Whether you’re renovating an existing space or building a new pharmacy from the ground up, you’ve got some decisions to make. Those choices encompass more than appearances and aisle width. Your shelving design can be a make-or-break part of your business, but when it’s planned properly, it’s more than capable of pulling its own weight. So what do you need to consider as you choose your pharmacy shelving?
Space and Workflow
Consider the shape and volume of your space, and how traffic will flow through it. Here, you’re taking three different but related factors into account.
- Layout: Simply put, what’s going where? How will you position storage, counters, and shelving for maximum effect? The one thing you do not want is a space that feels (or, worse still, is) cramped, that impedes traffic, or that results in wasted square footage.
- Shelving: We’ll have more to say on this below, but suffice it to say for now that you want shelving that combines the best of both style and function. It should be appealing, but should also make the best use of every square foot of space.
- Design: Now that all of your pieces are in place, how will you show and use them to their full potential? Design accounts for visual merchandising, colorways, lighting, and a healthy dollop of psychology.
Front End vs Back End
When Shelving Design Systems designs pharmacy shelving, we’re taking very different approaches to the pharmacy than we are to the sales floor. In the pharmacy, high density carries the day; we don’t waste an inch if we can help it, and our designs prioritize visibility and easy workflow. Out on the floor, we’re paying close attention to shelf spacing and counts, the positioning of shelves, counters, and custom shelving to drive customer behavior, and a high degree of flexibility so your layouts can evolve with seasons and planogram changes.
Automation
From inventory controls to dispensing, pharmacy processes are increasingly becoming automated. This has advantages in terms of speed and time, but it doesn’t stop there. We account for your automated processes to find new ways to wring more revenue out of the areas that would otherwise have been occupied by the people who’ve been freed up by machines.
Customer Experience
What all of this adds up to, especially for retail pharmacies, is a better customer experience. The art is to conceal the art; our goal is to make shelving seamless and unobtrusive so your customer’s attention goes where it’s needed — to your products and services, and not to the frustration they experience from a poorly-planned layout.
Future-Proofing
For most of its modern history, the pharmacological aspect of the pharmacy hasn’t been its bread and butter. From soda fountains to photo development, we’ve seen countless trends come and go.
Recent years have also seen a new trend emerge, and it’s one we think has staying power: the rise of pharmacies as a neighborhood one-stop for health. Vaccinations, prescriptions, routine examinations, and other medical needs are as likely to be addressed by a pharmacy clinic as by a walk-in clinic. Taking advantage of the opportunities presented means having someone in your corner who can help you maximize your existing square footage through better shelving design — the better to maximize profit.
