Be thrilled by vitamins

Take an unbiased look at your vitamin lines. If you have more than two brands, ask yourself: are you offering obvious differences in quality or just differences of labels? Is there a substantial difference in retails or is there an average price difference of a dollar or less? If the answer is yes to the first part of either of the questions and you are thrilled with the sales, then do not touch a thing. If you are not thrilled, consider offering your customers different quality in your supplements. Think "good, better, and best." Or better yet, offer two lines: "Good" and "Our Pharmacist Recommends". Your chosen "Pharmacist Recommends" line will always be your bestseller.

Fact or Fiction

For those who believe the myth "We can't sell anything over $20.00 in our store, no one has any money in our town," you need to try this. Feature a multi-vitamin, CoQ10, B12 methylcobalamin, and an immune booster that each retail for over $20.00. Make sure you maintain no less than three of each supplement (no onesies). A sign that reads "Our Pharmacist Recommends" is a must. Soon you will be pleased to know that more than a few people in town have money.

Hoppy note-taking

It is never too early to make buying and merchandising notes for Easter 2022. Download a copy of Front-end Overhaul's Easter Sales Worksheet; it makes remembering what to make a note of much easier. Remember, on the day after Easter, promote candy at buy 1 and get the 2nd one free; this will reduce inventory much faster than the typical 50% off.

StuPENdous Marketing Idea

Recently I watched a salesclerk wipe down a pen, hand it to me to sign a receipt, and then wipe the pen down again and place it in a coffee mug. Then, at the bank, the clerk wiped down a pen that was attached to a thin cable and then handed it to me. It's a PEN, not Napoleon's gold-encrusted sword! Order some pens with your store name, phone number, and if there is room, your logo. Let people have them; let them have two, who knows, they may even take the pen(s) home and let somebody else use it! P.S. If you are administering vaccines for COVID-19, let everyone go home with one of your shiny new pens. Marketing can't get much simpler.

Go the Exterior mile

Merchandisers, I'm going to ask you to go the extra mile. Commit to once every two weeks in improving the exterior of the store. It can be as simple as removing unnecessary stickers and paper from your doors and windows to steam cleaning the sidewalk. Don't wait for someone else to do it; otherwise, it may never get done. The better the store looks from the outside, the better the chances of people coming in to see what you have done on the inside. Mark it on your calendar; every time you read Profit Makers, do something great to the exterior of your store.