Walgreens is the nation’s leading pharmacy retailer and is ambitious about its growth. By 2010, the chain expects to have 7,000 stores open, all of which rely heavily upon effective merchandising.
This is What it’s All About
But this isn’t so much a story about a specific display as it is about how we work. Sure, in this case, we’re talking about how we work with Walgreens. But substitute that name for any other and you’ll get a feel for why you can rely on us day in and day out.
“We Need it Yesterday”
Without question, the retail world is complex and full of pressures. We know. That’s why we continuously study the environment and how displays help you reach your targets. We have weekly conversations with our contacts at Walgreens, and when they need something yesterday, we ask probing questions and often offer ideas right away.
We’re Your Eyes and Ears
After we understand the parameters of the project, we visit Walgreens stores. Not just one, but several. We also check out the competition and other trade channels so we see how others are merchandising similar products. We build that knowledge into our prototype.
Like This?
We develop a sample design and planogram usually in about a week. We get feedback from the merchandising manager, the category manager and often from the product manufacturer. It’s a very fluid period, and we have great discussions about what happens if we change this in the design, or that. Then we head back to the studio and revise.
How’s This?
Managers review the revised design and determine if they think it’ll do the job. The product’s manufacturer also signs off on the plan.
Let’s Make it Happen
We move into production and coordinate distribution to all the Walgreens warehouses. We include planograms with shipment and manage product inventory levels to ensure that there’s enough to stock the shelves. Once a week, we generate reports for Walgreens managers that share inventory levels, reorder points and shipment tracking.
How’d It Go?
We continuously review display designs to improve them or make manufacturing more efficient. If we think of a better way to do something, we share those ideas right away, especially if they’re ideas that save them money or make their jobs easier. Continuously working for the customer—that’s what we call smart ideas at retail.
