"Relocating increased our prescriptions by 16% and OTC by 38%"
Established in 1873, H. Shackleton Ltd is one of the oldest family run businesses in Abergavenny, Wales. They currently own six premises; two pharmacies and a photographic shop in Abergavenny, one pharmacy in Beaufort, Ebbw Vale and two in Hereford.
Brothers Geoff and Ian Shackleton run the business today and as fifth generation pharmacists they have been engaged Numark members for eight years.
They recently relocated one of their branches in Abergavenny from a rented property to a property which they now own, just across the street from their previous premises. The rented property had its disadvantages as it was small with a stairwell in the middle, which meant that they had to have two accesses for patients and had to go outside to use the consultation room. The retail space hadn’t been refitted since 1991, so it was out of date and the working environment was cramped and not ideal for dispensing on average 12,000 scripts each month. The staff didn’t have a staff room and Geoff’s office had mushrooms growing on the ceiling due to a leak from the flat above.
“Ultimately, it was terrible surroundings to have to work around,” Geoff explains, “the staff did an absolutely fantastic job putting up with it.”
They moved to a building across the road in September, which is a brand new unit with a plot of land opposite which they have built three retail units and six two bedroom flats above them, so now they have an asset that they can control themselves.
They were able to build a purpose built pharmacy with parking in front, compared to the busy road where their previous premises was, where patients had to pull up onto the kerb and unfortunately onto double yellow lines which was obviously restrictive which nobody wanted to do.
“The new retail unit is very modern looking and we have more space to display the stock. We have had customers come in and comment on all of the lovely stock that we have now we have moved across the road, whereas 95% of the stock is exactly the same as it was when we were in our old building. It just proves what difference it can make, dependant on the way you display it and the environment you display it in.”
When planning the retail category positioning for the new branch, Geoff advises that they used their EPoS system and did some analysis on what their main sales were and what products they should concentrate on selling and what products they should drop.
“Once we had decided what to bring across and what to drop, we then decided that as we had a nice environment and parking outside, we should provide some extra lines. We are looking into selling cosmetics and new skin care lines, which we didn’t have in our other store.”
They now have an easily accessible consultation room and a bigger treatment room where they are looking at providing more services. They have recently started to provide a travel vaccination service, alongside their common ailments, smoking cessation and EHC service, all with which they have had support from Numark.
Geoff also explains that because they have more space, they are looking to work with other associated medical professionals and have been approached by a private mobile phlebotomist to see if he can utilise the room as well.
“We are very keen on utilising our new consultation rooms and feel that we can provide our services in a much better way as we have the environment to do it in.”
Within six weeks of moving to their new location, H. Shackleton Pharmacy has increased prescriptions by 16% and OTC trade by 38%, proving that working conditions can improve business.
Geoff cites that since they have moved they are seeing new names and faces and positive feedback on the way the pharmacy looks in comparison to the previous premises.
“The impact has been huge. The staff are very happy and have a big smile on their faces every day and the whole morale is extremely high because of the change. The customers have commented on how the environment is excellent and how our workflow is more efficient.”
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Benefits of an EPoS