Regardless of size or location, every pharmacy has to be able to manage its prescription drug inventories — that pretty much goes without saying. But managing non-prescription product inventory is just as important, and frustratingly enough, it can seem much more difficult. If you run a small pharmacy and you’ve been having trouble with product management, here are a few simple tips to help you get organized and become successful:
Figure out which products are in demand before customers want them. The concept of “supply and demand” is something that all business owners are familiar with, but the key is to anticipate which products will be in demand before the trend begins, so that the product is already available when customers want it. Unlike other markets, where consumer trends disappear just as quickly as they begin, pharmacies are able to predict which general products will be in demand, according to seasonal changes.
Until you know which items customers want, place fewer orders. We all know how it goes: a store orders 50,000 boxes of brand-new pina colada-flavored gummy vitamins, thinking they’ll be a huge hit, and then no one actually buys any, causing the store to lower the price until barely any profit is made (and it’s very possible that the store could even end up losing money from this). It’s important for independent pharmacies to keep their prices low in order to compete with the big chain stores, but there are only so many ‘Super Ultra Price Reduction’ specials that a small business can run before it starts really hurting the business.
There are certain items (like tissues, or cough medicine) that anyone, anywhere, will want to buy. That being said, it’s important to realize that regional preferences do exist, and that they might be as bizarre as preferring cherry cough syrup over grape. You don’t want to have completely empty shelves, but you might be able to order smaller quantities of various products, and then determine which products should fill your already-very-limited shelf space.
Invest in a good inventory management system. Retail pharmacy point of sale systems (or, POS systems) have been developed specifically for this reason. Modern pharmacy POS systems are able to monitor and records every transaction, return, and exchange, and most POS systems will do so in real time (rather than making you wait until the end of the day to figure out your inventory). Not only will you be able to see immediately which items need to be reordered, but you’ll be able to analyze consumer trends which could help you predict other products that could be successful (if you see consumers starting to buy more orange-flavored candy, for example, you’ll know to order less cherry-flavored cough syrup and instead, turn to the orange stuff).
Inventory management can seem complicated, but it really doesn’t have to be! Every independent pharmacy will benefit from different management strategies, and there’s nothing wrong with experimenting a bit to figure out how to set up your store for long-term success.
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