Merchandising is more than the arrangement of products on a shelf. It is a fundamental component of the business image, increasing the average pound per sale through
a range of techniques. Its power as a silent selling tool cannot be underestimated. Visual merchandising can make the difference between selling a product, or having it sit on the shelf.

Several factors affect consumers’ decisions: first impressions are made within 10 seconds. Customers employ all five senses when forming a buying decision, with sight (83 per cent) and hearing (11 per cent) the most important ones.

Pharmacy has a captive audience, with an estimated 1.6 million daily visits in England alone. Do you know how many of your customers have a prescription dispensed and leave without buying anything else? Do they choose to go elsewhere to buy products you already stock? You may be guilty of employing some of the most common merchandising mistakes. So, what does poor VM look like?

• Ineffective window displays. Retail windows need to attract customers to enter your store. There is little point in having a well designed pharmacy with a lacklustre window display
• Lack of continuity in visual merchandising. An eye-catching window display attracts customers into the pharmacy, but if you have not continued the theme inside the store, you will lose sales
• Over- and under-merchandising. Promoting too many products creates cluttered shelves and confused customers. Equally, promoting too few will not be appealing to customers
• Poor visuals. Unattractive displays, handwritten or hard-to-read signs will result in a negative shopping experience for customers
• Poor lighting. Lighting creates mood and ambience. Without ambient lighting, customers will not even want to enter your space or look at the products on display. Lighting gives an overview of what your pharmacy is all about
• Discouraging purchases. There is little point in spending time and effort creating attractive retail displays and then not encouraging the customer to purchase. Good quality point of sale displays and posters can be used to attract the customer’s attention and lead to a purchase
• Poorly trained employees. Failing to invest in VM training for employees will lead to poorly planned and ineffective merchandising
• Creating VM clutter. Many retail stores revitalise their visual merchandising displays during work hours. Customers do not want to see clutter and empty shelves.

While great visuals can sell lousy product, poor visuals can do nothing for great merchandise  - Paco Underhill, environmental psychologist