The psychology of selling is nothing new. Salespeople have used different types of tactics to help make sales for as long as buying and selling have been around. And, although face-to-face sales is somewhat different from selling in a retail store environment, customer behavior follows certain reactions to sales techniques, both subliminal and overt, and pharmacy customers are much the same as any other shoppers.
You can definitely use the information acquired through various psychological studies on sales to bolster your pharmacy's bottom line, and a great place to start is with your front-end pharmacy shelving design and installation. One recent report shows that more than half the shoppers coming into a retail environment, such as a drugstore, will not return if they don't like the store's aesthetics. In a drugstore, a good deal of the aesthetics come down to the design and placement of the pharmacy shelving and fixtures, so this should be a major indication of the need to study and plan ahead when deciding how to outfit your store with shelves and fixtures that will be pleasing in your customer's view. Shelves are not just something you use to place products!
That same study found that 93% of shoppers' purchasing decisions are based on visual appearance. Visual appearance includes everything the customer sees, from the moment they step into your store, and as you may have heard, you never get a second chance to make a first impression! While you need to consider wall colors, lighting, flooring and signage as part of the visual appearance package, nothing trumps the design and placement of your shelving and other fixtures in importance. After all, they make up the bulk of your store's floor space.
Your shelving is of prime importance and should be considered so from the very beginning of any pharmacy build or remodel. Here are some other factors to support this idea:
- It's important that the outside area and entrance to your store are designed so as to bring customers in, and once inside they need to be greeted with some kind of eye-catching display that will slow them down enough to take a look and to also stop a moment to take in the entire store. This is a good place to display your seasonal products, and having shelves and/or fixtures that can be easily moved or relocated to accommodate a wide variety of items can be a real advantage in this space.
- Numerous studies show that customers naturally look to the left when entering a store and then look to the right and continue on in that direction. You can use this to your advantage by consciously creating a customer flow footpath that they will unconsciously follow. Avoid long, continuous aisles that all look alike. Establish some dead-end aisles with enticing, festive displays at the end. Display your most important items far away from the entrance door, requiring travel through the store to get to them.
- Remember to shelve your most important products at eye level. Items on low shelves are often viewed as those of lower value. High shelves may make it difficult to reach certain items.
Planning ahead with your pharmacy shelving is a must to avoid blocking electrical outlets and emergency exits. Shelves can also be used to create moveable walls, saving on the construction of permanent walls. Best practice dictates factoring in your shelf design and placement from the start in your planning phase. It just makes good sense.
