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New research into pharmacy shopping habits
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Pharmacies stand to benefit from driving customers’ awareness of their P medicine lines, new research suggests.
GSK Consumer Healthcare found that while OTC medicine sales as a whole (valued at £2.7bn) are growing at 4.1 per cent, the P-line (worth £468m) is only growing at 1.5 per cent, and that customers’ preference for shopping from the healthcare aisle rather than over the counter could be a barrier to sales.
The company’s research found that consumers, for whom prescriptions are the key factor driving them to visit the pharmacy counter, are often reluctant to shop from the back wall as they worry about wasting the pharmacist’s time or are put off by queues, among other factors. Ways to engage customers with the back wall offering and drive complementary unplanned purchases include signage and approaching them in the healthcare aisle, GSK suggests.
Paul Griffith, senior manager, Global Shopper Insights at GSK, said: “As we know, shoppers are very likely to buy a product on the recommendation of the pharmacy staff – usually at a premium price to products on the healthcare aisle.
“In addition, merchandising the back wall in a way that mirrors the healthcare aisle, for example showing clear sub-categories and featuring seasonal products, makes the area more relevant to shoppers; it becomes an extension of the healthcare section.â€