers. You can directly influence their perception of your business. 

2. The Shopper

This person knows what they want. They shop with you and expect to easily locate a product. They expect clean and tidy shelves.  

3. The Browser

The browser visits your pharmacy with no identified product or service in mind. Hence browsers will be impulsively drawn to exciting and provocative presentations that are timely, poignant and project a "buy-now" appeal. Of course, the Patient or Shopper could transform to a browser.

Here we give some advice on how to improve your shopability.

Fixture Load

Fixture load simply refers to the amount of product on the selling space or fixture. It is an on-going challenge to determine just how much stock to present.  The reality of retail is that rarely on any given day will you have exactly the right amount of stock for each and every fixture. A productive store is constantly in a state of change as customers buy product which is replaced by new product. Fixture-stocking and shelf maintenance should be everyday routines to ensure the pharmacy remains fresh and powerful.

Employees must be trained and held accountable for maintaining merchandise presentations. There is nothing worse than empty spaces or overloaded shelves.  Gap analysis is simply implementing a daily check of the gaps on your shelves and fixtures. Ideally this should be undertaken first thing in the morning and stock should be replaced either from your over-stocks or by ordering. Gap analysis is vital to any business and it can help identify important trends. For example, you may not be ordering enough of a product and it simply sells out. Gaps on shelves can lead the consumer to think that you do not offer a complete assortment or that you are in a transitional period. We often notice counter units with one or two products and lots of space. The consumer will not think, wow this must be a great product, it must be selling fast, I must buy one. They are more likely thinking what is wrong with that product or how long has it been on the counter? If something has sold really well, re-order and keep the unit filled.

Overloaded shelves or fixtures are even worse. Some employees feel the need to get as much stock out on a shelf, even if that means, placing stock behind different products. The result, a mess and a hassle for the consumer. Shopping should not be made more difficult! To add to the pharmacies buy-appeal it should always appear well-stocked, but not bursting at the seams.

Retailers should have an appreciation of what should be the optimum stock holding in their sales areas. Even if you are a small business and do not have the capital to invest in sophisticated shelf-management software, you should be able to analyse each area of your sales floor and develop a detailed capacity target. Importantly these plans should be communicated to those employees who have a direct impact on your stock holding.

Visual Effort

This refers to the customer's ability to view the merchandise's best assets and make a purchase with minimal effort. Time-pressed consumers will simply not take the time to strain, reach or squat to remove items from fixtures for closer inspection. Based on human behaviours, merchandise is best presented from left to right, at eye and hand level , facing out and vertically merchandised.

We know that most people are right-handed and are inclined to go for the larger size with their right hand, or continue to the right to compare features and value. Therefore it makes absolute sense to

1. Place items packaged together (bonus packs) to the right of single products. 

2. Position higher price points to the right of lower price points.

3. Set informative signs to the right of the product they are describing.

As a rule, customers visually scan at eye level and make a purchase decision at hand level, making the space in between generally the most productive in any store. The optimum buying height is 5 foot, 3 inches. Therefore;

1. Locate product displays or unpackaged samples at eye level where the customer will see it, and the product directly below, at hand level, where the customer will reach for it.

2. Vertically merchandise product to expose vast quantities at both eye and hand level for a sense of assortment.

Facing product refers to positioning the front of the pack to the customer. These have more buy-appeal, since the front of the product or graphic enhancement on the box is usually more interesting and colourful than the "side view" of the merchandise. Customers can also see the front of the product without having to struggle to get the item from the shelf.

Vertical merchandising can create visual impact. This essentially refers to the placement of merchandise from top to bottom on a fixture, rather than from side to side. By presenting an assortment of merchandise vertically you will expose customers to a greater variety of your assortment at eye level. This type of presentation works best when you ;

1. Use a single product or colour to create impact and capture interest.

2. Use consistent shelf or fixture heights to maintain uniformity and clarity.

3. Front face products so that customers can see it.

Cross Merchandise to Enhance Decision Making

We live in a busy world. When a consumer visits your pharmacy, they could have another twenty things to do. So you have to make it easy for them. You want the customer to remember you and we know that consumers remember stores that present product creatively and make shopping fun. Essentially, there are two methods of cross-presenting merchandise in the pharmacy, within a department or section or in a high impulse area such as a gondola end.

Cross-merchandising suggests an additional item that "goes with" the primary item the customer is considering. Some simple cross-merchandising examples are self-tan and lady shaving products. More exciting examples are themed merchandise, such as a "Holiday" presentation with a complete story. To be effective, cross-presented merchandise must relate in a logical way, such as:

1. Coordinating items that would be used together.

2. Items that are colour coordinated

3. Products that offer themed ideas such as baby gifts, holidays etc.

Cross-merchandising pays off best when located in certain areas of the store. These include strike zones - along aisles and on end gondolas and impulse points -near service areas such as cash tills.

In retail, we have to accept that when a customer is standing in front of a fixture, they can make a decision to purchase in a split second. Many stores let the customer down when it comes to presenting the merchandise. Rather than making the shopping experience easy and exciting, customers are reaching for high-demand items on towering shelves, fumbling through dump bins or searching over-stocked shelves. Minimising customer effort translates to giving them more time to shop and purchase more product.