News

Supermarket giant Tesco has launched an online eyewear collection offering customers prescription spectacles from £15 which the company claims is the lowest price on the market for dispensed glasses.

The online service, launched last Tuesday, currently only offers single-vision spectacles and enables customers to book an in-store eye examination for just £10.

The Tesco online service allows customers to upload a picture of themselves to see if their choice of frames suits them. They pick up their completed spectacles from one of Tesco's 100 in-store optical outlets.

The news follows the recent launch of online eyewear collections by Boots Opticians and Specsavers.

Tesco said its pricing policy compared very favourable to its biggest rivals - Glasses Direct, Specsavers and Boots.

The supermarket's cheapest offering of prescription spectacles at £15 is matched by Glasses Direct, but Tesco pointed out that its customers benefited from a free in-store fitting and could also earn a loyalty bonus on each transaction. The company claimed its cheapest single-vision spectacles were £10 cheaper than a similar offering from Boots Opticians and Specsavers.

Tesco's optical manager, Philip Banks said: 'Until now customers who wished to buy prescription glasses online have had the choice of either the cheapest price, meaning the glasses are only delivered not dispensed, or paying 60 per cent more for the peace of mind of having them fitted by professionally trained staff. We wanted to give our customers the best of both worlds, which is why we have entered the online prescription market.'

Glasses Direct founder Jamie Murray Wells told Optician: 'We are delighted the supermarket giant Tesco has recognised something that we have long understood - the enormous number of customers who want glasses now look to the internet instead of the high street. We welcome this competition, and are convinced it will help increase awareness, and grow the market.'

David Cartwright, professional services director of Boots Opticians, added: 'We know that the opticians market is changing, with patients continually wanting a more accessible way to purchase glasses at a time and place that is convenient, combined with the trust and assurance of a personal one-to-one fitting with a well known high street brand like Boots. We are therefore not surprised that other retailers want to follow the launch of our website.'

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