Type Of Customers That Walk Into A Community Pharmacy Shop

One of the major analytical information community pharmacy needs is type of customers that come in. This information is valuable enough to plan on strategies to satisfy these customers. The manner of approach varies from customers to customer. Using the best approach for each set increases sales.

You ability to differentiate between type of customers from the other is important. Some fall into two types. This can make it difficult but not impossible to make them happy.
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One more thing is that a good community pharmacy business must consider this information before arrangement of the floor of the pharmacy. This arrangement will determine the type of shoppers that will come in. There is hardly a shop that fits all category.

Customer

Older People

These sets are common in rural community. One common thing about them is that they are patient. That is because the majority don't work. So they have all the time in the world to spend in the pharmacy. Some don't have money to spend on drugs while others may have money sent to them by their children. Majority of them with money still don't like to spend the money on drugs. They keep saving it somewhere.

They come prepared to lay complains after complains. Most often repeating the same thing over and over again. They can bring along their drug box for more information. They like to compare information with their medical doctors. The old people can spend more than 5 minutes in a community pharmacy for just one complaint.

They prefer going to community pharmacy shop with chair and pharmacy office for one on one conversation. Give them time, the money they plan to spend will still be the money they will spend. They will never add a dime. The only advantage is that they will always come back. But if the experience is not satisfying, they will never come back.

Window Shoppers

These sets are mainly youths. Unlike windows shoppers without money, they have money but don't know what to buy. They walk into the pharmacy looking around for anything that will catch their attention. They can look around and disappear if nothing captured their attention.

What they actually want is usually beauty products such as slim team, face cleanser, body builder, skin drugs, etc. They wish a staff can accompany them along. They are willing to buy if there's anybody to convince them to buy a product.

Shops with open floor for customers to navigate create room for windows shoppers. But such design increase the risk of theft. Window Shoppers spend money more than any other group but want reasons before doing it.

Busy Customer

They are working class. They don't have time to waste. They burst in with one complain and expect a drug within seconds. They hate questions and answer segments. They don't care about the cost of the drug. But they won't even listen for any talk on benefit of supplement. Immediately they get their drugs, they burst out even without dose and direction.

Avoiders

They hate hospitals and in some cases community pharmacy. They instead prefer their children or neighbor to do their shopping for them. They will describe their problem to the person who will relay it to the pharmacist for suggestions. Some will even come with a drug name after laying the complain. If the pharmacist brings out an expensive product or a drug they don't like, the next thing is that they will tell the person. There is nothing that can be done for them. If they have any reason to believe that the person they sent was not properly attended to, they will change their pharmacy shop.

Bargain Hunters

These sets are moving from one community pharmacy to the other comparing prices. They know what they want but want it at the best rate ever. It is best to subsidized for such ones to attract them back.

Religious Customers

There is this set of persons that have strong faith in their creator or protector. They believe the drugs won't work or it is a supplement to their prayers. They don't listen to drug dosage as they take the drugs as they like. If the illness refuse to heal, they go to another pharmacist in most cases or use the former. There is nothing that can be done for them. Their mind is made up.

Educated Customers

It is a pain in the flesh discussing with some who take their own health care need personal. They research on their current symptoms and make diagnosis before consulting a pharmacist. As the pharmacist is analysing, they are busy usong Google search for more information. Unfortunately, most of their research is based on unverified blog post by mostly non medical personnel.

They can even refuse a drug or argue the dose based on what they have read. They spend more time reading drug information leaflet before taking the drugs they were prescribed.

The pharmacist must be vast in knowledge in handling such ones. They must have to employ tact because some of them can create trouble when they notice a little information about the drug. For example, when they found out that a pharmacist prescribed a drug that one of their research claims is teratogenic and was given to a pregnant woman, they can pick it up. They most times do not know some of the post they read online at not verified information. They end up hurting themselves.
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Plan

When making plans on who should be the main target audience, consider the ones with the highest population and high buying power. If 10 old persons enter a community pharmacy in a day and made 10000 naira purchases, it will be more when you compare two window shoppers buying goods worth 50000 naira purchases.

So even when population matters, buying power should not be exempted. The floor plan of the pharmacy, the drug arrangement and brands stock should all reflect on the most target shoppers.

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