Your Future’s So Bright You Gotta Wear (Lamp) Shades
By Tom Y. for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series
So your independent pharmacy has done an amazing job of keeping your customers out of the dark by utilizing the best-in-industry merchandising and pricing intelligence – powered by HRG. Merchandising, pricing, and your customers may be on your mind day and night…but, what is the first thing you do in the morning, and what is the last thing you do at night?
Turn on/off your store lights!
The proper use of store lighting, according to the North American Retail Hardware Research Foundation, “can draw attention to feature departments and highlight special areas of the store. It can enhance the color and appearance of merchandise.”
Did you also know that your store lighting, when switched to energy-efficient light bulbs, can give you as high as 80% in energy savings?
Energy-efficient light bulbs come in three types: compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), and energy-saving incandescents (Halogen). According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CFL and LED light bulbs provide 75 – 80% energy savings compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs, while energy-saving incandescents provide 25% energy savings. CFL light bulbs can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent light bulbs, while LED light bulbs, the newer technology, can last up to 25 times longer! (The fluorescent tube lights commonly found in retail stores are only available as LED bulbs.)
Since its adoption into U.S. households in the late ‘90s, energy-efficient light bulbs have yet to reach 100% household and retail penetration mainly because of the purchase cost. According to eartheasy.com, CFLs are on average three times more expensive than incandescents, while LEDs are on average 28 times more expensive; however, when you look at the true “cost” of the light bulb over its lifetime, which includes the amount of electricity used and how often you need to replace the light bulb – both CFLs and LEDs yield a whopping 75% savings!
The clear choice for illuminating your store and bright independent customers is with energy-efficient light bulbs!
Tom plays an important role in auditing the accuracy of HRG’s data libraries. He is responsible for the maintenance and development of HRG’s private label and home health care libraries. Tom also interacts with internal and external clients to gather product information related to manufacturers’ new items, package samples, UPCs, pricing and marketing materials.