What is the first impression your customers get when they come into your pharmacy? Is your pharmacy welcoming? Or is it plain, functional, and in need of some warmth and style?
If the latter is true, there are several things you can do to make your store look more inviting so that customers feel comfortable and at ease. Some of the most obvious options include things like getting new lighting fixtures, repainting or papering walls, getting new flooring, or getting new pharmacy shelving and fixtures to update your look.
However, there is something more subtle in regard to aesthetics that many pharmacies may discount or not even think about: custom millwork.
What is millwork?
Millwork is comprised of building items that are made of wood and produced in a "planing mill." These items include window and doorframes, doors, moldings, blinds, window frames, stairs, and shelving.
How can custom millwork enhance your pharmacy design?
Your unique pharmacy design represents you; it's your signature. Custom millwork can enhance your pharmacy design by:
- Giving your store a rarified ambience that makes you stand out from your competitors. You could opt for cheaper mass-made products for things like shelving, door frames, moldings, and so forth, but keep in mind that many of your competitors are doing just that in hopes that they'll "save money." By upgrading to quality millwork in your store, however, you can actually get a leg up on the competition.
- Showing your customers that you represent "quality." Customers are drawn to quality. If your store is filled with cheap pressboard, institutional metal, and other materials that provide little aesthetic appeal or representation of quality, that's the impression you give your customers – that you are "cheap," and by association, so must be your merchandise.
By contrast, using custom millwork in your store shows that you care about value. Customers will realize this and will be drawn to your store because you are:
- Showing that you care about attention to detail. Your careful attention to detail is what sets you apart as an independent pharmacist. When customers walk in and see the care that you've taken with your store, they will also feel that you take care of attention to detail for them, too. Your retail pharmacy competitors can't hope to provide the same level of detail and care in regard to pharmacy design, because they have a particular "cookie-cutter" design to follow. You can set yourself apart. You should take advantage of that.
- Showing that you are aligned with "holistic," "organic," and "natural" health and wellness principles. Wood is the ultimate natural material. When your pharmacy design includes the judicious use of natural, quality wood, you are paying homage to nature and showing your support for natural, organic, health and wellness products. You won't even have to directly promote that you are doing this -- the atmosphere that you create by using custom millwork intuitively says it for you.
Custom millwork can boost perceived value
When you incorporate custom millwork into your pharmacy design, it increases your customers' perception of the quality of the items on these higher quality shelves. Customers' subconscious expectation of higher quality products will then cause them to feel more willing to pay a higher premium for your products.
Incorporating custom millwork into your pharmacy design also gives you an added edge over your competitors. It shows that you care about quality and attention to detail, which in turn instills in your customers a sense of confidence in you, and in the value and quality of your products. Taking the time to do custom millwork can mean greater profits for you.
