I highly recommend pharmacy owners leverage bag stuffers to increase profits and serve their patients better.
Bag stuffers are promotional materials placed inside a patient’s bag when they make a purchase. They are a great way to advertise other products and services to people that already know, like, and trust you to generate more sales. We will discuss all you need to know about bag stuffers for pharmacy owners!
What are bag stuffers?
They can be anything from coupons and free samples to informational flyers about your products or services. The critical thing is that they should be catchy, informative, and provide value to your patients! If done right, these types of promotional materials can help generate more pharmacy revenue, increase pharmacy profit, and grow your business.
Why should pharmacy owners use bag stuffers?
There are many reasons you should consider using bag stuffers as a pharmacy owner. Here are just a few of them:
– It is easier to increase sales from current patients and customers.
– They are low cost as you can print them in-house.
– You can target higher-margin products and services.
– They can help increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.
How do I create bag stuffers?
There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when creating bag stuffers for pharmacy owners:
- Make them catchy! I like to print them on super bright colored paper. The paper grabs attention and lets you print in black ink only, which saves you money.
- Make sure they are small enough so they fit your typical bag. I like to make bag stuffers that are ¼ page as these do well on the standard Rx bag. For more informative bag stuffers, vertical ½ page size can work well too.
- Change your bag stuffer monthly. Since most pharmacy patients shop on a monthly cycle, you should keep your bag stuffers messaging fresh by changing it once a month. In my pharmacy, we start a new bag stuffer on the first of each month, and we change the color each month too.
How do I place bag stuffers into a customer’s bag?
The best way to place bag stuffers is to staple them to the outside of the bag. This method ensures that they are front and center and likely to get the most attention. Typically, the cashier staples it onto the bag at the end of the transaction with their receipt behind it. The few seconds this takes also allows the employee to verbally talk about the bag stuffer to the patient. To prepare for hectic times, my employees also pre-staple them to the front of the Rx bags so they can grab and go during rush hour.
Here’s one more piece of advice about giving out the bag stuffers. Don’t screen or filter who gets one. If you are highlighting Approved Medical Solutions’ nitric oxide supplement for ED for men, don’t just give bag stuffers to men only. My rule is that everyone gets that month’s bag stuffer every time they come in. Even if the patient was in yesterday and got one, still give them another one today. I have these rules because I have learned…
…you never know someone’s sphere of influence. Meaning a woman picking up scripts might have a husband, father, brother, or friend that could benefit from your ED bag stuffer.
AND
…it takes consumers many, many times seeing an ad or promotion before it fully registers into their conscious mind.
What types of information are good bag stuffers for pharmacy owners?
I recommend highlighting products and services you want to sell more of. This suggestion may seem obvious, but it is vital that what you are drawing attention to is exciting and helpful to your patients. Some great bag stuffers themes include:
– Discounts and sales
– New products (Rx or OTC)
– Seasonal products
– Special buys
– Free samples
– Information about high demand services (vaccines, testing)
– New services
Here are some examples of simple and effective bag stuffers for pharmacy owners.
For members of Pharmacy Badass University, we create templates they can easily edit themselves, or members can request customization of a template. Below are a few images of the templates that are available to members. Hopefully, these will inspire you when creating your bag stuffers. Pharmacy Badass University members you can get all the templates HERE.
We hope that you have found this blog post informative and helpful! If you need any help with ideas on how to increase your profits or want to learn how you can take advantage of all the resources available to our members, feel free to email us at [email protected] or browse our downloadable resources from HERE.
