Wrap up Valentine's Day

How did Valentine's Day landing on Thursday, just shy of the popular payday of Friday, affect your sales? You still have time to take notes, and if you haven't done it already, you can download my Valentine's Day Sales worksheet. The notes will help you prepare for 2020 Valentines Day that will be a Friday! Friday is a good day for Valentine's Day to land on, coming third to Saturday and Sunday.

Clear it out

Keep in mind you will need to quickly liquidate any perishables that you have left over from Valentine's. Clinging on to out of season candy will make you look desperate and outdated! Keep your store looking fresh. The goal is Valentine's candy completely off your shelves by Monday the 25th. Buy one get one free moves product out of the store faster than 50% off, and if time is not on your side buy one get two free works faster than 75% off. When it comes to sales, "Free" is a powerful word.

How's your Hair?

This month most stores will be looking at resetting the Hair Care & Hair Coloring sections. Before you do, run a report and see how the departments are doing for you. You need to know if downsizing or increasing the size of the department is a good move. While you are resetting consider cross merchandising hair and nail supplements on the top shelf; Elon© Matrix 5,000 Complete would be a good start. You can find the Elon© Hair and Nail Health line here. Cross merchandising is the best way to attract companion and impulse sales. Note: Remember before you place an order from Front-end Marketplace FIRST read my pricing and merchandising tips.

Know your top sellers

It is rumored that 80% of OTC sales are generated by 20% of the product on the shelf. Each month when you update your OTC categories determine what six items are the best seller for the department. Tag the shelves of the six items with a small dot on the shelf label, let that be a reminder to maintain at least six each of the items. Easy to remember 6 of the top 6.

While you're at it

When resetting or updating an OTC category take the time to scrub the shelves, fixture top-cap, and kick plate. The kick plate is the black or brown metal piece that runs under the base shelf, easy to find; it's full of scuff marks. The top cap is the piece that runs parallel to the top shelf, in the middle of the gondola, that's where you will find the most dust!

All-natural Deal

You nose a deal when you smell one. This month's featured products on Front-end Marketplace are all-natural deodorants that will leave your customers feeling fresh and smelling good. Take advantage of American Provenance and Humble Brands, offer of a 20% SAVINGS plus FREE freight when ordering 24 pieces or more from their company. Order today on frontendmarketplace.com.

Banks won't be open Monday

Did your remember that Monday, February 18th is President's Day, a bank holiday? Folks that use NCPA's Daily Pharmacy Planning Guide were reminded with the tip from yesterday. This year's version of our useful guide is still available through the NCPA Bookstore.