Stevi Jenkins-Kelly, PharmD
Owner/Pharmacist @ My Concierge Pharmacy | Medication Adherence Expert
March 18, 2025
My superpower: peeling stickers off bottles and boxes. After 23 years doing it, I’m pretty sure it’s an art form.
I will teach you the art, for free. I know, they say nothing is free, but I cannot go another day without sharing the greatest art of my life.
- The beginning
It begins when you check the order in. What kind of stickers are they? How sticky are they? How big are they? Do you NEED to sticker the bottle? You see, #CVS was brilliant about 15 years ago and they stopped stickering their bottles and switched to stickering their shelf tags. They then became more genius and allowed some stores MOVEABLE shelf tags. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but for the pharmacy industry, everyone was so used to stickering the bottles and the shelves and once a year we had to scrape the stickers off, and RESTICKER the pharmacy. Who got that job, you got it right, me! So before #CVS even made this big move, I asked my boss to get a long roll of magnetic strip and I would put the stick on the magnet strip and place on the shelf spot for the bottle. Seems pretty basic now, but at the time, it was revolutionary. Now, you could place bottles and move the sticker without having to scrape the shelves AND the sticker came off the rubber based magnet much easier than the metal shelf.
So let’s pretend you do need to sticker the bottle because you have low inventory and you don’t want to assign a shelf space for a minor inventory item. Where do you sticker it? If it’s an Over-the-counter item, I would recommend to look at the box and select the spot with the least lettering and coloring. You see a spot with minimal lettering and no dye, that’s your spot. Maybe it’s a bottle and you see the plastic spot where there is no label, that’s your spot. Worst spot for a label: over the NDC, over the UPC, over the lot/exp, over heavy dye/lettering.
2. Timeframe
I know that not many people LIKE to do inventory; however, it is absolutely crucial. I recommend doing returns on a weekly basic for high volume pharmacies and on a monthly basis for low-volume pharmacies. This is because you normally have a 6 mos return window at 100% returns. You also need to have at least 6 months before it expires to be able to return, so assume 8 mos minimum to return to wholesaler. These are generalized statements, be sure to check with your individual wholesaler. After 12 mos from purchase date, most wholesalers will give you a grand total of $0 for the return, even if you have more than 6 mos left on the expiration date. Depending on where you work, there could still be a benefit for the pharmacy manager (less benefit for the company). For example, if you have 5k you can return back to the wholesaler and decrease your days of inventory (if that is a tracked metric), you can get in the green for performance evaluations. Some companies look at growth of inventory from beginnin of year to end of year, so consistently sending back the product you are not using, will keep your inflation at a low number (also good on evaluations!).
Even simpler reason to stay on top of getting those returns out is because the products you DID sticker, are going to be a lot easier to unsticker within 6 mos versus 11 months out. As a sticker degrades its ‘sticky’ factor begins to rapidly degrade. This is NOT good for removing a sticker, you want the sticker to be pliable and ‘healthy’. By rotating through your inventory returns quickly, you improve your chances of having successful sticker removal and thus successful returns.
3. Training Staff
If you have an item that is valued over “x” dollars a sticker does not go on it, until you are 100% sure the patient is picking it up. You can set your own dollar figure, I usually go with $100. If we spent over $100 for a bottle of medication, that bad boy is going to go in a bag until the day the patient wants it and only after I have 100% confirmation does it get labeled onto the bottle. Also, do NOT open a box or bottle until you absolutely have to use it for the very same reason. Even if it is a $5 bottle, keep that bottle looking pretty until you are 100% sure a patient will buy it.
Sell in full packages. I know this sounds odd in this day in age, but you can fill through most insurances for 100 day supplies especially for over 65. Instead of filling the bottle of 90 with 10 remaining tablets, fill for the 100 day supply. There is less waste, less trips to pick up!
Pro Tip: Dispense in original bottle every chance you get. If the patient doesn’t open it right away, they will have the freshest medication possible. You think the cost of the bottle doesn’t add up, wrong, everything adds up. Take every chance to be efficient and cost-effective in your work environment.
4. The Peel
You want a person who has natural nails and patience to peel labels off product. I recommend to peel from the top right portion of the label, due to its natural angle and usually has the least adhesion to the bottle/box when the original label was attached. If it is a pharmacy label, this is usually the top left or bottom left. The position changes because that is where the label is also commonly held by employees right before the place the label onto a package. Watch your staff, you will see where they hold the labels and you can make your own assumptions. Now get your nail maybe 1-2mm under the label and begin to pull gently at a 45 degree angle ever so slowly. You will use the pad of your pointer finger against the pad of your thumb for stability. You don’t over pull, that causes tears and pulling up of the cardboard or underlying label your sticker is on top of. You have to have consistent speed, not so slow that the sticker rips, but not so fast, that the sticker rips. There is a rhythm to it, for a 1×1 sticker, I would pull for 1-2 seconds, stop, readjust my fingers and placement, pull for 1-2 seconds.
Pro Tip: Never breathe while pulling a sticker, it is bad luck! (Just kidding, I couldn’t help myself.)
5. Final Product
You MUST review the final product. Assess what area you could’ve done better. Did you pull up a lettering, ok move sticker to better placement next time. Did you scratch the box, come in with nail more flat to box prior to pulling up, we shouldn’t have to scratch the surface to get under sticker label. Is there residue, a micro amount of goo gone or roll the sticker up and use it to dab away it’s own residue. If you have residue, you pressed too hard when you put the sticker on to begin with on step 1. You also may have waited too long to do returns or your product is in too hot of an environment, check your thermostat and shift temperature down. My bottles are kept at 72degrees and max 74 degrees. This has made for quality products and quality sticker removal.
Pro Tip: Practice Makes Perfect. Don’t worry, in 23 years, you will have much cooler skillset than a Superpower of Peeling Stickers.
🙂
-Dr. J
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