Ideally, your pharmacy design should be set up to optimize customers' convenience and make their shopping experience as enjoyable as possible. By doing so, you are not only catering to (and caring for) your customers, but you're improving your bottom line.
Making the customers' shopping experience better naturally boosts your profits because if customers are comfortable, they will more often come in, relax, stay and shop longer, instead of "dashing in and dashing out" for bare-bones must have items like prescriptions. Take a look at some of the benefits of good pharmacy design:
It makes the interior of your store inviting
Relatively small changes to pharmacy design can make your store much more inviting to your customers. Modernize pharmacy fixtures, update decor with soft, bright colors, plush carpeting, faux wood floors, and opt for bright but indirect lighting that will replace the harsh glare of overhead fluorescent lights. When your store is inviting to customers and doesn't look "institutional," they're much more likely to relax, stay and shop, which means more profit for you.
It's set up with customers' convenience and comfort in mind
When you establish the layout of your store, keep your customers' needs and comfort in mind as your first priority:
- Place high-volume items in the department, throughout the store, and in point of purchase displays
This has benefits both for you and for your customers. For your customers, it's simply convenient to be able to find what they need to buy easily, without having to search for it and waste valuable time. For you, it means multiple opportunities to sell items that otherwise might be missed. Both benefits mean greater profits for you.
- Place products for sale at eye level or below
When you place products that you want to sell above eye level, you potentially miss much of your audience, since many people simply won't make the effort – or can't. Many of your customers probably have physical limitations that make it impossible for them to reach or even look for something above eye level. Therefore, the fixtures used in your store should take this into consideration and be set up so that all displays are relatively low.
- Place seating throughout the store
If many of your customers have difficulty walking, they'll appreciate the chance to sit and rest as needed while they shop. As a good pharmacist, it's also wise to provide electric scooters for shoppers who need them, but strategic seating also makes it possible for customers who are ambulatory but need a break now and then to take it. If they know they can sit and rest as needed, they won't be afraid to come to your store to shop – and that improves your profits, too.
It uses signage that fits your overall decor, and is clear and easy to read
Your pharmacy design should include signage that fits your "brand." It should incorporate your logo, colors, etc. This makes you look more professional. Its true purpose is to guide customers so that they can find what they need easily, so opt for bright, clear basic fonts and lettering.
It's set up so that foot traffic must meander through your store
Setting up your pharmacy design so that customers will be encouraged to "meander" throughout your store while they shop means that customers will be encouraged to stay, to discover and explore, to look at everything you have for sale. This layout also gently nudges customers to spot and buy things they might not have seen and wouldn't have thought to ask about – again, another benefit to your bottom line.
