Get the most out of your practice’s retail space

EVERY DAY, WAITING rooms in veterinary practices are full of people prepared to spend money on their pets.

Most have already resigned themselves to the fact that the visit will cost them money before they come through the door, and many feel more than usually motivated to spend on their pets while the subject is in the forefront of their mind or actually sitting next to them.

There is a captive audience tapping its feet and looking around while waiting for an appointment or for an invoice to be calculated; prime impulse buying opportunities.
 

Encouraging clients to purchase additional healthcare items other than their immediate need is essential to boosting practice profitability

Merchandising is simply presentation. The way that your stock is displayed can enhance or detract from sales.

Many manufacturers and wholesalers offer display stands that present products attractively and are designed for ease of use by the consumer as well as for the best use of space for the retailer.

In waiting rooms, space is often an issue, so a careful product range choice coupled with a practically designed display stand is a necessity. Ensure that the display is easily accessible and not hidden behind a counter; the best way to attract clients to buy is for them to be able to approach and handle the products without having to ask a member of staff for assistance. This also works in the favour of your busy reception staff.

If displays are logically laid out, easy to access and straightforward to use, clients will select products for themselves without your staff having to actively sell them.

Small add-on items such as dental chews often benefit from counter top display next to the till, where clients settling their bill can pick them up at the last moment.

The visual impact of a display is vital for attracting interest. Regularity and continuity are important visual stimulators. Colour and shape add interest: good packaging is designed to be visually attractive as well as functional, practical for display and cost effective, so notice the way that the stock you are buying is packaged and how it can best be displayed within the space that you have got.

Make sure that you have a coherent layout so that clients can find their way from toys, to collars and leads, to behavioural products, to healthcare products. Bear in mind also, that some positions in your display will be more prominent than others. “Eye-line, buy-line” is a cliché which holds true, and in a waiting room setting where your clients are often seated, you may have more than one eye-line to work with. You can use this to influence sales: either of best sellers, to maximise the potential of these already desirable items, or to highlight products that you wish to sell more of.

Of prime importance is the cleanliness and tidiness of a display. Consumers expect to purchase pristine products; anything less will stay on the shelf.

The display also needs to remain full. A half-empty display gives the impression that the items remaining are leftovers; not worth looking at.

Most of the suppliers’ reps are trained in merchandising, so ask for their input.