Got the flu? What are your best selling OTC’s for cough/cold/flu?

My son came down with what we think is the flu this weekend. Fever, chills, cough, and today, soar throat.  Unlike a lot of people, we don’t like to run to the doctors everytime he gets the sniffles.  What we do is run to our local independent pharmacy, where we get excellent advice, and can address our needs most of the time with over-the-counter medications.  I came across this article on how to treat flu symptoms using standard OTC’s and a little “motherly” advice:

Cold/Flu: The only remedies that actually work!

But as a pharmacy owner, when it comes to your inventory levels,how do you know what people are buying and how can you best prepare for the flu rush?  Sure, you could rely on your wholesaler rep to recommend stocking levels, or you could be reactive and walk the shelves to see where the “holes” are developing, but both efforts are inaccurate strategies.

The best way to approach this dilemna, and ultimately maximize your profitability, is to invest in technology such as a robust point-of-sale solution that can identify stock movements and reorder as appropriate based on either sell-thru over a time period, or based on min/max levels to ensure you are not a)over stocking your shelves, tieing up inventory dollars, or b) not stocking enough and missing sales opportunities. 

With a POS solution from Retail Managment Solutions (RMS), you can identifty what’s selling in your store, and maybe more importantly, identify what’s not selling, so you can clear those “dead” items out of inventory, or at a minimum, move them to a more visible location like an end-cap to increase sales.  You can also ensure that you are stocking the appropriate level of items to capture maximum profitablity.  With margins shrinking on prescription drugs and third-party payers challenging reimbursements, doesn’t it make sense to make the most out of your front end were the margins are higher?  

What do you think?  Tell me your thoughts below!