January is National Bath Safety Month

If you carry bath safety products, this is a good opportunity to draw attention to your product selection and take advantage of a cash sale. Ensure your bath safety category is easy to find: from your main entrance, enter your store and notice how obvious it is you have a Home & Bath safety Headquarters. If you have to hunt for it, it's time to reposition it. Create an end-cap near the pharmacy featuring your product selection (one of each item assembled, priced with string tags) and be sure to include a sign with your display. Also include imagery on your store website showing what bath equipment looks like assembled.

Winter is Here

'Tis the season for nor'easters and major snow and ice storms. Stock up on storm supplies for your store and assign someone to shovel, spread ice melt, sand, or salt regularly, and keep the floor dry. Don't forget to take good notes of how cold snaps and storms affected your monthly sales. You will find those notes handy for next year and for future storms.

Ahh-Choo!

Prepare for an after-the-holidays spike in customers seeking cough & cold relief. Boost your inventory of popular OTC cough & cold items, lip balm, hand sanitizers, lozenges, and moisturizers.

Valentine's Day Is on Its Way

A store that has the best chance for a profitable Valentine's season will be the store that relies less on Valentine's items and more on everyday merchandise to create sales. In almost every case, specific Valentine's merchandise needs to be discounted the day after the holiday—limiting opportunities to generate a profitable Valentine's season.

Walk through your entire store and identify non-Valentine's themed items and remerchandise them as Valentine's gifts. Use signage, repositioning and basic decorations to emphasize these items. Ideas to get you started: vitamins, fashion canes, premium skin care, photo frames, and lift chairs.

Resolve to Boost Your Front-End Sales This Year

NCPA can help with our comprehensive, 14-month planner to help pharmacies of any size boost front-end profits and manage a better business! Your Daily Pharmacy Planning Guide is chock-full of 365+ tips and advice on everything from seasonal end-caps to promotional signs to inventory management recommendations and more. Discover special theme-month marketing opportunities and access reminders to prepare for upcoming holidays. It's like having expert front-end help in your store every day for the low price of only $29.95 (NCPA members)! Order today and kick off 2016 on a profitable foot. Quantities are limited—don't be left out.

Take Good Notes

Now that the holidays are over, take 10 minutes to sit down and make a few notes for yourself about the 2015 holiday season to better plan (and inventory) for 2016. Make notes about what sold well and what didn't. Did you have any end-caps that were particularly successful? Did you order enough product in time or do you need to order earlier next year? Include photos with your notes if you can.

Help Customers Stick to Their New Year's Resolutions

Place orders now for items related to popular New Year's resolutions, including weight loss/control, smoking cessation, better sleep, and healthy living (more exercise, taking vitamins, etc.). These would make a great end-cap and counter display—as long as there is a SIGN!

Start Planning For Valentine's Day

Use the week after Christmas to take down Christmas and holiday cards (move to a clearance table or send back to the vendor) and put Valentine's cards out.

Resolve to Boost Your Front-End Sales in the New Year

NCPA can help with our comprehensive, 14-month planner to help pharmacies of any size boost front-end profits and manage a better business! Your Daily Pharmacy Planning Guide is chock-full of 365+ tips and advice on everything from seasonal end-caps to promotional signs to inventory management recommendations and more. Discover special theme-month marketing opportunities and access reminders to prepare for upcoming holidays. It's like having expert front-end help in your store every day for the low price of only $29.95 (NCPA members)! Order today and kick off 2016 on a profitable foot. Quantities are limited and selling fast—don't be left out.

Mucinex Dominates the Cough Brand Experience, Treato Finds

Treato found that brand marketing plays a large role in consumers' experiences of cough medications as products with the same formulations placed in significantly different spots on the list.
Read More...

Low Levels of Vitamin D Linked to Increase in Stress Fractures in Active Individuals

Investigators recommend a serum vitamin D level of at least 40 ng/mL to protect against stress fractures
Read More...