Boost Your OTC Sales with Custom Promotions in BestPOS

Posted on Sep 08, 2022

Discounts are a great way to entice customers to purchase over-the-counter items while they’re at your pharmacy. When used correctly, they not only help you retain and attract new customers but can increase your sales as well. To prevent your bottom line from taking a hit, it’s important to think through how and when you offer discounts – and who they’re offered to. With BestPOS, it’s easy to develop promotions for your pharmacy. In fact, our point-of-sale software has several discount options built in. This way, you can easily boost your OTC sales with custom promotions in BestPOS.

To create a promotion in BestRx, just follow the simple steps below:

First, you will need to name your promotion.
Next, you will set the desired start and end date for the offer.
Then, you can add individual items, or multiple items within certain departments or product categories. (You can also set price-related filters on department/category promotions, including price minimums and maximums).
From there, you can choose from several promotion types.

The customizable promotion types available in BestPOS include:

Sale Price (Item(s) will be sold at a specific, lower price for a limited time.)
Discount Amount (The item(s) price will be reduced by a specific dollar amount, i.e., $5 off.)
Discount Percentage (The item(s) price will be reduced by a certain percentage.)
Buy XX, Get XX Free (Customers will receive a free item with a qualifying purchase.)
Buy XX, Get Other for XX (Additional, qualifying products purchased will be discounted by a specific dollar amount, i.e., $5 off.)
Buy XX, Get Other for XX% Off (Additional, qualifying products will be discounted by a specific percentage.)

Plus, you can also import promotional files to your BestPOS system, so customers can take advantage of offers from your manufacturers, too.

Each promotion should be built around your business goals and serve the needs of your customers. For example, you may discount certain items to get rid of inventory. Other times, you may use a promotion to encourage customers to try new or different products. It’s important to note, discounting a new product right away can devalue it in the customer’s mind. Instead, you could offer a small, related “freebie” to incentivize customers to try a new product, without lowering its price.

Here are some other promotional best practices to keep in mind:

Offering a special discount/promotion for opting in to receive pharmacy updates and promotional offers by text or email can help to build customer loyalty and awareness of everything your pharmacy has to offer.
Personalized or “exclusive” offers increases the likelihood of a purchase. In fact, according to a recent report, 76% of customers prefer getting offers that are based on their purchase history.
Add an expiration date to promotions is an effective way to create a sense of urgency and give buyers a gentle nudge to act.
When deciding between a dollar or percentage discount, select the option that has the highest perceived value. For example, for a $25 item, a 20% discount sounds higher than $5, even though they are the same.
Test out what type of discount/offer works your customer base responds to better. (BestPOS includes sales reporting that allows you to track the success of each promotion, too.)
You can reward customer loyalty with free shipping and other “value-adds” as well. In many cases, a shopper will increase the size of their order just to reach the free shipping requirement.
Consider what products are most sought-after each season. For example, you could offer discounts on sunscreen, aloe or bug spray throughout the summer and switch to Kleenex, cold and flu remedies during the fall and winter months.

Whichever type(s) of promotions you want to offer, BestPOS makes it easy to create and implement item and department discounts for your pharmacy. To learn more about how BestPOS can help streamline and boost your OTC sales, request a free demo today!