It can be tricky for independent pharmacy owners to stay updated with new technology which allows them to compete with large chain pharmacies. If you own a small pharmacy, and you’ve noticed that your sales seem to be dropping, there could be many reasons why your pharmacy isn’t running as efficiently as possible. Here are just a couple reasons why smaller pharmacies may struggle:
- Big chain stores often offer rewards programs for customer loyalty spending. These big stores usually don’t have to worry about offering five dollar coupons to customers who spend $50, but for smaller businesses, those five dollar coupons can add up pretty quickly. Furthermore, just keeping track of customer rewards can be difficult. You may have a great idea for a program, but after punching paper cards for a few months and dealing with lost cards on a daily basis, programs like this can become more of a hassle than anything else. Unfortunately, customers still want these programs — no matter how much you and your employees hate the programs.
- Keeping consumer information safe has never been more important, but is has also never been trickier. Hackers find new ways to infiltrate electronic systems every day, but it’s becoming harder for businesses to keep functioning efficiently without relying on digital software. Perhaps you have had a security incident in the past, or perhaps fear of having customer information stolen is keeping you from abandoning your paper company. Nevertheless, the digital age is moving in quickly, and customers expect businesses to keep up with new security measures.
So how are pharmacies expected to provide better security measures and rewards programs while also staying independent and dedicated to serving their communities? One way to do this is to update your POS system. Many suppliers offer 24/7 online support, as well as state-of-the-art security features, and regular software updates which happen automatically and wirelessly. New pharmacy POS systems can monitor sales trends, including how effective it is to put individual items on sale, as well as individual customer rewards numbers.
Essentially, new POS software takes care of all the numbers-related tasks so that employees can focus on their customers, as well as the prescription drug part of their business. It isn’t easy for smaller businesses to compete with big chains, but they certainly deserve a fighting chance. Good references here.
