The museum effect
When a pharmacy does not have enough inventory to fill all the shelves, gaps are created and the available packages are sparsely stocked to disguise them. This tactic is not good for sales. Of course, customers look at the display cases and shelves, but because their appearance creates a “museum effect,” they have no desire to take the product. Moreover, too sparse display makes customers think that they have visited not a modern, dynamic pharmacy, but the sale of a dying business that is doing badly. In addition to indirect losses associated with the peculiarities of human perception, the “museum effect” also causes direct losses. Too little inventory can lead to defects at any time.
Blankets, towers and pyramids
The other extreme is overloading the shelves with goods. Forgetting about the Pareto rule, according to which 20% of goods bring 80% of profit, pharmacy employees strive to present in plain sight almost the entire assortment. As a result, the customer sees a “patchwork quilt”, because the human brain is capable of identifying no more than 10-12 items from each picture captured by the eyes.
It is no better to overload the shelves with identical goods by building walls and pyramids out of them. If you have ever played the board game “Jenga”, in which participants remove wooden blocks from the tower, you can easily imagine how a customer feels when trying to get the package he needs. In addition, many people subconsciously do not want to destroy the architectural masterpieces created by pharmacists.
Everything is good in moderation
It is impossible to give a precise answer to the question of how many packs should be on the shelf. In any case, the choice of products for display should not be dictated by the preferences of front desk staff or medical representatives, but by forecasting customer needs, the accuracy of which depends on how well and regularly you analyze sales.
To start with, it is enough to identify the hottest categories, the shelves with which are emptied first of all, create sufficient stock for each of them and regularly update the display. Remember that every centimeter of the shelf is your money. So if gaps do appear on it, don’t disguise them by arranging packages more loosely. It is better to duplicate the most popular positions by placing 2-3 identical packages in a row on the first line. According to statistics, such a display increases sales by about 30%. At the same time, remove from the shelves (especially in the open area) non-tradable items, for example, goods that the client will never buy without the recommendation of the front desk clerk.
To avoid visual clutter, products should be placed evenly across the width and depth of the shelves. But even if you use them as storage units, leave small gaps between packages so that shoppers can see, examine and easily pick up the product. For example, leave a gap of at least two fingers wide between the top of the package and the shelf. An even larger gap should be made between drugs from different pharmacy groups on the same shelf.
Remember: to motivate the customer to take the product and increase your sales, the display must be functional. In addition, he must understand how much his purchase will cost and not forget to buy related products placed next door.
Expensive is cheap
- On a standard shelf, cheaper goods are placed on the left and more expensive goods on the right.
- On a wide shelf, more expensive goods are placed closer to the customer and cheaper goods are placed at the back of the shelf.
- On the counter display closer to the cash register – more expensive goods, and further away from the cash register – cheaper goods.
