You can always rely on one tried-and-true method to move out-of-season products, raise awareness about your business, boost sales and attract new patients to your pharmacy—hosting a sale.
The most effective front-end sales can achieve all of these goals, and endear your business to the consumer. But, a successful sale takes careful planning, marketing to raise awareness about the sale, and strategic price points to make sure you remain profitable, while also giving customers a deal.
Here are five tips to help make your pharmacy’s next front-end sale a success.
1. Create a plan
Before you start a front-end sale at your pharmacy, you need to make a plan for your promotion.
Think strategically about what products you want to promote. Ask yourself, “Why are these items on sale?” Is it to raise awareness about a new item, move out-of-date holiday products off your shelves, or to drive traffic to your pharmacy with sales on everyday essentials?
Also, if you’re hosting a clearance sale to move products off your shelves, be deliberate about what kind of discount you offer. Start by offering 10 percent off, and then sweeten the deal after a few days by raising it to 25 or 50 percent off to help sell the last few items.
2. Design the sale to encourage bulk purchases
Create a front-end sale that encourages multiple and group purchases.
For example, instead of offering 25 percent off a bottle of sunscreen, offer a buy-one, get-one at 50 percent off promotion. Your pharmacy will still make the same margin, but the structure of the sale will encourage patients to purchase two bottles instead of one, which increases your overall sales total.
Or, pair products that are commonly purchased together to boost sales. For example, offer $1 off a mouthwash with the purchase of a tube of toothpaste. That way, customers will be more tempted to stock up on these essentials, and make an additional purchase.
3. Make time a factor
Use time as a guide and motivating factor in your front-end sale.
For example, November is too early for a sale on Christmas items because customers are still willing to pay full price for candy canes and Christmas cards, but March is too late because everyone has already forgotten about Christmas and they’re beginning to plan for Easter.
Also, limiting the time evergreen products, such as bandages or over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers, are on sale can motivate customers to stock up on the product before the sale ends. Be sure to include information about when the sales ends, if it’s a limited time only sale or a daily doorbuster. Knowing that the deal won’t last forever can motivate customers to buy now.
4. Highlight promoted products through placement
Strategically consider where you place promoted products in your pharmacy’s front end to attract patients and boost sales.
If you have an ongoing clearance section, make sure it’s not taking up a prominent end cap that could be filled with high-margin, full-priced products. If you’re featuring a category-wide promotion, such as 10 percent off all skin care products, leave the products where they are, but use signs to direct customers to the sale.
Or, if you’re offering a coupon for pharmacist-recommended products, consider creating a small display with a few of each product near the pharmacy counter, so your staff can recommend, explain and promote the products as they dispense prescriptions. And, make sure products that are linked in the promotion are placed close together, such as a coupon for soothing aloe with the purchase of sunscreen.
5. Promote the sale
Sales are often used as a tool to get customers through your doors, but the most successful sales are also promoted.
Consider taking out an advertisement in your local newspaper to promote the front-end sale, or print flyers and stuff them in pharmacy bags during the weeks leading up to the sale. Also, always put information about your promotions on channels you own, including your website and your social media profiles.
When more people know about the sale, more people will come to your pharmacy to take advantage of it.
Hosting a front-end sale can help your independent community pharmacy compete with national chain and big box pharmacies, but your key competitive strength might lie in the ways your pharmacy is different from those competitors.
