Lori Schafer in Drug Store News: Fueling Omni in Pharmacies

Read the original article in Drug Store News here (page 90).

Pharmacies offer immense value to consumers. Prescriptions, health and wellness items, beauty, grocery, toilet paper, toys and more all pack a punch in a small footprint. Yet, as pharmacies look to evolve—creating more traffic-driving in-store experiences and growing pickup and delivery options—there’s more retailers can do to elevate the consumer experience by optimizing their retail analytics and data management.

The drug channel is complex, meeting diverse needs while adapting to omnichannel shopping. This hasn’t been easy. Many drug retailers, facing waning foot traffic and tighter margins, are closing stores. Walgreens plans to shutter 1,200 stores, CVS is reducing locations, and Rite Aid is emerging from bankruptcy.

Naturally, the channel will look for ways to evolve. To adapt, retailers can deploy connected retail analytics systems with AI and GenAI capabilities to personalize and improve the omnichannel experience.

To achieve a cohesive shopping experience, one barrier that some drug chains wrestle with is that they operate in silos. Some teams even use different analytics tools, leading to inaccuracies in pricing, promotions and inventory. Retailers need unified data management—a single source of truth for all teams. Retail analytics and automated insights can power real-time decisions on pricing, assortments, merchandising, markdowns, orders and pharmacy operations. A unified data foundation can unlock a range of innovations, including:

• New item introductions — When rolling out a new OTC drug, a chain can accelerate product onboarding with GenAI, using the technology to create product attribution, copy and images, shortening the new product information lifecycle from weeks to minutes.

• Enhanced personalization — Assisting a drug retailer’s marketing team, unified data and GenAI can craft tailored digital ads for loyal shoppers, reflecting regional, seasonal or event-specific preferences.

• Localization — To increase loyalty with drug shoppers, language customization and optimized product assortments enable pharmacies to tailor shelves and shopping experiences to regional needs.

Combine these innovations, and consumers will go on a localized and relevant shopping journey. For example, a shopper might receive a personalized ad in their preferred language, featuring a promotion for a newly launched skin care lotion that’s selling well in their region, and ensuring it’s in stock online or in-store.

Unified data and retail analytics uncover a more connected retail experience for drug store shoppers. Data that is harnessed and flowing together enables innovations like GenAI to streamline workflows, enhance online product pages, automate marketing content and personalize offerings.

This better way of working can build more loyalty and revitalize pharmacies. By optimizing back-end systems, retailers can maintain their convenience, become more relevant, and meet the evolving demands of consumers.