5 Ways to Sell More Private Label OTC’s In Your Pharmacy

We often talk about out of the box ways to improve pharmacy profitability and patient outcomes. Clinical services, medication synchronization, and supplement recommendations to combat drug induced nutrient depletion are some of our favorite topics.

These types of services bring value to your patients which is good for your pharmacy business on every level.  But pharmacy services aren’t the only way to improve profitability in your pharmacy. Today, we’re taking it back to basics with a look at one way your OTC product offerings can become a profit center for your pharmacy business.

For most pharmacies, profit margins are higher on private label OTC’s than they are on brand name. Even though the cost to the customer is lower on private label products, you’ll still make more on every private label purchase.

However, many customers don’t understand the benefits of purchasing private label and will continue to purchase brand name by habit alone despite the higher cost.

Taking active steps to drive sales on private label OTCs can help you increase your bottom line and create happy, loyal customers as you save them money.

Here are some ideas for driving sales of private label products in your pharmacy.

1. Drive sales with customer loyalty. 

Incorporating private label OTC’s into your customer loyalty program can benefit you in more than one way.  By offering incentives through loyalty on private label products you are encouraging participation in the program and could be introducing some of your core customer base to a new product.  With the Customer Loyalty Program from RMS, you can encourage customers to purchase private label items by allowing them to earn additional loyalty points on qualifying purchases. Take the promotion a step further and actively target customers participating in your loyalty program that purchase brand name by printing a coupon for their next purchase of a private label product when they buy a brand name OTC product.

2. Compare and save. 

Many people just don’t realize the price   Shoppers in a hurry target the product they’re looking for grab it and go.  You can make it easy to spot the price difference by printing shelf talkers comparing the brand name with the private label product.  RMS Star~Plus customers can use the Signs & Labels program to create a Compare and Save shelf talker to easily highlight the difference in price and promote the private label option.

3. Product Placement. 

Where a product is placed on the shelf can sometimes have just as much impact on a customer’s purchase decision as price or brand.  This is especially true for first time shoppers or those that don’t have a specific brand in mind. By placing your private label OTC’s in a choice location, you can help establish a purchasing habit for your customers.

4. Educate your customers. 

Your customers shop at a local independent pharmacy instead of a big box store for many reasons.  One of those reasons is often that they get better care, advice and insight from knowledgeable staff.  Educate customers purchasing brand name OTC’s that they can get the same result for less money.  It’s a win/win for you and your customers.

5. Untie your staff from the front counter. 

Even savvy shoppers can get a little over stimulated by the vast number of product options available today.  And these moments of indecision are something you can take advantage of if you have staff in the right place at the right time.  If you can have staff available to help overwhelmed or lost customers, you can help to influence which products they buy. You can even ring them up right in the aisle with a tablet-based register.

These strategies can be used beyond promoting your private label OTC products and applied pretty much anywhere that you’d like to drive sales in your pharmacy.

We’ll be discussing these and more during our March 11^th CLIMB Webinar. Join us to learn the latest tips on optimizing front end performance! You can register by clicking here.