What is the point of refurbishing your practice? Is there a need to change the design, layout and look of your store? Is this need essential for clinical care, or an aesthetic branding exercise performed by those who have the capital to do so?
There are a number of reasons why an opticians might want to undergo refurbishment says John Tomic, managing director of Sigma Design and Consultancy – a company specialising in practice shop fitting. For him, these include an outdated and tired look, nearby competition having a refurbishment, a new practice opening close by, and a change in public shopping habits.
Tomic says that any new shop fit should affect customers in a positive way, allowing them to move seamlessly around the space while having access to staff if they need. ‘The new refit should be inviting the customers to browse around the practice instead of just sitting around and waiting to be tested,’ he says.
Sigma, along with other specialists in practice shop fitting, such as design company Mewscraft, typically redesign the whole look of a store rather than specific components. One advantage of this is a consistent and holistic look and feel.
Mewscraft director, Hal Cripwell, says: ‘ultimately, the decision to refurbish an optical practice has to be a commercial one, and to be a good commercial decision it needs to add value.’
Undergoing a complete redesign of your practice might be daunting. Worries about cost and disruption to the business are valid, as is the concern that a certain design may not age well given the speed of changing retail tastes. But reluctance to adjust in the face of a changing retail environment could prove more problematic.
‘There is no rule to determine how frequently to refit the practice,’ says Tomic. ‘It depends on where the practice is based, if it’s fit for the current activities, whether the features and fittings are chipped, dilapidated and not working and, of course, the budget available.’
Shops need to be carefully lit and uncluttered – Mewscraft design
Basic principles
Tomic says there are always some key factors to consider when shop fitting any opticians. For example, the ‘current practice profile’ – is it a budget, mid-range or high-end practice? This may affect the way in which the store is designed because of its current resources and customer base.
Next, according to Tomic, is ‘how the new layout will affect the movement of people inside the practice’. Having the customer in the forefront of your mind at all times will help you design the practice so that they get the best user experience. He also reminds us that the ‘desired profile and position in the market after refurbishment’ is crucial as this will form the basis of the entire design vision.
For Cripwell, ‘an effective retail environment focuses on the customer’. He says that Mewscraft encourages its clients to be ‘in tune with their patient journey and flow around the practice’.
‘For example, when they enter the premises, where would you like them to go first? From entering the premises, to waiting, testing, dispensing, purchasing and leaving, thinking about the details can go a long way in maximising the enjoyment of the experience,’ says Cripwell.
‘Flooring, wall finishes, furniture and the overall colour scheme are also important,’ he says. ‘Each of these points and many more contribute to the experience your patient receives. The better the overall patient experience, the more chance that they remain a loyal customer,’ he adds.
Retail trends
Should trends in the broader retail environment influence the way in which you seek to refit your practice? ‘There is not a clear correlation between wider retail trends and fitting an opticians,’ says Tomic. ‘But there is one common denominator – that a shop needs to be well lit and without clutter.’
Chipwell agrees that ‘lighting plays an important part in an effective retail area’. He says: ‘The frames displayed must be well lit with the appropriate lighting. Different temperatures of lighting can highlight different colours and show your frames off to their best.’
‘With a broad offering of frames, some of which can be at the premium end, independent opticians want the best environment for displaying these frames. A good display with carefully chosen lighting can make all the difference,’ he adds.
Tomic describes what he sees as a changing attitude towards displaying frames.
Lighting work wonders to differentiate areas of Aston and Woods’ practice
‘Currently, it isn’t important to have as many frames on display as possible,’ he says. ‘There is more emphasis on having nice features on display to enhance the overall modern look of the practice than just rows of frames. Breaking up the uniformity is the way to go.’
Chipwell has also witnessed this change in refit approach. ‘The aesthetic is leaning more towards a boutique and individual style with a “less is more” approach to the display of frames,’ he says. ‘This lends itself to shelving solutions, perhaps in combination with modern display rods.’
As well as having fewer frames on display, Chipwell also identifies changes in the dispensing environment. ‘With frames becoming more fashionable and high-end brands becoming available in their stores, our clients are requesting more privacy for their patients at dispensing areas,’ he adds.
Chipwell also identifies technology as a ‘big influencer in the design of practices’ and a growing retail trend. ‘With the development of new software, items like record card storage are becoming redundant as practices go paperless. A growing trend of note in the last year has been the move away from seated reception desks in favour of smaller standing welcome desks,’ he says.
Markus T uses a modular system
Tomic, however, places more emphasis on colours, with clients now happier to incorporate bolder and more eye-catching schemes into the shop design. He says colour schemes are often determined by the business colours of the practice, so it is hard to identify a discernible trend. But, ‘with display units and the furniture the customers are happy to go bolder then before,’ he adds.
Striking a balance
When it comes to striking a balance between retail aesthetics and the delivery of clinical care, Tomic says ‘there is not a big connection between the design of the retail part of the practice with the clinical side of the business’. He says this is because a practice’s clinical spaces are often already determined prior to a refit, meaning less space to play with, and customers’ expectations have risen in regard to clinical service – ‘usually most opticians nowadays have to have all the hi-tech equipment to compete, so the general public is expecting that’, making the retail space paramount.
Tomic says the purpose of the refit is to ‘attract the attention of the passing public’ through the retail space, which then leads them to the clinical side of the business. ‘In some cases the testing services can be advertised in the window display. But generally, it is more important how the retail part is designed and the quality of the fittings,’ he says.
He does, however, agree that the ‘aesthetics of the retail part of any practice should reflect in some way the level of clinical care that is provided to the public’. By this he means making certain dispensing equipment visible and advertising specific clinical features in the shop’s window.
Chipwell says: ‘Many of our customers like the idea of an individual design and character for their refurbished retail area. Taking the theme into the clinical aspects of the practice can be a tricky balance. It would not be appropriate to have a vintage feel in a high-tech, clinical consulting room.’
Despite this reluctance to marry the retail with the clinical, Chipwell says there are ways to seemingly connect both spaces without compromising their purposes, if that is what the client wants. ‘We may be able to introduce subtle aspects from the retail area, for example in the lighting, flooring, furniture finishes and so on, to make the spaces feel connected,’ he adds.
Sigma’s Dual type units display frames and store more inside
The shop-in-shop concept
Another approach that an optician might want to consider is using a shop-in-shop concept. Just as it sounds, these display
features are stand-alone units that can maximise the number of frames on display while serving to promote a certain brand or style.
Austrian eyewear company Silhouette offers these ‘customisable presentation options’ for its retailers and says they ‘fit seamlessly into the retail architecture of each of Silhouette’s customer stores’.
‘The shop-in-shop units feature spacious mirrors, videos and campaign images,’ says Silhouette. It says display units can be tailored to suit each retailer’s needs through working with store owners, and they offer a full design and installation service free of charge. Units are available in different height options.
‘The designated in-store display area is photographed and simulated virtually before building, allowing each retailer to approve the display before it is built and installed, reducing time, cost and hassle,’ Silhouette adds.
German manufacturer Markus T’s shop-in-shop concept, or point of sale system, was borne from a desire to make its frames – which are minimalist and discrete – stand out when in store. It is a modular system that can be adapted to different environments and frame types. The modules vary in size, shape and features, and can be fitted together to allow for constantly changing retail needs.
‘We strived to create a system that is beneficial for every optician,’ says Markus T. ‘Individuality and flexibility really played a big role during the development. The shop owner can adjust the displays to new models and collections over the course of many years.’
Again, the idea behind its displays are that they utilise unused shop spaces, while being easy to dismantle and remove if desired. The look and style of the displays can be used to accentuate certain designs and the relatively low cost of them, compared with a complete refurbishment, make them an appealing option for practices.
Clinical areas lit with blue LEDs in Aston and Woods
Drawing on this idea, Sigma has recently employed a similar concept during the refit of one of its clients, Richard Opticians – which had a small amount of room to work with. A ‘dual type unit’ was used and allowed for 72 frames to be displayed on its exterior with an inside storage compartment, that is able to fold out to reveal the frames, stocking 150 more. Tomic says the dual type sells ‘extremely well’.
External influences
One optician located on Tottenham Court Road in London has taken a quite different approach to the design of its practice. Aston and Woods Opticians, which is owned and operated by Keval and Sona Thakerar, chose to employ a designer from outside the optical sector.
‘For us it was important to go with someone who could help us create something special and unique,’ says Keval. ‘We didn’t want to go for a typical optical fit out, especially for the area we have opened our flagship practice on.’
The couple have a philosophy of tailoring their store to the location, rather than any ‘one size fits all’ solution. The practice’s position in affluent central London, close to many large companies and people who are more ‘fashion focused’ than you would find in the suburbs, means they have gone for a high-end boutique design. ‘I feel it is important for any practice to reflect on the area they are in, especially if you are an independent,’ says Keval. ‘This store won’t look the same as any other store we may do in the future.’
Sona explains how they were influenced by researching different practices in the UK and Europe. ‘When we went to exhibitions in Europe – Mido and Silmo – we realised Europe does eyewear very differently to how we do it here in the UK,’ she says. ‘And we are trying to get people to see eyewear in a different way by making the store a bit more of a retail experience.’
‘People don’t like to think of an opticians as a regular fashion thing, so it was that element of bringing a bit of the European flavour here,’ she adds.
Designer Dean Waugh from Retail Experience Design, who the Thakerar’s commissioned for their practice, says: ‘with Aston and Woods we covered in great detail all of the key strategic questions about brand, location and demographic. It is impossible to design a physical brand & space if you don’t identify with the needs and aspirations of the customers you are trying to engage with.’
The layout and design of the store reflect this idea. Full-length glass windows give the store a wealth of light and allow passers-by to look in. Tactile wooden display tops, often used in combination with glass, are not cluttered with frames, yet display a wide range of choice. Full length mirrors also allow customers to assess the look of their frames relative to their whole ensemble, while LED lighting built into some of the display features make frames stand out. Meanwhile, exposed brick walls and an open ceiling give the place the ‘industrial look’ the pair wanted in order to attract fashionable central Londoners.
‘The shopfront provided fantastic opportunities to communicate the brand and the offer, alongside showcasing eye grabbing visual merchandising to entice customers into the space and ultimately make that indulgent purchase,’ says Waugh.
In line with the ‘increased privacy’ demands Cripwell described earlier, Aston and Woods also developed a VIP suite, which Waugh says ‘formed a comfortable and relaxed booth to allow customers to be invited through and enable staff the opportunity to deliver the complete dispense experience’.
DH Ayers, designed by Sigma
Importantly, the duo wanted a clinic space dramatically different to their retail one. ‘We wanted a clear division between the clinical area and the retail area,’ says Keval. ‘We wanted the retail area to be fashionable, we wanted people to come here and really push the boat out when it came to eyewear. But, also, create the feel in the clinical area, which is the heart and foundation of the practice, that they are getting A-star service.’
The ‘clear division’ they sought was created through the clever use of light. Blue LED lights clearly mark out the clinical area at the back of the store and create a substantially different look and feel from the bright front of house.
‘As soon as a customer walks across the threshold of the sales space and into the testing area the mood completely changes with an emphasis on clinical expertise reflected through high gloss finishes and LED mood lighting,’ Waugh adds.
The pair realise that ‘trust is established in the clinical area’ while most profit comes from the dispensing environment. Therefore, for them, the two spaces need to be clearly demarcated to reflect those different purposes, with the clinical area at the back of the store to allow clients to move through both areas as part of their journey.
They say the feedback from customers has been nothing but positive. ‘People say they feel quite welcome,’ says Sona. ‘Some places have very harsh lighting and you just feel a bit cold. One person recently said they feel more comfortable here than the previous place they went to.’
Another practice that has adopted a similar approach to great effect is Cameron Optometry in Edinburgh, which won the Practice Growth Award, sponsored by A+E+L Markhams, at this year’s Optician Awards. Managing director Ian Cameron, like the Thakerars, believes that optics needs to change its approach to retail.
‘Why is it that optics retails stuff like supermarkets?’ Cameron asks. Over the past two years Cameron has invested heavily in making his practice and the team that run it stand out from the crowd. He employed an interior design company in Edinburgh called Skakel & Skakel who design a variety of retail spaces outside of optics. ‘I found them as they did a local jeweller which I felt had some of the feel that I was looking for in my practice,’ says Cameron.
‘We spent a long time chatting to Andrew Skakel about things before we went to the design. I gave him a lot of info on the history of optics and where I see the sector heading and where I wanted to position my business. His job was to translate that into a retail design,’ says Cameron. ‘I talked about sectors outside of optics and how they retail luxury goods and the trends I see in those retail environments. He had a lot to say on this as his experience is outside of optics.’
Again, like Aston and Woods, Cameron focuses on his position in the market and how best to augment that through the design of his store. ‘I essentially said to him that I don’t want to do what has always been done in our sector, but try and think of a new way of doing glasses retail that was more comparable with non-optics retail trends and would help position my business where I wanted it to be,’ he says.
‘I’m not a designer so I deferred to his skill here and wanted to avoid the blinkered approach that would occur if I just did what I thought – I needed outside input, and outside of optics input at that,’ he adds.