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Pharmacies fulfil a very special need in any community, providing help and reassurance on a daily basis and an essential connection between the medical profession and their patients by supplying medications and personal care equipment.
Pharmacies need to be both welcoming and professional, with high levels of organisation, and a clean and bright environment where everything is easy to see and find, especially when someone is feeling stressed.
It’s best to look at your premises as an empty space so you can best envision the best pharmacy shelving for your customers and employees. The right shelving system doesn’t simply store goods, or make them easy to find, they work to make workflows run more smoothly, and even make the customer journey a smoother one.
When it comes to pharmacy design, start by thinking about where your counter will be, as in most pharmacies this is the one element you can’t move. Everything should be focused around this one point of contact – on either side of the counter.
Your shelving system for your pharmacy will be made up of three core aspects:
While these need to be functional, they also should be attractive to make your pharmacy a friendly, calming place to be where people can not only come for support, but come to browse the shelves.
Your pharmacy design should be planned in detail. It must be safe, efficient and help to enforce good practice. Here the very best organisation is vital for both accuracy and speed. A carefully designed Dispensary will be simple to use and maintain with thought given to the needs of both pharmacist and customer.
In planning you must consider the stages of dispensing and how best to facilitate this. Allow sufficient floor space for comfortable workflow without unnecessary journeys.
Fit-out your dispensary to meet all your requirements while allowing some flexibility for changing needs. Shelving designed for dispensaries gives a clear view with horizontal or sloping shelves and pull-out Perspex dividers. Drawers and cupboards can be used to store more medicines and there may also be filing cabinets. Worktop space will be needed, and computer areas.
Think thoroughly about the customer journey when you’re thinking about your pharmacy design. If you’re planning a renovation, you will likely already know how your regular customers like to shop, and any problems you currently have. Consider leaving enough space to provide seating for those waiting, and if you have a lot of people standing to wait, add more of this in your redesign.
Also consider dark areas – people will naturally gravitate toward bright areas of the store, so if you find the stock doesn’t sell in these darker corners, take this into account in your redesign. It may be that you should cut back on your selection and offer fewer options to give your pharmacy more space to work with. Again, short display shelving can also help increase natural light.
If your current layout positions your shelving horizontally, perhaps try using a diagonal layout so the end of your retail shelving faces toward customers as they enter or leave. Remember that people in pharmacies are going to want more space to consider their needs, so make sure there’s plenty of room for two people to pass without brushing, and a wheelchair can manoeuvre easily. (This will also help your shelving endure, as you won’t get as many people knocking into it.)
The choice of lighting and style of shelving has an important part to play in how long customers are happy to spend browsing in your store. Shelving can be made of glass, metal, wood, or acrylic, each creating a different feel. Some products such as perfumes and cosmetics will sell best on glass shelving with additional lighting.
There are many aspects to be considered when looking for the best in Pharmacy shelving and fit-out design. The design brief is not just aesthetic – organisation, safety and customer confidentiality also have an essential role and careful thought about best practices will ensure success and smooth running in the future.
