E-commerce giant Amazon’s increasing presence in the UK’s business and cultural life is forcing every customer-facing organisation to vastly improve its services.
In the optical sector the Amazon effect is perhaps being most strikingly seen in logistics – namely getting frames and contact lenses from suppliers to optician stores and customer homes as quickly and efficiently as possible.
According to Tim Ralph, managing director of logistics firm Adaro Direct, the independent optician sector is not responding to consumer demands as alertly as its online rivals.
He says 24.6% of UK contact lens ordering is now made online with the main drivers being service and convenience before price.
‘There is a disparity between the UK consumer service expectations set by the major retailers such as Amazon and Next and the optical retailer service experience,’ he says. ‘This disparity is both at the supply from practice as well as direct to patient. Optical retailers need to deliver Amazonesque service in the UK optics market or the market will recede or move to online retailers.’
Adaro speaks with some authority in the market. It delivers contact lenses orders for more than 350 independent opticians with 70% of packets being delivered to customer homes. Typical delivery times are between five and seven days.
It offers services for opticians including creating their own online re-order service, direct debit service and own branded deliveries including name and logo.
‘These services are popular with our independent retailer customers because it gives them the chance to offer a branded and quality delivery alternative to the multiples,’ explains Ralph. ‘Now there has been a change with a greater focus on express deliveries and easier ordering for customers. There is still demand for the scheduled direct debit orders every three months but opticians now want to meet demand for ad hoc orders to help customers who need new lenses more quickly. The consumer mindset has changed. They are used to Amazon delivering next day, seven days a week, and they now want that convenience and speed with their optical needs. People are dependent on eyesight and the products to support their lives. Customers are also less loyal to companies now and less patient so opticians need to deliver that service change.’
He says opticians need to be more responsive. They need to be able to offer next day deliveries or even same day deliveries.
The delivery service also needs to be reliable, on time and presented ‘consistently and professionally in sustainable packaging’.
He adds: ‘Customers should have the ability to control their product ordering 24/7. They should be able to re-order product online if they run out, check where the delivery is, choose delivery address, check when the planned next delivery is scheduled, check direct debit status and book an eye check appointment. Communicating with customers about their orders is important.’
He believes the online players are already offering this. ‘Consumers want easy ordering and fast delivery. Online contact lens retailers are offering UK next day delivery for orders before 5pm,’ he states.
Delivery services are expected to be reliable and packaged sustainably
In response Adaro has launched an express contact lens delivery service for their customers.
‘We stock UK genuine popular brands from suppliers of contact lenses and solutions. It offers the convenience of online ordering combined with same day despatch and next day delivery,’ says Ralph. ‘Initially the awareness of the need for an improved logistic service delivery was from independent research on why online retailers have acquired UK consumers. Subsequently we were asked by our retailer customers for assistance.’
DX, which delivers and collects frames and lenses between manufacturers and opticians around the UK is also looking at widening its service offerings.
At present it offers fully tracked next day delivery including pre-lunchtime and Saturday premiums to optician customers. For larger firms it offers secure delivery to home addresses. It also delivers returns to wholesalers, orders to manufacturers and repairs to workshops.
James Timberlake, head of marketing at DX, says it is considering offering a same day delivery option. ‘There is a cost challenge associated with same day, especially for bespoke frames, but if there are customers ready to pay for it then we are happy to talk,’ he states.
Independents he believes are at a disadvantage compared to both multiples and online players because of this issue of cost.
‘They don’t have the purchasing power that larger firms have in the supply chain,’ he explains. ‘It is why we are seeing independents pushing more of a personalised service to win and retain business. So newsletters and customer relationship management and building a brand on service and quality. Packaging and delivery can be part of that but these are not cheap services.’
So what is the view of the manufacturers and opticians? How important is logistics in improving customer and operational service?
Essilor distributes around 2.5million lenses from its Thornbury laboratory every year which are shipped directly, via optical couriers, to independent opticians in the UK and Ireland.
Simon Wilkins, logistics manager at Essilor UK and Ireland, explains that for customers seeking a ‘very quick service’ it provides a next day delivery option.
‘In addition to our Thornbury site we can supply lenses from our local sites in London and Manchester,’ Wilkins adds. ‘This is a great asset to customers within the main conurbations as they benefit from having reduced timescales when they need them most.’
It has also focused on providing tracking services for customers to improve their experience. ‘We are always trying to use modern technology as much as possible to enhance the customer experience,’ Wilkins adds. ‘One of the recent development has been to integrate our systems with one of our optical couriers enabling customers to track their orders from dispatch right through to delivery into their practice. The customer can now follow their lens order on every step of the journey.’
Fay Rice, joint owner of Jason Rice I-Care, sees speed as a huge challenge. ‘Customers with complex prescriptions are usually aware their lenses have to be specially made, ditto wearers of tailor-made varifocals,’ she says. ‘However, the fact that we as a society are becoming used to instant gratification means speed is becoming more of a concern especially for the simple prescriptions and younger clientele. These are the type who would instinctively go to a multiple and we struggle to compete as their logistics are sorted for them by head office with all the advantages given by economies of scale.’
Jason Rice manages all its logistics needs using the HoyaiLog online system providing an ETA for delivery as an order is placed. ‘This is particularly useful for informing customers before they leave the practice,’ Rice explains. ‘The ability to track orders once placed with suppliers is incredibly useful as it means any delays can immediately be transmitted to the customer. It’s another facility offered by the suppliers if the order is placed via the net. Facilities such as remote edging mean orders are transmitted via the internet and then come through much quicker. The reduction in postal charges is a welcome bonus. Stock orders very often come through within 24 hours.’
Fay Rice explains contact lenses are often delivered directly to customers from supplier’s courier providers but spectacles are always delivered to practice. ‘I don’t want to see spectacles going the way of home delivery as the final fitting is paramount to the service we offer,’ she adds. ‘For us improved logistics enables us to compete with the multiples in terms of turnaround time.’
Ralph of Adaro would certainly praise the work being carried out at Jason Rice.
He senses there is ‘quite a number’ of opticians wedded to traditional delivery processes.
‘They are ignoring the changes in customer habits,’ he says. ‘The UK optical retail market has a lethargy to change and we need to help these retailers become aware they are losing custom because of this. It is about giving their customers more choice.’
Opticians also need to be aware about how changes in optical manufacturing will affect logistics, deliveries and customer service in the future.
The European Union’s Optician 2020 programme is investigating the creation of personalised spectacles ‘adapted to the morphology of each user’ by means of 3D printing technologies and local manufacturing close to sales points.
Project manager Joan Guasch says: ‘The project combines advanced manufacturing technologies with a network of mini-production centres, personalised design, knowledge engineering, sustainable production technology, anthropometry and ergonomics to demonstrate that the manufacture of personalised spectacles can be a local, profitable business while remain sustainable and in line with the latest fashion.’
As part of a demonstration phase, in which personalised specs are being produced for more than 200 people, reductions in delivery time, production costs and environmental impact are being assessed.
Indeed, Guasch says the use of clustered proximity mini-factories has reduced production time for personalised specs down to 14 days from purchase order to delivery compared to 35 days minimum.
‘There is room for further reduction to one week but this requires larger volumes that we can’t afford in a demonstration project,’ he adds. ‘We believe the combination of additive manufacturing with proximity production, together with personalisation of spectacles will transform the logistics of the optical sector. On one hand, all current stocks of spectacle frames that you can find in every optician will disappear since there is no need for having stocks of different frame models.’
This may all sound like some distant future but it is vital for opticians of all sizes to keep abreast of these technological changes and how they will affect the supply and delivery of our nation’s spectacles and lenses.