As a neighborhood pharmacy owner, you’ve no doubt become accustomed to your store’s general layout and atmosphere. If you’ve gathered a good collection of regular customers over the years, you can bet they’ve also become used to your store’s overall persona and may even typically ignore many of your store displays, especially if those displays haven’t been updated for some time. If your pharmacy layout is pretty much the same as it was a decade or so ago, with few adaptations to incorporate the modern era of pharmacy design, it may be driving some of your customers "crazy," – or worse yet, driving them into the stores of your competition.
If your drug store happens to be the "only game in town," with few or no options from which to choose, complacency may have settled in when it comes to your particular pharmacy layout scheme, with no real apparent repercussions from being stuck in a time warp from the past. The way it’s set up, however, may still be causing the business to have leveled off, with customers coming in just to get what’s on their list but not sticking around to see what’s new and worth their attention. There are some simple ways to remedy the situation and bring new life to your enterprise. The time and trouble spent on a layout upgrade should be well worth it for you, your employees, and your customers alike.
Modern Pharmacy Layout
As a hometown pharmacy, there are some unique characteristics you can leverage to make your retail space inviting and friendly – a strong contrast to what so many sterile, institutional pharmacies seem to have become. You want to create an atmosphere that draws people in and makes them feel comfortable. If you give them something interesting to do or to see, they’re likely to spend more time in your store, which generally means purchasing more merchandise.
- The first rule of intelligent pharmacy layout is to provide a logical path of travel throughout the retail space. It’s natural for people to feel most comfortable traveling in a counter-clockwise direction (since most people are right-handed), and you can use that to your advantage. Setting up display shelving and other fixtures in such a way as to prompt customers along a certain path meandering throughout the store will help bring all the different departments within their view.
- Large, bold signs announcing where each department is located are also a must. This signage should be visible from just about anywhere within the store.
- Aisles should be wide enough to accommodate shoppers traveling in both directions without feeling crowded.
- Seating should be strategically located to give those in need a place to rest. If set up properly, this may also give customers a place to relax and visit with neighbors.
- The addition of a coffee/tea bar or refreshment area can also go a long way toward making store visitors feel more at home.
- Some folks may be coming into your store for something specific and may not wish to linger any longer than it takes to pick up what they need. It’s important that your merchandise layout allows them to find what they need quickly and easily. This can be accomplished with clear signage and by placing popular seasonal items in clearly-marked display areas throughout the merchandise area.
Use these and other proven techniques for improving your store layout for more customer convenience. It will be worth the effort!
