The Designer Outlet is an optical practice open to the public, which SA said would enable it to develop, plan and test new sales opportunities and marketing initiatives to support KLVCs (News 03.12.10).
SA managing director Mark Dingley said the centre was ‘a creative think-tank helping KLVCs to focus their business and motivating them to fight-back’. He explained that it could be used to ‘try out the initiatives and promotions’ that KLVCs wanted to test themselves but might be ‘too scared to do so’.
The Designer Outlet will test marketing and sales ideas suggested by KLVC partners and present the data on their effectiveness. Examples of current promotions include a refund on sight tests if a pair of spectacles is purchased and an offer of Kodak digital varifocal lenses as standard in its ‘good, better, best’ deal rather than non-digital varifocals. It also features a testing room furnished with ‘top-end equipment’ including a fundus camera.
Dingley explained that since the beginning of the KLVC concept, SA’s practice partners had requested a flagship practice to demonstrate how to make use of the Kodak brand as well as provide training and ideas. He said these requests intensified as the financial crisis unfolded.
‘When we announced it [the centre] at our national conference in November [2010], the feedback was tremendous. They’re now all very keen to send staff along and try things out and receive the feedback from marketing about what’s working and what’s not,’ he said.
The training given at the centre comes at no cost to the KLVCs unless an external trainer is required, in which case the practice would share the cost with SA.
Explaining the reason for the centre’s creation, head of marketing Mark Ireland said that one of SA’s biggest frustrations had been the gathering of meaningful data which could be used to help the practices. ‘If we do campaigns, how do you measure if they’ve worked or not?’ he asked.
Prior to opening the centre, Ireland said that SA ran a growth programme focusing on 24 KLVCs, selecting ‘a number of rural and city centre practices, some of which were doing well, or not as well comparatively and put together a plan to prove to them that marketing can work’. He said that overall total growth was 18 per cent.
Ireland said that SA questioned each practice about its objectives such as increasing footfall or improving the conversion rate. ‘When you know that, you can build a marketing plan around it. If it was about getting new patients, we looked at doing some sort of advertising. If it was about improving the conversion rate then we looked at the merchandising, pricing and the in-store marketing,’ he said.
The growth programme attempted a variety of ideas based on improving the sales of practices. Ireland revealed that often simple initiatives such as printing business cards to take round to local businesses could be very effective. He said it was a good way to meet potential customers as well as gather feedback and change any preconceptions. ‘For instance, if people thought you were expensive, you could tell them that you did complete spectacles from £40.’
Revealing the success of the programme he said that the practices averaged six new patients within that period.
The owners of KLVCs located nearby have expressed some concern about direct competition from the Designer Outlet. Ireland said they were ‘sceptical at first, but we share with them what we are doing and they can piggy-back as we advertise their practices as well. It is important to grow the KLVC brand for us all’.
He emphasised that the centre’s primary purpose was to provide KLVCs with the information they need to be more competitive in their retailing.
‘We try things and if we mess up it’s at our own expense,’ he added.
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