Space allocation is a technique which allows you to provide accurate category placement in line with market performance and can help you maximise the potential of space within your pharmacy based on sales and profitability.

Space allocation figures are calculated using EPoS sales data which means it accurately reflects customer demand for products relevant to the pharmacy environment.

Using the charts provided on NumarkNet simply work your way around the pharmacy adding up the total number of shelves you have to allocate to products, excluding special offer sections and diagnostic/healthy living aids.

Once you have done this, simply multiply the total with the percentage for each category then divide by 100 to establish how much space you should be giving.

This number should be rounded up or down as appropriate to give you the 'shelf count' within your chosen category; whilst this isn't an exact figure it will prove a very effective guide. Take a look at this working example:

Let's assume you have 110 shelves within your retail space, the category share for skincare is 6.50% so the calculation should be 110 x 6.50 ÷ 100 = 7.15. Therefore the ideal number of shelves to allocate to skincare would be 7.

Try this exercise in your pharmacy, work out how many shelves should be allocated to each category and then compare it to how the pharmacy's space is currently allocated. To help you we have developed an interactive calculator which works this out for you. Our space allocation resources are available via NumarkNet.