Mike Glynn
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This issue contributor Mike Glynn looks at how health retailers can adapt to the modern day market.
Can the independent health retailers survive?
T
he NHS has taken a bit of a battering in recent months, but when it was created the world was a different place. Life wasn’t 24/7. We had a break at the weekends for shopping, leisure, and most importantly family.
Mike Glynn Mike is the director of MG Retail Consulting who bring together marketing, technical, business and retail skills to offer their clients a comprehensive service to market their business.
the weather. The disappointing thing is that the food and fashion retailers have done most of the work in understanding the customer already. But still the health industry has been slow to adopt it.
Our lives are busier than When we think of health, we think ever because of mobile first of the NHS. If we think of an communications. The businesses optician, dentist or pharmacy that embrace this and though, we often don’t consider mgretailconsulting.co.uk communicate with us on a personal them part of the NHS framework. level will survive. Health retail is Many of these older health not as sophisticated as food retail, businesses have found trading in the way it looks at trends, buying habits, more difficult in recent years because of seasonal and geo political influences, or increasing competition and reductions in
subsidies. Innovation and change were not the enemies of the businesses that folded, it was often the fault of apathy and a lack of conviction for customer service. If the majority of your business is dependent upon one source of income then the business will always be vulnerable. Add poor service to this and there is no way back. But there are those that deliver exceptional service. When it comes to our health, our choices are complicated. Our choices when it comes to buying food or eating out are measured on price, quality, service, convenience and experience. In the healthcare market the NHS has tremendous reach. The Health Service that we have currently has a growing number
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