Longs Drug advises shoppers through in-store OTC kiosks

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. —Longs Drug has launched new in-store kiosks that help shoppers find the best over-the-counter medication for their ailments. Longs rolled out the PharmAssist kiosks in 135 stores in April after testing them in a handful of stores for more than a year.

The interactive, touch-screen kiosks are located in the OTC aisle. They prompt consumers to answer questions about the health problems they need to treat and provide a list of medications that best address them.

“Our customers are faced with a wide variety of over-the-counter product choices,” said Larry Gatta, chief marketing officer for Longs. “They want an interactive solution that recommends and finds exactly what they need for their specific symptoms or health conditions quickly and easily.”

PharmAssist gives customers three options to start with—cold and flu, digestive and skin disorders—and then lists a series of sub-symptoms in each category. After all the variables are taken into account, the system produces a list of recommended products. PharmAssist also provides additional information about each product with the touch of a button, along with its exact location in the store. The system uses voice prompts to move the process along and offers Spanish language assistance.

While providing customers with the best diagnosis and recommendations is the main goal of the kiosks, they’re also designed to drive sales of specific products and brands, particularly a store’s private label and those of suppliers who may choose to advertise on the system.

“Advertisers and retailers are looking for more interactive ways to engage consumers that will help increase sales in an increasingly competitive market,” said Charles Koo, president of Evincii, a California-based software company that created PharmAssist. “What search has done for the world of Web-based commerce and advertising, Evincii is doing for the much larger world of in-store commerce.”

Koo said internal studies show advertisers highlighted on kiosks have increased sales by 7 percent to 18 percent, since they get prominent billing among the products recommended in each search. Private-label products are also listed at the top and tend to see increased sales.

And a fairly good percentage of shoppers are using the kiosks. Evincii said an average of 15 percent to 18 percent of OTC shoppers used the system at Longs stores during the pilot program. Koo said the company is in talks with other pharmacy retailers.