When was the last time you really looked at your endcaps? If it’s been more than a month, it’s time to change your displays. Especially if your patients aren’t frequenting them.
Endcaps are great tools for selling impulse items and bringing in profit, especially when placed in the front end. Impulse buying is purely based on desires. It happens as an unplanned decision to buy something right before making a purchase. So, when your patients enter your store, have something eye catching and interesting to draw them in to make an impulse buy.
“We do endcaps every month, and we also do a quarterly new-item endcap that’s part of our national program,” said Colleen Volheim, Category Research & Analysis Manager at Hamacher Resource Group (HRG). “It takes a little bit of advanced planning. The easiest thing to do is follow our planogram program, and it will give you all these things. However, if you work on your own, or you want to add additional endcaps, a lot of things you can do really revolve around holidays and national months. Pick a theme for your endcap, and display products that will interest your patients or meet their needs. This helps in making sales.”
You can make your endcaps gain even more attention by using signage, Volheim said. “It’s the same silent salesman. Signage is a great tool to get your message out to patients on an endcap.”
HRG developed IN.store™ Category Management Tools exclusively for small chain and independent pharmacies. Their experienced team of category research and pricing analysts review 24 health, beauty, and wellness categories each year and find items that promise success in community pharmacies based on careful evaluation.
“I don’t know how an independent pharmacy would ever manage their store without Hamacher,” Michael White, former front-end and general manager at Jasper Drug Store in Jasper, Georgia said. “They send a new planogram out for a new section every month. Just follow those planograms. If you do that, it keeps your store up to date with new products.”
Here’s how you can bring in the sales by enhancing your front end to promote both unplanned and impulse purchases:
Pick a theme and build around it
Your goal is to increase sales, so display products that will catch patients’ interest or meet a specific need. For instance, in the wintertime, your patients are battling colds and flu symptoms. You can grab their attention by setting up a flu-themed endcap that includes thermometers, cough drops, and tissues.
Here are some other theme ideas to think about:
- Holidays: Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas, Easter, or Valentine’s Day, be sure to include holiday cards, candy, gift wrap, and decorations.
- Standing Up to Cancer: Feature products that will help with the wide range of treatments cancer patients may need for their Stock some general items such as supplements that target immune boosting or energy enhancing, hand sanitizer, masks, specialty skin care, anti-nausea medications, and comfort items such as aromatherapy products.
- Heart Health Month: This is a great time to stock an endcap with aspirin products, multivitamins, and blood pressure monitors.
- Nutrition and Fitness: Set up an endcap with vitamins, supplements, protein shakes, and cookbooks.
- Healthy Aging: Feature products for the older demographic to help the challenges shared by this age group. Vitamins and supplements are always a hit, as are arthritis pain relievers, pill boxes, and incontinence products.
- Summer Skin Protection: Set up bottles of sunscreen, lip balms, bug sprays, and first-aid items.
- Pet Products: Set up an endcap with collars, leashes, natural treats, pet toys, and flea and tick medication.
- Locally Made Products: Find local artisans who would be willing to have their products sold in your pharmacy (e.g. lotions, soaps, jewelry, honey, etc.).
Clean and declutter endcaps
When you incorporate endcaps into your pharmacy, be sure you use them to your advantage and stay on top of changing the products you display.
“A lot of people hear the word endcap, and they make two mistakes with that. The first is they have a space, and the second is they put a couple of products on it,” Dave Wendland, Vice President Strategic Relations at HRG, said. “First of all, they don’t manage the space, and it ends up empty or disheveled. That can send a bad message to the consumers who frequent the store. The second mistake is they turn it into a permanent department. Instead of putting skincare products in a traditional spot, they put it on the endcap. The problem with that is no one will pay attention to it.”
At the same time, make sure your endcaps aren’t cluttered with too many things. A cluttered endcap can overwhelm patients. Instead, choose a few key products that align with the theme of your endcap, and stock them deeper with at least four facings to fill the shelf. Displaying too many products, however, can defeat the purpose.
“I think every trip to the pharmacy should be an adventure,” Beverly Schaefer, owner of Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy in Seattle, Washington said. “I think you should find something new to see every time you go into the pharmacy, whether that’s an endcap display or something lying on the counter. It’s a topic of conversation when you get there. Pharmacists need to recognize the profitability of impulse buying. We always want to have something displayed that people don’t know they need.”
Katterman’s Pharmacy also runs a robust travel clinic with a surprising number of items they sell that are related to travel. “All pharmacies have travel items. They just have them scattered all over the store. Why not make a travel endcap?” Schaefer said.
If you’re ready to promote impulse and unplanned purchases in your pharmacy, here are some great tips to get you on your way to profit:
Use signage
Signage and visuals are important in attracting patients to your displays. Include a sign that educates patients on the products in your display. If you’re offering discounted products, put up a sign that highlights the price change. And don’t forget to use bright colors and decorations to go along with the theme of the display.
Put tester products on display
Patients love to try a product before they buy it, so why not use your endcaps to offer samples. You can set up tester hand lotions or wrapped cough drops to attract patient interest. However, make sure you stock plenty of the testers. This will pique more patients’ interest and drive them to impulse buy.
Refresh endcaps often
Because endcaps are promotional, they eventually lose their appeal. So, be sure to refresh your endcaps at least once a month. Assemble a “pharmacist recommends” endcap, too. Customers will enjoy seeing new themes and products on the endcaps.
“We happen to seek out good, oddball products. So, don’t be afraid if something catches your fancy somewhere else. Just seek a story for it and put it in your pharmacy,” Schaefer said. “You might also consider stocking products your customers make, such as lip balms, hand soaps, or little things like that. Be adventuresome!”
Carefully position products
You need a strategy when figuring out how to arrange your products. Here are some tips to encourage shoppers to buy:
- The checkout area: Small, affordable impulse items like candy, gum, magazines, and batteries are great near the checkout line.
- High-traffic areas: Try positioning impulse buys near frequently purchased medications or popular items.
- Eye-level displays: Set up easy-to-see, eye-catching displays to highlight impulse products.
What you don’t want is a cluttered endcap. That will only overwhelm your patients, which means they may not stop to browse.
Get the word out
While your endcap displays will speak for themselves, it never hurts to generate awareness. Use the power of suggestion. Encourage your employees to suggest products on display. You might also ask them to endorse the ones they’ve tried and liked.
If you’re going to have an endcap program in your store, make sure your customers understand that your special endcaps are ongoing. That way they’ll know with each season or holiday, you’ll have specials to browse and purchase.
Refresh endcap displays at least once a month. If a theme is still relevant, simply change the products you’re currently displaying.
“What I recommend as a merchandiser, analyst, and store owner is rotating every 30 to 45 days. It just keeps things fresh. There are always different themes you can use. Keep things fresh no matter what,” Schaefer said. “And if you don’t have something new to put out, then rotate something that you have from one location to another and freshen it up.”
With the right products and the right placement on your endcaps, your impulse shoppers will be more apt to buy, and your pharmacy will increase its profits.
More articles from the December 2024 issue:
- Prescription Flavoring
- Beyond Prescription Dispensing
- ADHD Medications
- Phishing Scams
- It’s All in the Packaging
- Whooping Cough on the Rise
- Pill Variations and Non-Adherence
- The Power of Unique Endcaps
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