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Creating Profitable Gift Shops

One of the most common questions, that we receive at Paquin Healthcare is, "How do I make my gift shop more profitable?"

There are a couple of key areas of opportunity. One of the biggest problems is that a single gift shop usually doesn't have the buying power or the staff with the negotiation skills to get merchandise at the appropriate discounts. In fact, even within the same healthcare system, we often see that buying is not coordinated from one gift shop to another. This is a missed opportunity.

Our mission for clients is to deliver a gift shop buy plan that has an exciting merchandise selection, but also has high margin items. Our target mark-up on products ranges anywhere from 250%-300%, which is more in line with best practices in the retail industry. At the same time, it is always the goal to deliver value to internal customers. Internal customers should always feel that the price they receive is fair and comparable to the quality of the product they are purchasing.

Second, but equally as important, is buying products that your customers want to buy. We often survey employees at hospital sites; it is amazing how large the disconnect can be. Employees, for example, want to patronize the gift shop on a regular basis. Often, however, the products they are willing to purchase are not available.

Following current trends, keeping the merchandise fresh and turning it often is certainly one of the keys to a successful retail strategy.

Drive down a digital path for an online destination.

Marketing is done by first understanding your audience and second by understanding the end result you want to achieve.  The creative ways you analyze your resources to maximize results is where you can really make the most bang for your buck.  There is everything from cost, time, labor and potential return factor into your decisions.  In marketing it is often the traditional avenues that are used based on the resources that are common or comfortable and time to implement is why. 

Each of these traditional resources is often repetitive for the marketing team.  Consistency is important in marketing so your customers know exactly where to look but, sticking to old ways in a new world can put a stop sign on your returns.  It is more important to know that the traditional options for getting the information to the consumers and getting the consumer to act on that information do not work the same way for marketing physical locations versus locations in the e-commerce world.    

A good example is Billboard advertising, which for a physical location will mostly likely produce a fair return on the investment, but for a virtual destination such as your ecommerce site it will provide zero return for very logical reasons.  A person who drives by a billboard is not going to slam on their breaks to write down a website address, nor are they going to lean over to the laptop in the passenger seat to get onto your ecommerce site.  There is no harm in any positive marketing efforts only less or more return for effort.  That is the gage.

The marketing path needs to bring the potential customer from the physical location into the online world.  The best path is one that leads your online world to your consumer.  If the URL is going to be brought to the consumer it needs to travel to the computer with the consumer or meet them there in the virtual world.  (e.g. a take away card, brochure or materials with a good spin to compel or capture interest and an email address).  The ideal situation is to simply get digital contact information from your consumer so all communications can be online.  In usuing this path you bring the URL to your consumer in a much more effective way and you can do it over and over again.  An email marketing address is not a "one hit" wonder.  Just like traveling on the road there are rules and requirements to keep the tank full and keep going.  If you market via email strategically and each time compel and provide incentives for the consumer to comply you can continue the journey with them to your destination.   

There are solid tools in e-commerce that consistently work.  The tried and true like newsletters & loyalty card programs each should require an email to receive.  This is how you capture that digital contact information. 

The important thing to do when considering any marketing plan is to think through the process from a consumer's point of view.  What happens when I see the ad?  What will it do to make sure I can get to the website?  What is the incentive to comply?  What is the real bottom line message to me?  Is the process easy for me?  Is the message compelling to a wide enough audience?  Take the time to consider the process, the message and carefully drive your consumers exactly where you want them to go.  Be sure they will not have roadblocks in getting to your intended destination that you in haste put in place.  Make the road clear for your travelers to get to your online destination.  

The Missed Opportunity

There is a great transition currently underway in healthcare.  The transition from traditional patient to empowered consumer.  The patient is discharged from the healthcare system and is often faced with how to choose the best health products for their treatment.  At times, products are suggested during the visit or treatment regimen, but most products are purchased independently by the customer to advance their own healing process.  

Very often, the customer is left to discern on their own, where to buy these products, which product brands are the safest and best options, and even if the product is appropriate given their specific medical condition. What is missing is the clinical connection; a strong endorsement by a trusted healthcare advisor in order for the patient to make the most beneficial choices.   As an example, it is estimated up to $300 on average is spent after a hospital encounter,  but often, there is no direct involvement or revenue sharing by the medical provider.

Now just imagine for a moment, a different relationship with that patient-turned-consumer.  The patient visits the hospital to see a diabetic educator.  During the visit, a number of specific products are identified as integral to managing health and lifestyle.  In fact, the customer can now purchase those products on site at a hospital wellness store, which is merchandised with the diabetes department "favorites." Perhaps, the customer is directed to a hospital ecommerce store with select product offerings stocked for the diabetic patient.  This online store is branded and on the hospital website.  Best of all, products are shipped directly to the patient's home, eliminating trips around town and conversations with store employees who are not clinically trained.

Social Media Networking-not just teenage hype anymore!

The benefits of social media networking are very real and many online retail business owners are finding out just how many of the new connections, customers and dollars they are finding inside social media markets.  They are also noticing just how hot they are to the bottom line. 

Facebook claims that 50% of active users log into the site each day.  That means 175 million users every 24 hours which has grown from 120 million users total last year.  Twitter has 75 million user accounts but about 15 million are active with over 27.3 million tweets per day.  Linked in a relatively new player in social media has over 50 million members.  On all sites the actual user's median age  is surprisingly 34 and an average time on the users site of choice is 39 minutes.  This is a captive audience of people who have a good portion of the spending income online in their control. 

So how do we get the friends, followers and dollars?  Participation is the road to success, much like email marketing the content has to compel the reader.  Just showing up will not get your blog or post the popular vote and you can have a ton of friends but unless they are clicking on, linking to and sharing your posts it is not going to make you a bundle.  It will take an investment of time, research and posting. 

You have to become the leading expert in your field who is willing to share that fresh and exciting knowledge with all the follower's, friends, link-in's and so on you can get.  You will need to comment on other writer's comments, posts or blogs with great care; providing only well thought out feedback that also adds spice to the topic and brings them back to you.  Be sure to drive your customer back with each online effort to your business using subtle links with key words, signing your name and website, adding images that link back to coupons and small hints and mentions of your company or product throughout the message.

Keep it simple at first -just answer a Linked-In's listed question or comment while your doing your homework.  But always follow up later with more.  Research the latest laws, issues and yes, hype about your business, products and competitors and share what you find to be the most compelling topics with your own spin.   The one caution flag is to be careful not to get political.  Although controversy can bring numbers it can bring a negative connotation of your online retail business with it.  

The easiest way is to share information that will support a well known cause that factors into your ecommerce business.  This will generate new and more importantly loyal customers.  In the Healthcare ecommerce industry this is easy with American Heart Association (heart or stroke support), or Breast Cancer Support or in support of Elderly Home Care.  Statistics show more people are directly affected or related to affected persons with these three conditions than any other health issues.

Be sure to share the work of researching and posting and responding with others, not just to lighten your workload but to keep the message and the perspective fresh.  Monitor readership statistics to see what is getting the most return or "hits" and focus in on those areas.   You can have full confidence this works and the effort is worth it as the proof is in the market today.  Just look at Dell, Inc.; who in the last quarter of 2009 reported over $3-million dollars in computer product sales directly clicked through from posts on social media sites like Facebook.  Wouldn't you like those results in your online retail site?

Retail Healthcare: The New Reality

Congress continues to duke it out in a healthcare slugfest that will clearly have no winners. The only gold to be delivered from the alchemists in Washington is fool's gold. The numbers simply don't add up. Healthcare is finally facing the perfect storm of a rapid new influx of people entering into a government guaranteed program (Medicare), spiraling healthcare costs, and fewer people to pay for these costs over the next 30 years. Healthcare professionals and the government do agree on one thing - it is not going to be business as usual in the next 5-10 years. Something has to give. And that something is probably the fundamental model of healthcare in the United States.

Gone are the days when Americans could live their lives with little consideration given to lifestyle choices and how those choices may ultimately impact the longevity and quality of their lives. Excessive alcohol, use of tobacco products, poor diet, and a lack of exercise are the main culprits behind an increasingly unhealthy population. As the old saying goes, ‘genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger'.

Recent trends indicate a definitive move to healthier lifestyles and, consequently, choices by Americans. The number of people seeking healthcare information online has more than doubled in the last two years, making healthcare the new number one topic on the Internet. These online consumers are more likely to buy products from healthcare ecommerce stores, generating an entirely new income source for traditional healthcare providers.
As consumers make lifestyle choices that positively impact their health, they are also buying products and services in an ever-escalating fashion. Traditional healthcare providers are a logical source to offer these healthcare products to consumers. Healthy lifestyle choices have created a new economic reality. Retail healthcare expenditures will continue to escalate at a far greater pace than traditional reimbursed healthcare dollars, partially out of choice and partially out of necessity. Traditional healthcare providers will need to adapt to this new economic reality or go the way of the middle ages' alchemists; a lifetime of work and fool's gold in the bank.

Hospital Retail: Avant-garde

In current years, savvy property-owners have turned a range of ineffectual venues into profitable shopping centers. Empty spaces inside airport terminals and vacant offices in corporate buildings have been transformed into booming retail havens. Should hospitals be the next scene to become a part of this revolutionized shopping experience?

It is already happening. Healthcare Systems are turning to Retail Healthcare Professionals to enhance their revenue and to better serve their communities. These cutting-edge hospitals have closely followed the shopping center model, turning sluggish gift shops into exciting Retail Healthcare Boutiques'; offering sought after items such as designer handbags, collector bears, exquisite jewelry and gourmet food items.

Hospitals need to modify their current philosophy toward retail and move to a more contemporary perspective. With countless employees and thousands of patients, the simple logistics of supply and demand should be enough to furnace a change in the retail healthcare movement. As a nation of consumers, medical centers should take advantage of potential consumers that deserve the best- no matter their location. After all, happy patients plus a happy staff will equal a thriving business environment for all.

Online Retail Healthcare Marketing, Low Cost Big Results

How to compete in online healthcare ecommerce without breaking the bank? Little tools can lead to major success. The most important of which is: Email marketing.

This does not mean slapping together any tidbit and pushing it out to your list of clients. What makes email marketing effective? It's simple: permission and relevant content. This means that the recipient is expecting to receiving messages and considers the content of the emails to be beneficial.

This does not mean you can not have a little fun with it. When and online gaming membership site launched a simple Elf bowling Christmas game link they generated over two million hits resulting in huge paid membership spikes that lasted over six years and each year at holiday time this Christmas gift finds its way to many new email addresses all by itself.

It is not practical to reach out with a funny toy and expect the world to spin it into your bankroll every week so become an expert in your field and target your market to provide a service with your email. How do you know what works? Just log, watch & review your web page stats to know what topics generate more hits.

Despite critics who question email marketing's effectiveness, email marketing continually delivers the highest ROI for any marketing method. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing delivered $43.62 for every dollar spent in 2009.

For online retail healthcare business owners, this translates into a pre-qualified list of prospects and returning customers. To keep each loyal you only need to continue providing emails with content that is compelling and useful

 

Retail Healthcare and the Modern Health Consumer

In the modern world of healthcare, consumers have become increasingly savvy and demanding when it comes to products and services. These consumers have a never-before-seen thirst for knowledge and operate with a level of self-helping activity healthcare providers are unaccustomed to.

Enter Retail Healthcare, which can help hospitals create clinical revenues and provide various sources of non-reimbursable revenues. For example, healthcare ecommerce gives hospitals and healthcare systems the chance to connect with the online health and wellness consumer.

Have you heard of Retail Healthcare?