Issue

Uniphar spotted a market trend that showed global interest in wellness and vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) products was growing - yet it was estimated that only 5% of this spend resided with pharmacies.

Action

At a supply level, Uniphar established key partnerships with international brands in the wellness category. Uniphar also focused on positioning pharmacies as destinations of expert advice for customers interested in wellness and VMS products.

The following actions were implemented in a symbol member’s pharmacy (pilot site) to drive the category sales in-store:

• Creation of wellness ‘category call-out’ space within pharmacy
• Regular staff training to boost levels of expertise.
• Extended range and updated planograms to regularly refresh offering.
• Monthly customer VMS promotions to drive sales.
• Business intelligence reporting to track progress and show opportunities

Outcome

• Year-on-year VMS sales grew by 24%, VMS margin by 26%
• This contributed to an overall increase in front of shop sales of 8%
• Since proven to be replicable across a wide range of stores.