02 Mar Open System

Open System

Let’s talk about pharmacy furnishings in general. Many are bound to say “I’m not interested” but they are making a big mistake. Even if they have recently refurbished their pharmacy, you cannot ignore new developments. That’s the way it is nowadays, in every sector. As soon as you have bought a product it is already obsolete. On the other hand, if you wait for the “latest” product to come out, then you are left in limbo, loosing time, money and good opportunities.

There is no way around it, consumer culture is global and changing everyone’s habits and buying patterns. Today, every customer-consumer expects something different, new and exciting from their pharmacist. They do not know exactly what, but they hope that is something aligned with their own personal preferences and tastes. Often the pharmacy’s answer is not satisfactory. This not because the pharmacist is unprofessional, but because something is lacking, be it the way the shelves are stacked, the visibility of each merchandise sector, the lighting or the general ambience.

Sartoretto Verna invests over 20% of its profits in research intosystems, tools, methods that give both customers and pharmacists concrete and satisfactory answers to their queries. Which questions are we talking about? One above all: how to make a pharmacy stronger yet leaving its identity as a pharmacy in tact. When I say “strong”, I do not mean increasing turn-over, profit or surface area, but strengthening its credibility. A credible pharmacy is one where a pharmacist’s professionalism and dedication, a motivated and well-trained staff, correctly stacked shelves, good information on services and products, effective lighting and an intriguing ambience all combine together to give customers a true sense of what a contemporary pharmacy is. Every time customers walk in to a pharmacy like this, they should say to themselves “now this is a pharmacy, isn’t it” It should not seem like a fragrance store, nor a herbalist, nor a supermarket, but a pharmacy for the third millennium.

This “credible” pharmacy is at the heart of our “mission” and all our energies are dedicated to offering clients a global system of pharmacy fittings, called the Ral System 1,2,3. Each one is different from the next as they are designed for diverse product categories, yet they can be integrated to form one single interior, even in small spaces. They have been conceived with the latest visual merchandising techniques in mind, according to which customers must be able to find the product they are looking for on the shelf quickly and easily. As a result, each product takes the centre stage when they step onto our shelves, rather than being lost in the anonymous lines of  products parading on most pharmacy’s shelves.

An Open System means a system of furniture that starts off with a base that can be then built upon and evolve as new fittings are added in line with the pharmacy’s changing needs and growth. At last year’s Cosmofarma exhibition, we unveiled over 30 new products, each one compatible with all of our past models produced over the last 10 years. Others will follow at this year’s Cosmofarma 2005 in Bologna. Since you communicate with your customers using your fittings, and your customers recognise you through your interior decor, why not give it the importance it deserves?

As our funiture is “tailor-made” it gives you a wide range of variables to play with. Just think of our coloured glass tympanum-like  signs that identify all of the display units belonging to the Ral2 and 3 furniture series. They can identify the category of products on sale by colour alone or feature a logo or banner. They can be personalised by adding an image of your city or have a PC monitor or a display screen with a video installed giving customers information about the products on sale below. It can even be fitted with a closed-circuit camera and maybe tomorrow they will be able to swipe the product and find out all about it. Our systems are already ready, are you? Work in future.

– Photo 1 Dr Candido and Marino Panarese – Sarno (IT) two generations, same   passion

– Photo 2 Internazionale Pharmacy – Naples continuity between old and new

– Photo 3 Gatti Pharmacy – Pieve del Cairo (IT) our past is our future