SHELF OBSESSED

Any top chef would undoubtedly agree that the secret to an award-winning dish encompasses more than just quality ingredients combined in a certain way. Presentation of the product also holds a great deal of importance in the eventual outcome of the success of the dish, and great pains are often taken to make whatever has been prepared appear as appetizing as possible. Even the most delicious and nutritious concoction served up in a fine restaurant will likely lose its appeal if presented in a shoddy, haphazard manner.

Creating a welcoming, friendly, comfortable customer environment is perhaps the most important facet in running a successful community pharmacy. As owner or manager, you have the ability to provide your customers with what no large, chain-store pharmacy can match – personalized service to every individual entering your establishment. With a well-thought-out and properly implemented pharmacy workflow, built around providing the most excellent customer service and superior shopping experience possible, you can attract new customers into your store, retain the loyal customer base you've developed and generate an ever-expanding supply of referral clients. The secret is sterling service at every step.

There's so much involved in interior drugstore design that it's tough to tell what's most important, but the jumping off or starting point will always revolve around your chosen pharmacy floor plan. Until the floor plan is decided on, you won't be able to make logical choices regarding the shelving and other fixtures you plan to incorporate into your interior design, and shelving and fixtures are something you should definitely budget for in the early stages of a pharmacy build or remodel.

Creating a pharmacy floor plan involves several decisions you'll have to make in advance regarding its implementation into your store design. You basically have four choices when it comes to a pharmacy floor plan:

• Traditional or grid floor plan
• Blended or combination floor plan
• Open flow floor plan
• A combination of two or more of the above

Most drugstores out there, especially the larger-sized chain or big-box pharmacies, incorporate the traditional pharmacy floor plan into their store design, and this is the one with which drugstore patrons are most familiar. It involves the installation of long runs of shelving, similar to what you'd expect to see in the center area of a grocery store. Typically, gondola shelves are used here, with end caps utilized at the ends of some of these shelving runs to break things up. These end caps are ideal for displaying seasonal or holiday items or other hot-selling products.

From the customer's perspective, your pharmacy workflow is pretty much all about the speed and accuracy of your prescription filling results. It's not an uncommon complaint for a client coming into a pharmacy for a prescription fill to wonder, especially when they're the only customer at the drug counter, why it still takes 20 minutes (or sometimes longer) to receive their order. If it's a brand-new prescription or the person is a new customer in that pharmacy, the wait time is more easily understandable. But for a refill? Even if it's just the process of putting a new label on an already packaged medicine, without even any counting out of pills required, that 20 minutes seems more of a rule than an exception in many drugstores, especially the big chain pharmacies.

As an independent community pharmacy owner or manager, merchandising should be a prime concern if you're anxious to move your store toward ever increasing revenues. The pharmacy floor plan you choose to incorporate into your store's design can have a major impact on your front-end merchandising efforts. While the products displayed and sold in the merchandising area of your store will typically represent only a fraction of what's earned through the sale of prescription medications in the back end, a thriving front-end area is important for a variety of reasons. For example:

Designing and executing your pharmacy floor plan, whether for a new build or for a current store remodel, is a critically important part of creating your total pharmacy environment. Together with your paint color choices, flooring type(s), lighting, signage, shelving and fixtures, your pharmacy floor plan will be responsible for pulling everything together and guiding your customers along their merry way to, hopefully, see everything you've gone to so much trouble to put on display.

We know that many customers shop at a particular store because of a presentation that makes them feel welcomed and encourages them to buy. If they feel uncomfortable because of the way things are set up or because they find things confusing or hard to find, they may opt to make their purchases elsewhere. You want them coming in, feeling comfortable, engaged and interested in what you have to offer, and checking out with a feeling that will have them wanting to return in the future. Your chosen floor plan can definitely have an impact on these feelings.

As owner/manager of an independent, community pharmacy, you've no doubt got lots on your plate. This is especially true during a time of increased healthcare reform and the added pressures associated with the need to maintain a high-quality (Star) rating due to its importance in your being included in Medicare Part D preferred networks and various commercial drug plans.

While your pharmacy basically exists in two parts – the front-end merchandising area and the rear-end prescription filling area – these two sides of your business are likely far from equal in their revenue generating capabilities. Most of your bottom line comes from what's happening in your back-end operation. While the front end remains an important part of the equation, it's for reasons other than basic income production. In fact, the front-end merchandising section of a typical community pharmacy is only responsible for about 10% of the revenue generated by the store.

Having an efficient pharmacy workflow can make the difference between profitability and non-profitability for your drugstore. It's no secret that the lion's share of an independent pharmacy's revenue is gained through the sale of prescription medications, and the more you can do to improve your pharmacy workflow, the more you should see your prescriptions revenue increase. In addition, more efficient operations will translate into increased customer satisfaction and lower stress levels for staff and customers alike. Improving your pharmacy workflow should: