When it comes to your pharmacy’s front end, 2015 is the year of the millennial, and you’re going to want these young customers shopping in your pharmacy. Conventional wisdom has lead us to believe that millennials shop around, chasing low prices and convenience.
However, new research suggests that the opposite is true. “The Rise of Loyal Shoppers,” a 2015 survey conducted by Surveylab for the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA), found that young Americans (ages 25-45) are loyal to stores, and that they’ve taken over the marketplace. These consumers have displaced Baby Boomers as the heaviest purchasers of consumables.
“Buffeted by severe recession; a revolution in communications, media and advertising, and a retail landscape that bears little resemblance to what existed less than a decade ago, today’s consumer is not the same shopper we used to know. Many long-held assumptions are no longer true,” the study concludes.
Use these insights from the study to help you gain loyal, young customers—and the potential sales that come with them.
Insight: They shop often
Thirty percent of young shoppers go to a drugstore at least weekly, and 37 percent shop there once a month or less. This means you probably have a steady stream of repeat millennial customers coming into your pharmacy.
Make their visits even better and more convenient by offering reliable text or online prescription refill services, staying stocked with health, beauty and wellness items, and making sure employees are available to answer their questions.
Insight: They’re in it for the long haul
The study found that half of millennial consumers have shopped at their drugstore for more than five years. When considering only those who have stayed in the same neighborhood for that period of time, 60 percent are long-time shoppers. And, thirty-one percent of these shoppers describe themselves as “very loyal” to their drugstore. This suggests that millennial shoppers are unlikely to abandon their drugstore for another.
In other words, once you earn these customers’ loyalty, you’ll have it for a while. Take steps to win these patients for years to come by building relationships with them, learning their names, recommending products and giving them a wow experience in your pharmacy.
Insight: They take incentives
Don’t underestimate the power of coupons with millennials. Forty percent of shoppers in this demographic rate coupons as a very important factor when buying products they haven’t purchased before. Coupons can bring in new young shoppers to your store, and get them to choose new products.
Loyalty rewards programs, another way to incentivize patients to shop at your pharmacy, also remain popular. Eighty-four percent of young shoppers are enrolled in at least one program in 2015. Here are some ideas to get more patients enrolled in your own loyalty program.
Insight: They don’t need brand names
About half of millennial shoppers regularly buy store brands, and only one-quarter make a purchase based on brand alone. The rest look more to availability, prices and labels of other brands when making their decision. Forty-four percent will ultimately purchase store brands at drugstores, and one-third look to recommendations from others when making their choice.
Stock different options of items in your front end, and they don’t have to be well-known product names. Make sure a staff member is on-hand to help millennial shoppers choose.
Young shoppers are the most powerful consumers in the market today. Use these insights to appeal to this market segment.
