The document discusses the critical factors contributing to a pharmacy's success, emphasizing the importance of layout design and arrangement of departments. It outlines the objectives of pharmacy layout design, types of community pharmacies, the classification of consumer goods and purchases, and historic types of service-oriented layout designs. Each layout type, from clerk service to self-service, is examined in relation to the specific needs and operations of different pharmacy models.

1. PHARMACY LAY OUT
DESIGN

2. • The location of a pharmacy, its management and
sufficient capital are major factors contributing to a
pharmacy’s success. Another major factor in
determining the success of a pharmacy is its general
appearance, including the layout design of the
pharmacy and the arrangement of the individual
department
• Before a pharmacist undertakes to design a layout or
modernize a pharmacy, be should consider the
objectives of the layout design, the type of pharmacy,
the classes of consumer goods and purchases, and the
principles of layout design

3. • Objectives of Layout Design
• The major objectives in the design of the exterior
of a pharmacy is to attract more patrons into the
pharmacy. The overall objective of interior layout
design is to increase the amount of the total
purchases of each person who enters the
pharmacy. In addition to the above general
objectives, there are six specific objectives
1. to enhance the general appearance of the
pharmacy and to project a professional image
2. to control payroll expenses through convenience
and efficiency of the layout;
3. to improve patrons satisfaction and convenience;

4. 4. to maximize the utilization of space;
5. to disperse and control the traffic pattern
within the pharmacy; and
6. to provide surveillance and reduce pilferage.
• One other important factor to consider is the
philosophy of the pharmacist owner. Many
pharmacists prefer to practice in a specific type
of setting. Thus, the design required by a
service-oriented pharmacist would differ from
that needed by the pharmacist interested in
using mass merchandising techniques

5. Types of community pharmacies
1) PHARMACEUTICAL CENTER
• The pharmaceutical centre, designed and developed
by McKesson & Robbins and the American
Pharmaceutical Association, is similar to the
Perscription-oreinted pharmacy, but it must conform
to certain standards. The layout design of this centre
is not so as critical as with the other types because
no merchandise of any kind is displayed. The
inventory is confined to legend and non-legend
medication and few convenience goods. The doctor,
the atmosphere, and the uncluttered floor space are
the hallmarks of the pharmaceutical centre. The
pharmaceutical centre usually has a separate room
for fitting orthopaedic and surgical appliances

6. 2) PRESCRIPTION-ORIENTED PHARMACIES
• This type of pharmacy usually occupies up to
1500 square feet and is so designed that the
patrons will have a comfortable waiting area
under the prescription department. Health-related
items, including drugs, home health care
appliances and supplies, and prescription
accessories, are displayed near this vicinity. The
pharmacy may have a separate room for fitting
trusses and other orthopaedic and surgical
appliances. Cosmetics, gifts, and a limited
member of other items are displayed in the other
areas of the pharmacy.

7. 3) TRADITIONAL PHARMACIES
• The traditional or conventional pharmacy usually
occupies between 1500 and 6000 square feet. The
major objective of the layout design for this type of
pharmacy is to disperse the customers and expose
them to all areas in the pharmacy. Those pharmacies
also should have a pleasing appearance, project a
professional atmosphere, be convenient for both
customers and employees, and provide the
opportunity for maximum sides at minimum
expense. Of course, surveillance for shoplifters must
be included as one objective in the design and layout
process. Although traditional pharmacies vary in
design, it is generally agreed that the best traffic flow
can be achieved with 2.5:1 length-to-width ratio

8. 4) THE SUPER DRUGSTORE
• The super drugstore occupies more than
5000 square feet, generally 10000 square
feet or more, with the design approximating
a square. The basic objective in a super
drugstore is traffic control rather than traffic
dispersal, which is achieved by the
merchandising techniques used. Many lines
of goods are sold in this type of drugstore,
and the layout design is usually for the self-
service type to facilitate traffic control and
to provide maximum sales at minimum cost.

9. CONSUMER GOODS AND PURCHASES:
• Classification of Consumer Goods
• Definitions of the classes of consumer
goods are included to provide as
understanding of the relationship between
consumer’s activity in the purchase of
various goods and good layout designs
principles. In addition to the classification
of consumer goods, the manner in which
consumers purchase them is very
important to the success of a layout design.

10. • Convenience Goods:
• Convenience goods normally have a low unit value and
are purchased frequently, with little effort on the part of
the consumer. Convenience goods make up the large
majority of the stock of grocery stores, variety stores and
pharmacies.
1) Shopping Goods:
• Goods in this class normally have a high unit value, are
purchased infrequently and required considerable effort
on the part of the consumer. For such purchases the
consumer will compare prices, quality, special features
and required services among other features. Shopping
goods are found mostly in department, furniture, clothing
and similar stores

11. 2) Specialty Goods:
• Specialty goods normally have a high unit value, possess
unique qualities or features and are purchased infrequently;
consumers exert a great deal of effort to purchase them.
Rare antiques and exclusive brands of clothing are
examples of specialty goods.
• It should be noted that pharmacies stock predominantly
convenience goods; however, most pharmacies stock some
shopping and specialty goods. The prescription is a special
case; it include attributes of all three classifications,
for example, some patients shop for expensive or
maintenance drugs, while other patients patronize only one
pharmacist even at considerable expense and effort because
of the personal and special services provided

12. Classification of Purchases:
1) Demand Purchases:
• When consumer enters a pharmacy, or any other place
where goods or services are sold, with deliberate intent of
purchasing a particular item and/or service, the purchase is
considered to be a demand purchase. A prescription is a
classic example.
2) Impulse Purchases:
• Impulse purchases are purchases made after a consumer
has entered the pharmacy to purchase one or more other
items, or are purchases made when the customer has entered
the pharmacy for no particular purpose. This type of purchase
frequently is suggested by an attractive display or price.
• Cosmetics, toiletries and sundries often are purchased on
impulse.

13. • The percentage of pharmacy sales bought on
impulse is not known. It can be assumed that all
prescription and most non-prescription drugs,
prescription accessories, surgical and orthopedic
appliances and supplies and other home health
care aids are purchased on demand. A significant
percentage of other types of products is bought
on impulse. It should be noted that classes of
goods and purchases are not always mutually
exclusive, but may be integrated in varying
degree in the mind of the purchaser

14. CLASSES OF LAYOUT DESIGNS
• Historic Types of Service Oriented Layout Design:
Historically, there are three basic types of layout:
(1) Clerk or Personal service
(2) Self-Selection
(3) Self Service
Each is designed to achieve the objectives of the three
basic types of pharmacies, Professional, Traditional and
Super Drug Store, respectively.
1) CLERK SERVICE:
• The clerk service layout is the old traditional design used
in most pharmacies before the trend toward self-service
and mass merchandising. It contains primarily of
complete clerk service with only a small part of the
merchandise exposed for patrons to handle.

15. • The modern example of this layout design is the
pharmaceutical center in which no merchandise is on display.
Traditionally, pharmacists have used the clerk service design
because it facilitates maximum interchange between
pharmacy personnel and patrons, one of the major reasons
many independent pharmacies have survived. Convenience
and friendly service are still important factors in the
patronage of a specific pharmacy.
• However, the quality of clerk service has not been
maintained in many instances. In addition, prices of
pharmaceutical products have risen and the importance of
price in relation to service has also increased. Therefore, this
combination of factors has caused many managers to reduce
services and seek an alternate type of layout design as a
solution.

16. 2) SELF-SELECTION:
• In an attempt to provide adequate personal service in
a more efficient manner, and thus be more
competitive with the larger super drug stores, many
independent pharmacists now use the self-selection
layout design. This type of layout design dictates that
clerk service be maintained at all service –oriented
departments, such as cosmetics, photo supplies,
prescription and selected non-prescription drugs,
surgical and orthopaedic appliances and supplies and
veterinary departments. Much of the other
merchandise however is displayed in a manner that
the patrons may see, handle and select themselves.
This layout is most frequently found in modern
conventional pharmacies

17. • SELF-SERVICE:
• The term self-service is restricted for those
layouts that utilize minimum of clerk service and
expose the maximum amount of merchandise for
patrons to handle. It is not possible to have 100
% self-service in a pharmacy because of the
prescription department. Central check-out of all
purchases is the one criterion most commonly
used to identify a truly self-service layout,
although some “experts” dispute the
appropriateness of this basis of distinction alone.
This type of layout is most often used in the
super drugstores.