Summer has arrived, signaling freedom for students, sweltering temperatures and a new direction for your independent community pharmacy’s front end. As the dog days reach full swing, it’s tempting to ease up and let your front end stay unchanged. The warmest months of the year, however, offer new opportunities to attract customer purchases. Give your front end an energetic boost with these summer merchandising ideas.
1. Spotlight summer essentials
As customers head to the pool, lake or beach, place those sunny essentials, like sunglasses, antiperspirant, sunscreen and aloe, front and center. Everyone wants to look their best for swimsuit season, so this is also a great time to bring your weight loss, fitness and nutritional products into the spotlight. Use end caps to highlight these products or pull them to the front of the store.
2. Create themed displays
Use themed displays to connect customers with summer activities, and the products that go along with them. With more active lifestyles come more injuries, making summer a great time to emphasize wound treatment. Put together a “first aid kit” display with all of the products customers would need for their first aid kit. Or, put together a “bugs be gone” display with bug spray and anti-itch creams.
3. Prepare for back to school
Back-to-school season requires hectic preparation and shopping for school supplies, making August one of the most profitable months of the year for front-end sales. Be sure to stock your pharmacy with some of the essentials. Also, schools are notorious breeding grounds for germs, and public institutions require students to be vaccinated, so this is also an effective time to market immunizations.
4. Use color
The warmest months of the year also bring out the warmest colors on the spectrum. Many people associate summer with happiness and bright, fun colors. Use this to your advantage in the front end by reflecting that mood in your displays and shelf organization. Decorate the front of the store with warm colors and bright displays to draw customers in. For example, pull brightly colored merchandising together (like lining up orange bottles of sunscreen) to draw the eye.
5. Promote add-on products
For lots of customers, the hectic pace of life slows down during the summer. This means more time for customers to meander the aisles of your front end. And, the more time a customer spends in your store, the more merchandise they are likely to purchase. This presents two opportunities for your pharmacy. It gives you a chance to improve customer service and to bolster the sale of add-on products. Challenge your staff to engage customers sooner and promote additional products that the customer might not have thought to buy. Aid this selling proposition by displaying related products together, like sunscreen with aloe or bandages with antibiotic ointment.
