How Pharmacies and drug stores can take advantage of the rise in appointment scheduling demand to boost customer experience and loyalty.
Pharmacies and drug stores have always been synonymous with essential retail. Not only were they open during the height of the pandemic, but pharmacies across the US have also administered more than 80 million vaccines; roughly a quarter of the country’s total. The vaccination program has cemented the idea that pharmacies and drug stores are trusted destinations for health care. Retailers should look to press home this advantage by deploying appointment scheduling across their branches.
An appointment scheduling prescription
Qudini’s May 2021 consumer survey found that appointment scheduling with pharmacy retail is becoming increasingly popular. 76% of customers want to book at least one type of appointment with pharmacies and drug stores. The most desired services include:
- Reserving a slot for in-store services (41%) – e.g. a confidential clinical consultation.
- Scheduling store visits (24%) – e.g. picking up one’s prescription out of hours.
- Booking virtual services by phone or video (23%) – e.g. a remote medical assessment and prescription.
Tech-driven expansion for pharmacies
During the pandemic’s peak, US consumers were considerably more likely to visit essential stores like pharmacies and drug stores (46%) than non-essential stores (34%). This helped to boost customer loyalty and strengthen pharmacy retailers’ standing within their communities. Coupled with the added pull of vaccinations, many pharmacies and drug stores are looking to add additional services, such as therapy provision and in-person consultations.
Appointment scheduling is just what the doctor ordered to get these new services off the ground. 93% of consumers that have used an appointment service in the last 12 months said it had at least one positive impact on them. This includes improving their experience with the brand (28%) and making them more likely to return to the retailer (29%) in the future.
Simple to install
Got a phone number, a website and in-store staff? Well, deploying technology across your regional pharmacies and drug stores will be easy. That’s because calling the store (30%), reserving through the company’s website (27%) and speaking to a store associate in-person (20%) are the most popular ways to book appointments.
Pharmacies need to equip their stores with the right software, facilitate appointment scheduling from their website and train in-store staff in order to boost appointment traffic. For more advice, check out our best practice guide. It looks at how brands can create a dedicated appointment booking landing page on their website to drive more appointments.
Pharmacies and Drug Stores: Schedule an appointment with Qudini
Find out how to drive appointment traffic to your stores and boost customer sales, experience, loyalty and advocacy. Schedule an appointment with Qudini to find out more.
Download the full whitepaper report on appointment demand within pharmacy retail
