Keys to Avoiding Refitting Disaster in Your Pharmacy
Over recent years, of the retail sectors who have survived the onslaught of Supermarkets, few have needed to embrace change more extensively that Pharmacy.
The average turnover proportion used to operate at a split of 50/50 between over the counter sales and prescription items. This has changed radically, to a point where most retail pharmacies would attribute little more than 20% of turnover to retail items with the balance coming from dispensary. The consequence has been that there has been a corresponding shift is space allocation within many premises.
Times have changed. With the vast range of items naturally thought of as Chemist items being very competitively available in the Supermarket, margins became squeezed and sales plummeted.
Pharmacies did have a couple of things in their favour however. These were the licensing restrictions on opening premises to dispense medicines and the continuation of limiting the sales of Pharmacy only items to licensed Chemists.
The result was that there were still real opportunities for successful growth by expansion and redevelopment but the effective result was that most investment became redirected from retail to the dispensing areas.
Volumes of prescriptions increased over the years, sme groups formed and then were absorbed, many Medical Practices amalgamated into Medical centres and the pharmacies, despite setbacks imposed by various acts of government, thrived.
Pharmacy has not suffered in the recession, indeed prescription levels have increased due to the sicknesses which occur as the result of difficult times and circumstances.
Pharmacies who currently operate, in general have made significant changes to the arrangements of their premises by refitting to account for the market moves.
The outcome of all this has meant that refitted Pharmacies are re-configured to include larger dispensaries, consultation rooms, medical testing services and facilities to cater for Disabled customers and employees. Overall, changing the face of retail pharmacy to present a much more “ethical” image.
All of this process has required the input of specialist shop fitting design companies who had the knowledge and understanding of the challenges of Pharmacy and how to best meet them.
Charting the best course through a refit process can be hazardous. The expenditure is likely to be significant and getting it wrong can be very costly – though harder to identify. Most important with the continuing escalation on prescription numbers, is to achieve the most efficient and ergonomic solution for the Dispensary.
Employing the right design and fitting partner is a critical element in achieving an effective refit or new premises installation. The wrong choice could result in long term problems.
Looking to find the best range of quality Pharmacy Furniture, then visit Ken Rand’s Services website to find the best advice on Pharmacy Design and Fitting for you.