Pharmacy Planogram Guide: Merchandising & Product Placement Explained

Last updated: August 27, 2026 

A pharmacy planogram is a diagram that shows exactly where each product goes on a pharmacy's shelves. It's the practical output of pharmacy merchandising, which is a set of measures to promote products and attract customers to purchase. Merchandising works on the same underlying principles in supermarkets, chain stores, and pharmacies alike: display techniques based on how customers actually move through a store and make buying decisions. A pharmacy planogram is where those principles get written down and applied to an actual shelf.

Pharmacy merchandising has a lot in common with supermarket merchandising, but a pharmacy planogram has to account for a few real differences. The specifics of merchandising in pharmacies come from the products themselves and the sales floor: merchandising only applies to OTC (over-the-counter) drugs, and with a limited sales floor area, there's little room for extensive promotional materials.

What is a Pharmacy Planogram?

A pharmacy planogram is a road map of your drugstore that shows the correct placement of drugs on shelves and displays. It is a product display layout that shows in detail where each product is placed on the retail fixtures in the pharmacy. This same document is sometimes called simply a planogram for pharmacy.

Three factors must always be considered when creating a pharmacy planogram: the suppliers' requirements, the pharmacy's capabilities (retail space and equipment), and customer behavior.

A pharmacy planogram lets you adjust the process of laying out products and monitoring its effectiveness. It gives you the opportunity to place each product efficiently, optimize shelf space, and think through the layout to increase sales. With pharmacy planogram analysis, you can easily identify the most popular items, track customer behavior, and find out which drugs are in high demand and which are not.

What is Pharmacy Merchandising?

Pharmacy merchandising is the process of organizing and displaying products in a pharmacy to make them easy to find, attractive to look at, and more likely to be purchased. A pharmacy planogram is how that process gets planned and standardized across a store or chain.

For merchandising in a pharmacy, it is important to create the right attractive display to attract the customers' attention and adhere to all pharmaceutical standards. In particular, not to break storage rules and pharmaceutical regulations.

It's important because smart product placement helps customers quickly see what they need and discover other useful items along the way. Good merchandising increases sales, improves the shopping experience, and builds customer trust.

In retail pharmacies, effective merchandising is a key tool for stimulating sales. The core objective of pharmacy merchandising is to promote products and enhance customer loyalty, not only to drive sales and increase profits.

The Major Requirements for Pharmacy Merchandising

• Minimum customer effort is needed to find the right product (easy access to products in an open type of display).
• The layout should be attractive and encourage sales.
• Medicine should be placed in groups based on storage characteristics and in accordance with all the regulatory requirements.
• Adherence to the color scheme; arrangement from left to right, from light to dark shades.
• Drug packages are laid out "on the front" side, and the price is visible on the left side of each package.
• Alternation on the shelves of expensive drugs with cheaper ones.
• Observance of cleanliness and integrity of the packaging.
• All items on the shelves must provide at least a three-day supply.

Common OTC Categories on a Pharmacy Planogram

A pharmacy planogram works best when products are grouped by the health need they solve rather than only by brand or manufacturer. The most common OTC categories US pharmacies build their planograms around include:

• Cold & flu — decongestants, cough drops, and multi-symptom relief, typically grouped together with clear signage.
• Allergy relief — antihistamines and nasal sprays, often placed near cold & flu for easy comparison.
• Vitamins & supplements — one of the fastest-growing OTC categories, usually merchandised by use case (immunity, energy, sleep).
• First aid — bandages, antiseptics, and basic wound care, placed at lower/hand level since they are frequently needed but not impulse purchases.
• Personal care & hygiene — skincare, oral care, and daily wellness items, often used to build basket size through cross-merchandising.

Grouping by category (rather than only by brand) makes it easier for customers to compare options and for pharmacists to plan planogram space by demand.

Types of Pharmacy Planogram Layouts: Open and Closed

A pharmacy planogram is built differently depending on the display type. Pharmacies with an open-type display (with free access to goods) and a large floor space use the merchandising principles inherent in retail stores.

• Horizontal layout. Products are presented along the shelf's full length and divided by type and trademark/brand. For example, the cosmetics layout can be divided by shelves: on one shelf are the hair care products; on the second is the face care; on the third is the body care cosmetics. In the horizontal layout, the strongest places are in the center of the shelf and on the right from the center. They are also called "golden." Therefore, the most profitable goods are placed in the center of the shelves. As a rule, more expensive items are placed on the right, and cheaper products are on the left from the center.
• Vertical layout. A method of displaying products in several rows vertically from top to bottom. The "hot zones" of the layout are placed at eye and hand levels. The weakest places with the lowest sales are at foot and head levels.
• Layout in blocks. The products are laid out in groups arranged in a block — for example, by manufacturer, brand, pharmacological group, or method of taking the medicine. The blocks are arranged either horizontally or vertically.

There are general rules for distributing goods by height, based on the average height of the customer visiting the pharmacy. Industry surveys of pharmacy shopper demographics generally suggest that women make up the majority of pharmacy visitors; if we take an average customer height of about 1.6 m, the most profitable shelf sits at roughly 1.2–1.6 m from the floor.

The layout on the shelves is at foot level, and the distance from the floor is about 0.2–0.6 m. This is where large-size items (e.g., baby diapers) are placed.

Lower hand level, distance from the floor 0.6–0.9 m. Bandages and basic necessities should be placed here.

Upper hand level, distance from the floor 0.9–1.1 m. At this level, placing seasonal items, widely advertised products (for example, cold and allergy remedies), and discounted items is appropriate.

Eye level or "golden shelf," distance of 1.2–1.6 m. This is the shelf with the highest sales and income, often called a "hot zone" in retail design. New items or discounted goods are displayed here. The layout at this level usually provides 40% of all sales.

An interesting fact

The customer's attention works on the same principle as reading a book — from left to right. In the same way, clockwise, a person moves around the sales floor most often. Therefore, as a rule, products located on the right side of the entrance are not in great demand. The same goes for shelf space. Products at the beginning and at the end of the showcase shelf remain unnoticed by the buyer.

Some customers choose their over-the-counter drugs in pharmacies, but at the same time, they do not always understand what kind of medicine they need. Therefore, analogs of drugs from different manufacturers could be placed on the shelves of one display case, and the customer would have the opportunity to choose. This is a form of cross-merchandising that also works well between complementary categories, for example, placing lip balm near cold remedies to increase basket size.

In pharmacies with closed-type displays (in closed showcases), the presentation of goods should be limited to more than two faces. In the limited space of the sales area, more than two faces may give the impression of a minimal assortment. When designing the checkout area in pharmacies, merchandise is displayed in small packages with a colorful design to stimulate impulse purchases.

It is important to follow certain rules for displaying goods in the pharmacy. Note that some types of merchandise are placed separately in the sales area:

• drugs, dietary supplements, and medical products;
• prescription and non-prescription drugs;
• internal and external medications;
• drugs grouped by pharmacological action.

Each group of medicines on the shelves should contain a rubricator headline. It should be clearly visible, and it is better to avoid using special medical terms — the customer should understand what kind of drugs are in front of him.

Note that merchandising in a pharmacy is effective for displaying over-the-counter drugs in the sales area. Therefore, there are some limitations to using merchandising techniques in the drugstore. Merchandising does not apply to prescription drugs, cheap and unknown drugs, and overpriced items. Pharmacy merchandising also has to work within regulatory boundaries, such as restrictions on how certain OTC categories can be advertised or displayed near the pharmacy counter, so any layout should be checked against applicable state pharmacy board and labeling requirements before rollout. Merchandising in the pharmacy is carried out following certain rules and in accordance with the scheme — the planogram of product display.

Seasonal Pharmacy Planogram Adjustments

Because OTC demand shifts throughout the year, seasonal planogram updates have a big impact on sales and are easy to overlook when running a pharmacy:

• Cold & flu season (fall/winter): expand endcap and eye-level space for cough, cold, and flu remedies.
• Allergy season (spring): move antihistamines and nasal sprays to more prominent shelf positions.
• Back-to-school (late summer): feature first aid kits, vitamins, and other wellness essentials for families.
• Sun & travel season (summer): highlight sunscreen, motion sickness remedies, and travel-size personal care items.

Rotating planograms seasonally, rather than leaving the same layout year-round, keeps the shelf relevant to what customers are actually looking for at that time of year.

Pharmacy Planogram Software

Building and maintaining a pharmacy planogram by hand across dozens or hundreds of locations quickly becomes unmanageable, which is why most chains now rely on dedicated planogram software instead. You can use PlanoHero to create a pharmacy planogram, manage your product assortment, do product rotations, and determine your inventory quantities. It's a tool for merchandising automation that customizes the whole process, from building a pharmacy floor plan and fixtures to distributing the planogram to stores and monitoring its compliance. The platform also gives you analytics on the pharmacy floor plan with a heat map to identify the highest and lowest customer traffic areas.

Here are some top tips for keeping your pharmacy planogram effective:

• Keep things in order. Keep all products in their proper places.
• Place merchandise in a way that boosts sales and doesn't break storage rules.
• Use a planogram. Automate the planogramming process for the entire pharmacy chain or individual drug stores.
• Monitor the execution of pharmacy planograms and analyze sales.
• Adjust the layout seasonally rather than leaving it static all year.

Pharmacy merchandising is the art of effectively displaying merchandise to customers in order to increase pharmacy turnover and profits, while pharmacy planogramming keeps that process consistent, measurable, and compliant across every location.

FAQ

What is a pharmacy planogram?

A pharmacy planogram is a schematic diagram that shows exactly where each product should be placed on a pharmacy's shelves and fixtures, based on category, demand, and regulatory requirements.

How do you create a pharmacy planogram?

A pharmacy planogram is built around three factors: supplier requirements, the pharmacy's own capabilities (space and equipment), and customer behavior. Most pharmacies now use planogram software to automate this process across multiple locations rather than building layouts manually.

How often should a pharmacy planogram be updated?

Most pharmacies update their planogram seasonally (at least 4 times a year) to reflect shifting demand, for example expanding cold & flu space in winter and allergy relief in spring, plus any time a new product line or promotion is introduced.

What's the difference between a pharmacy planogram and pharmacy merchandising?

Merchandising is the overall strategy of organizing and displaying products to drive sales; a planogram is the specific, documented diagram that puts that strategy into practice on the shelf.

What products cannot be placed on a standard pharmacy planogram?

Prescription drugs, controlled substances, and certain regulated items cannot be displayed openly like standard OTC products; they are handled separately from the general merchandising area, typically behind or near the pharmacy counter.

What is the "golden shelf" on a pharmacy planogram?

The golden shelf is the eye-level shelf, roughly 1.2–1.6 m from the floor, where visibility and sales are highest. It's typically reserved for new items, high-margin products, or promoted goods on the planogram.