Walker Drug finds all it needs-and more-with Eagle
Since Walker Drug began in 1958, the landscape of the pharmacy business has changed, and Walker Drug has changed with it. Through mail order and low-cost generic prescriptions, Walker Drug has thrived, opening two more locations. Having a retail business management system that integrates with Walker's pharmacy system has been a must, especially for managing multiple locations. That's where Epicor Eagle has made the greatest difference to Walker Drug-in helping provide control, greater visibility, and integration throughout the business.
Eagle and pharmacy management system integration is a winning combination
Jack Walker, Owner, Walker Drug, knows that technology is critical to his stores' success. "Given the complexity of running a retail pharmacy, having a pharmacy management system and an automated inventory and point of sale (POS) system isn't a luxury, it's a requirement for success. We use McKesson® Pharmaserve® for our pharmacy operations and Eagle for everything else."
Eagle streamlines Walker Drug's entire retail operation across multiple locations with a comprehensive solution. "Eagle POS is easy to use and provides very useful inventory information to help us better buy and manage our retail inventory. We do all of our back office operations with Eagle including pharmacy billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll. The winning combination of McKesson Pharmaserve for our pharmacy operations and Epicor Eagle for everything else helps our stores succeed in a competitive market," explains Jack. "The return on our Eagle system investment has been very healthy."
Fast, efficient point of sale
Retail is an essential part of Walker Drug's business. Having a system that can easily manage point of sale transactions, track inventory, and ease back office processes has made its retail business grow. For example, Eagle enables Walker Drug to provide a seamless experience to their customers. While customers wait for their prescription to be filled, they can also shop for other retail products. Every item that Walker Drugs sells, including prescriptions, is processed through the Eagle system. At checkout, products are scanned, prices verified, and the customer's credit card quickly and accurately processed. "When customers are ready to checkout, they want to get done quickly. Eagle is very fast, very efficient, and very accurate," asserts Jack.
Margin from non-pharmacy sales
Walker Drug's financial health comes from both the pharmacy and the front of the store. "As an independent pharmacy, our success is largely due to non-pharmacy retail sales and having the Eagle computer system that efficiently runs that business," says Jack. Accurate and timely purchasing and pricing ensures Walker Drug stays on top of customer demand and competitive changes. "Eagle empowers us to respond quickly to changes in buying trends. We know what to buy, how much to buy, and when to buy it. We also have insight into our costs and prices, so that we can establish prices to be competitive and make money," describes Jack.
Perhaps more important is how inventory management with Eagle assists Walker Drug in managing inventory that isn't selling. "Merchandise that isn't moving can really hurt a business. With our Eagle inventory reports, we easily see items that aren't moving and can put them on clearance," explains Jack. "By clearing out those items, we have cash to purchase more of what is selling. Thus our turns and overall profitability improves."
Using information to guide decisions
Epicor Business Advisor, an Epicor business intelligence solution, allows Walker Drug to drill down into the details of its business. With simple points and clicks and drags and drops, Walker customizes performance reports to meet its needs. "Every day, we use Business Advisor to see our sales for that day, compare sales with the sales a year ago on that day, review our month-to-date sales and comparisons to last year, and review our year-to-date sales. The information is ready for me when I turn the system on," elaborates Jack.
The Business Advisor module provides Walker Drug with immediate access to other information necessary to run the business. "We see inventory levels, turns, out-of-stocks, mark-ups, margins, sales, and much more. We have insight into our business that we couldn't get anywhere else. We can spot problems and trends that we couldn't before. Having fingertip access to data is beyond valuable. We literally couldn't run our business without that information," says Jack.
About Epicor
Epicor Software Corporation is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industries. With more than 40 years of experience, Epicor has more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries. Epicor solutions enable companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability. With a history of innovation, industry expertise, and passion for excellence, Epicor inspires customers to build lasting competitive advantage. Epicor provides the single point of accountability that local, regional, and global businesses demand. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.