This month (August 17-19), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) hosts the Total Store Expo, the largest gathering of retailers and suppliers in the health and wellness industry. This expo showcases new products, technologies and services for retailers, including traditional drugstores, supermarkets and mass merchants with pharmacies.
Pharmacies have been a central part of health culture for centuries. Despite the dramatic rise of other outlets for purchasing over-the-counter (OTC) products, pharmacies remain a relevant and preferred location to shop for millions of consumers, according to the 2024 OTC guide by Pharmacy Times. With pharmacies – and the 155,000 pharmacists they employ – expected to deliver as much as one-third of all OTC sales this year, marketers of health and beauty products must still be present and successful in these aisles.
Here are three reminders as you build a marketing strategy to take advantage of the pharmacy opportunity.
Know who is shopping in pharmacies and how they like to shop – it’s not who you would suspect.
While boomers are frequent pharmacy shoppers, according to a study by Healthline, adults ages 18 to 34 actually shop in pharmacies more frequently than older consumers. Not only are they shopping for themselves, but they are also shopping for their families. While they are in the store, these Gen Z and millennial customers are walking the aisles looking for products that will improve their lives. When surveyed, millennials are most likely to say they are looking for new health and wellness products as they reach 40+.
Remember your most important influencers.
Expert advice – especially at the point of sale – plays a vital role in consumer buying. Recently, a friend experienced an allergic reaction while traveling on a business trip. The prescription medication for these symptoms was hundreds of miles away at home. Walking into a pharmacy to find an alternative, who did my friend turn to? The pharmacist. He’s not the only one; 57% of consumers learn about new products from healthcare professionals, including your local retail pharmacist. Make sure your marketing plans include pharmacist education so these critical influencers are aware of your product and well-prepared to talk about the benefits to their customers.
Make your strategy measurable.
Connecting the online and in-store experiences by utilizing coupons or QR codes can help OTC marketers build 1-to-1 dialogue with customers and unlock invaluable insights. When one of our clients, a top dermatology brand, was launching the first line extension of their biggest OTC brand, the stakes were quite high. We knew rapid awareness and uptake were critical. To meet their business need, we created a digital campaign that included a website to serve as an education hub for eczema sufferers, social media sites (Facebook, Twitter) and a robust email strategy. We used digital coupons to drive website visitors to the pharmacy and to encourage them to talk to their family and friends about it. More than 22,0000 unique visitors went to the site three months before the product was available in stores, and 1,200 loyalty members shared the offer with 15,000 new consumers. Over 7,500 coupons were downloaded and more than 4,200 coupons were shared with friends and family, creating thousands of loyal users at launch. Without the connection between online activity and in-store sales through a coupon, we wouldn’t have been able to optimize the campaign for such incredible results.
For decades, NACDS’s Total Store Expo has been the place to learn about new health and wellness brands. As these new products reach store shelves, the ones that have the best chance of making it long-term will be the ones that embrace the pharmacy opportunity.
Are you preparing to launch a new health and wellness brand or revitalize an existing one? If you need a strategic marketing partner with experience building successful launch plans for health and wellness brands, contact John.Petersen@Luckie.com to learn more about Luckie Health.
Reference: https://www.healthlinemedia.com/insights/navigating-the-latest-consumer-trends-in-otc-retail
