Holidays and holiday weekends have certainly looked different throughout 2020 and 2021. But as more people get vaccinated (thanks in no small part to the hard work of pharmacies across the country) more people are travelling and gathering in the summer of 2021. Specifically, for the Fourth of July Holiday weekend.
Data from the National Retail Federation shows that 84% of people plan to celebrate Independence Day this year, with just over $80 of planned per person spend on food items and 29% planning to purchase some patriotic products.
About half of consumers said they’d be celebrating with BBQ style get togethers and a further third are attending community celebrations.
Additionally, according to this article from Tripit, travel is steadily creeping closer to pre-pandemic levels. With more than double the car rentals of 2020, or 85% of what we saw in 2019.
What does this all mean for you? Well… while we aren’t yet back to our 2019 numbers, you can expect for people to be shopping for the Fourth of July as they head to family get togethers, beach days and camping trips. Which means retail pharmacies will want to do everything they can to help customers check items off their lists and fill those shopping baskets.
Whether your OTC offerings are large or small, you can likely benefit from a few tricks to boost sales of necessities like first aid necessities, bug spray and sunscreen.
Here are some of our favorite, inexpensive, and crazy-easy retail pharmacy promotion ideas.
Signage
Signage does not have to be created by a graphic designer and professionally printed. Simply grab a sandwich board from your local office supply store and get creative. One of my favorite things to do is create a list of products the customer shouldn’t leave the store without. It’s a great reminder to customers to grab items they might be forgetting. Tailor this to what your pharmacy carries. Of course, you can put the go-to items like sunscreen and bug spray on the list, but you can also add specialty items that your pharmacy carries for any out of towners that stop in over the weekend. Be sure to utilize the creativity of your pharmacy staff, both when compiling your list of items, and in adding a little sparkle to your signage with some fun artwork. (And remember, anyone can draw fireworks!)
Displays
It’s easy for customers with to-do lists a mile long to get tunnel vision in a store. They weren’t thinking they could buy certain things at your pharmacy, so they won’t go out of their way to look for them. Put together an endcap, rounder, or display featuring some of the products you’d like to push over the weekend. Make the display visible from the moment customers enter the store. They should have to walk past it to get to the pharmacy counter.
Loyalty Promos
Every major retailer is blasting out advertisements for the holiday weekend. Think about setting up some special offers for members of your customer loyalty program over the coming week to give them extra incentive to do their shopping at your pharmacy. It doesn’t have to be big, just something to let your most loyal customers know that you appreciate their patronage. You can offer bonus loyalty points, a special price on popular Fourth of July weekend items, or a coupon to use next time they come in.
Whether your pharmacy is two blocks from the beach or in the middle of a large city, a little extra attention to in-store marketing might just yield a big return.
