How to attract shoppers to your pharmacy and increase your sales

The market for pharmacies is booming, and the projection is that the optimal performance remains high this year. According to a report from IMS Health, an international consulting firm, in 2015, the network throughout the country registered a R$ 43.1 billion revenue.

Based on this scenario, between 2010 and 2016, Febrafar (Brazilian Federation of Associative and Independent Networks of Pharmacies) conducted a survey with 1,287 consumers in the main Brazilian states to check what takes the customer to buy in a particular store branch.

The report revealed that, although there is concern about the price, the individual’s choice for a particular establishment is also fully influenced by the location, convenience, variety of products, ways of payment, good service, external appearance (facade) and internal appearance (presentation of gondolas or organization in the provision of products).

In addition, the survey also points out that the perception of consumers regarding the price is directly related to marketing actions such as fidelity programs, comparative price of medicines with continuous use and variety of toiletries.

All these data show that there is a very important step to which the owners and managers should stick: the strategy – which will keep and bring in new customers. According to the CEO of Febrafar, Edison Tamascia, what really sets another trade is the competency tactic to attract the public. “First, the network must make it very clear which market it wants to belong. Many pharmacies do not know which way to go. Focusing only on medicine will not bring differentiation to the business. These items are consumer goods differentiated only by the price”, he explains.

Tamascia clarifies that it is not possible for an establishment to have price and deliver at home or to set up a call center, for example. “This is another expense, and pharmacy will surely lose profits. You have to choose which side you want to be and structure a proper positioning”, he says.

He also noted that technology is vital to the operations of all stores of a network or even a single trade. “You’ve got to have the support of technology for proper pricing, to develop fidelity programs and to apply assertive policies of purchases and sales. Besides knowing the shopper, pharmacies also need to manage the inventory and the product mix, working the POS assertively and making good negotiations with the industry”, he concludes.

Considering this scenario, we list some actions to inspire you to retain consumers and to create your own acquisition scheme of new customers for your point of sale. Check out:

# The best price always wins. Thus, check the possibility of cutting costs of operations that maybe do not bring much profit and focus on actions that make a difference to the customer, such as for example working better on the array of products on the shelves and on the new developments in HPC.

# Invest in creating fidelity and promotion programs. Emphasize the cost-effective ratio and offer advantages to customers.

# Renew the product mix. The variety of personal care and affordable products are always a good way to attract the public.

# Take care of your pharmacy look. 88% of survey respondents for Febrafar said they choose to buy at a premise if it has an improved appearance compared to others. So, take care of the front of your pharmacy. This will surely bring you more customers.

And you don’t have to rack your brain alone to improve the management of your sales point. Linx can help you at this stage.
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