Clinical Solutions Blog

Recently, I was having a conversation with my clinic accelerator client about how he wants to expand his clinic and double his space. Part of his renovation plans are to build a product retail area into the clinic.

I asked him: “Why do you want to sell retail?”

He said: “I believe in the complete care model and my competitors - physiotherapist and chiropractors - are all offering products so I need to remain competitive.”

That’s smart business.

Patients are always going to purchase products they need. If you don’t offer them products they will buy poor quality, bad fitting products from the dollar shop or pharmacy. Or, they may even purchase them from competitors.

And let me share a little secret, your product sales should makeup 5% to 10% of your gross revenue. If you’re doing $300K of annual gross revenue, that’s $30K. If you’re doing $500K, that's $50K. If you’re doing $1M, that’s $100K. Regardless of your revenue, you can see that adding product boosts up your bottom line.

And, it’s not difficult to do, if you just know how to do it right.

So, in this post we’ll lay out:

• The wrong way to set up product displays
• How to display product like the professionals
• Tips for making a display look awesome
• Secrets to selling product at your clinic

Lots of examples included!  You ready? 

Does your product board look like this?

• Coat rack close to the edge.  
• Large bulky items up high.  
• Product on the floor.  
• Product spread out making it look empty.  
• Products not grouped together. 
  

You’d have to agree, it just looks like a mess!

If you’re product display does look like this and you’re struggling to sell product at your clinic, well, need I say more!

It’s not a very appealing setup and is an exact demonstration of what NOT to do.

The principles of visual merchandising

Are you optimizing your shelf space? Is product visually appealing and driving product sales?

These are very important questions to ask.

HOW products are displayed is key to driving more sales.

Think about big chain retail stores. They aren’t just a random setup of racks and stacks. They are carefully designed to make a great first impression, and for maximum exposure, upsells and cross sells of products. They are designed to drive more sales. And that’s what you want to occur at your clinic.

It’s called visual merchandising.

According to Insider, the 5 goals of visual merchandising are to:

1. Create excitement
2. Stimulate all five customer senses
3. Create a successful floor plan
4. Know your shopper demographics
5. Be inspired by others

You need to understand the flow of traffic and how to get the best out of the environment you’re in so you can bring these 5 goals to life.

Refer to this free guide on how to achieve the 5 goals of visual merchandising and all the things to consider in the process.

Secrets to selling product at your clinic

There are four secrets to selling more product at your clinic:

1) Product must be displayed in your highest traffic area (reception counter and waiting area).

2) Product must be accessible so patients can touch them.

3) Products are recommended by the clinicians on a regular basis.

4) Products must be presented with good flow.

Before displaying your product, it’s best to create a product planogram to help develop flow. A planogram is a diagram that shows how, and where, specific retail products should be placed in the display, in order to increase customer purchases.

4 ways to display product

I like using Diamond Store Fixtures in Vancouver because they have a huge selection. Check them out for yourself because it helps you get ideas on what might work in your clinic.  Or checkout Gridwall Panels and Gondola base. 

Overall, though, there are 4 effective ways to display product.

1) Up against the wall with adjustable shelving

2) Free-standing gondola  (Recommended)

Think about your favorite store. The free standing displays are designed to attract the customers attention and often these displays store new and exciting things.

The idea of gondolas are they are self-serve. To help encourage more sales, make the display bright and easy to access, keep the product in good condition, the shelf full and the price shown.

There are T-Gondola or H-Gondolas - the benefit of which is you can use both sides, front and back. And you want to put promotional stuff on the end caps - hence T shaped or H shaped.

Most gondolas have an end cap which allows you to promote more product. Think abut your local pharmacy or supermarket. Notice how at the end of each aisle there are special products, new items, or easy to grab impulse purchases.

3) Mannequin

I love having mannequins to display braces and support products because of that visual element. The patients can see how they look and touch and feel the braces too. 

4) Reception counter

The reception counter is a HUGE focal point for most clinics because they are the highest traffic area. So set them up with impulse items and promotional signs.

These should be easy items for patients to grab and purchase, and products that are suited for many different situations and conditions.

For example:

• Hot and cold packs
• Pain relief creams

The more your clinicians and staff are involved in recommendations, the more product you will sell.

10 tips to make your product display look awesome

Here are some general rules for product display, along with the most important tips for driving sales through awesome product setup.

1) General product display points

• Light to Dark
• Left to Right
• Small to Large

Don’t have chairs or clutter in front or around the display that limits easy access or creates obstacles for patients.

Also, don't just put your product display or board anywhere. Really think about the best location for your board and display. The fewer distractions around the product board/ display, the better.

Always make sure the flow of walking is good so at least 3 people can comfortably walk near the board/ display at the same time. Avoid putting the board/ display right at the corner, it will make people psychologically feel trapped and leave without buying any products. 

3) Create product categories and group product together

• Pain Therapy
• Exercise
• Foot Health
• Bracing & Tape
• Compression Stockings
• Cushion & Pillows

Display your product in this category flow (from left to right):

Pain > Exercise > Foot Health > Bracing & Tape > Compression > Cushion & Pillows

4) Put heavy/bulky on the bottom and lighter/smaller above

Use common sense here and position the products naturally, using the concept of visual flow. 

5) Clean and tidy no products on the floor

Placing products on the floor looks cheap and devalues your entire display.

And it goes without saying that the display should be kept clean and tidy at all times, but let's just talk about this anyway.

Always think from the customer's point of view: would you pick up an item with dust on it?

Probably not.

Would you be encouraged to buy an item when standing in front of a messy product board/ display where the seller clearly doesn't take care of the product they want to sell to you?

Probably not.

That's why you need to remind your staff of the following:

1. Examine product first, pay attention to see if there is any package damage before putting on the board/ display.
2. Pay attention when the product is associated with size, always display the most popular size (medium) up front.
3. Remove any unwanted stickers and string attached to the product.
4. Dust products every other day.
5. Put inventory back on the board/ display within the same day they are sold.
6. Reorganize the board at the end of day so it's neat and tidy for the next day.

6) Add multiples of items as much as possible, no one likes to take the last “one” of something

Having at least 3 of the same product is good practice.

Something else to mention here is, we all wish people would just come in and buy the most expensive things at all times, but the reality is simply the opposite. They will mostly buy cheaper items but you still need more expensive items on display, too.

Pay attention to not do the following:

• Display too many similar items - have a good variety of items.
  
• The more expensive item, the fewer displayed - make sure the same amount of items are displayed regardless of their expense.
  
• Having too many unorganized categories on the shelves - this will lose the valuable selling point. Refer back to point 3, group your categories together.

7) Bring items closer to together

This actually makes the board look fuller, especially if you have too little merchandise.

Also know, too little merchandise can be dangerous. It makes the clinic look unorganized, careless, or makes the patient question if the clinic is doing okay. If the item needed for display is out of stock or unavailable, make sure you reorganize the whole board so the proportion makes sense.

8) Don't have product too high

If a customer cannot reach out and easily grab a product, it is too high, which will reduce sales. Products placed at eye-level may sell better than products placed on the bottom shelf. However, products on the bottom shelf may be eye-level for children. Their lower level placement may even make it easier for children to grab products to add to their parents' carts.

9) Keep product within the display board space as much as possible

Try not to go outside the edges too much because it looks less tidy. The board frames the product, which is why it’s best to keep it inside the board space.

Be careful not to clutter your displays and have too much merchandise. We all want to put as much product on the board as possible, but sometimes less is more. Properly designing your white space encourages the patient to look at the board longer.

10) Use good lighting

Good lighting emphasizes the product and promotional displays.  

As you can see, there are lots of things to think about when displaying products to sell at your clinic. But now that you know how to do it right, you can refer back to this guide anytime and apply everything you've just learned!

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