Optrafair London was a notable even for a number of reasons for Dominique Gastaldi, Clearlab’s sales manager for Europe. For him, it marked a return to the world of contact lenses and a return of Clearlab to the UK market.
As a brand, Clearlab will be well known by many UK independents. It had been owned by 1-800 Contacts, with a manufacturing plant in Plymouth, and wowed the world with its flat-pack technology.
That was all to change. In 2006, the firm withdrew from UK manufacturing, the flat-pack technology would be sold to Menicon. The remainder of the business was sold to Korean Dr Park Jong Gu in 2008 and became a private Singaporean firm.
‘Clearlab is still a family business and almost 700 people work for the firm,’ says Gastaldi. He explains that following the factory closure Clearlab as a brand disappeared from the UK and became a private label manufacturer for chains and distributors. ‘We didn’t have any visibility for the Clearlab brand in the UK, but at the beginning of 2014 Clearlab decided it wanted to come back to the market.’
Clearlab bought a warehouse near Aldermaston, which enables a 24-hour turnaround of product, and set up a UK customer service centre. It was essentially a standing start.
‘When I looked on the internet, the only story I found about Clearlab was on the factory closure,’ he adds with despair. But things were to improve.
‘We kicked it all off in Optrafair London and some people said, “hang on, I used to buy from you six or seven years ago”. Just a few months later, CooperVision bought Sauflon, which was great for me. I knew that a lot of people would be scared of that because it puts too many eggs in one basket.’
In the first year, Gastaldi signed up 500 independent practice accounts and the three main buying groups. While Clearlab has so far only worked with independents, he makes no apology about wanting to work with the multiples too. But one thing is for sure. ‘We do not sell online.’ He is realistic about the channel, though. ‘We try to control it as much as we can and we don’t deal with online, and we try and stop our distributors from doing that.’
Thanks to its expertise in private labelling, Clearlab has come up with a novel strategy for practices fearful of the web. This is to private label, right down to single practice level (News, 09.10.15). ‘For those opticians that are scared of the web, we offer practices a private label and we can be very flexible.’
This is done at no extra cost to the practice and is achieved by producing products in unlabelled boxes and then bespoke printing outers to each client’s specifications. Gastaldi accepts that this is not something Clearlab will be able to continue to do for very small volumes indefinitely. While it is on offer, he says it’s a great way to brand the product to the practice. Patients are happy to accept the recommendation of the eye care professional and the brand is created for, and unique to, the practice, and it can’t be found online. ‘This is the best way to help opticians combat the internet.’
Private labelling is available across its product range. Clearlab’s recent move into the silicone hydrogel daily disposable sector completes its portfolio of products and puts the firm in a position to make a concerted push as a broadband supplier. Its SiH offering is a high water content, low modulus material and the addition of Beyond 1-day adds to the Beyond SiH lenses in monthly and monthly toric formats. This builds on its hydrogel products covering the same sectors under its clearall-day and clear1-day brands. More SiH products in popular designs will follow for astigmats and presbyopes early next year.
Gastaldi is also keen to highlight Clearview’s pedigree in coloured lenses. In its home markets of Singapore and Korea, up to half of the lenses sold in some sectors can be coloured and he points to the myriad of colours available in powers from +6 to -10 and, crucially, also all in plano. Clearlab also offers whacky designs in its Phantom coloured lens range, which come in a mixture of monthly and daily modalities.
He points out that these cosmetic and coloured lenses have been reworked for Europe with different designs and colours. In the East, this is a mainstream market for Clearlab. Halloween and plano lenses is a sector the optical profession needs to recapture to safeguard patient safety, he says. ‘It’s a small part of the market but one in which we have no real rivals,’ he adds.
The private label opportunity is an offer Gastaldi sees as capturing the Zeitgeist of a profession unnerved by internet sales. As we speak, he is preparing for a trip that will encompasses the Sight Care events, National Eyecare Group conference, the Association of Independent Opticians and SLOSS to meet those independents. Top of the list for private labelling are leading independents and small groups, along with the unique brands it has created for buying groups such as the National Eyecare Group and CEECOP.
Gastaldi says he has spoken to practices that are giving up on contact lenses because they spend time fitting patients only to see them simply leave and buy online. ‘We are asking patients to switch from the large suppliers,’ he adds, as their products can be readily found online. ‘We want to motivate practices to re-engage with contact lenses by making them feel they are building their brand and retaining customers.’
He says the contact lens box and the branding is the thing customer sees every day when they put their lenses in. They remember that brand and will look for it online. ‘We are protecting your business by protecting your brand. At the end of the day, it’s your baby.’
Gastaldi is now working on case studies that prove this private label strategy works. He says the fact the firm has signed up 575 optical practices in the past year proves people have bought into the idea. ‘Making patients loyal is easy, it’s all about your brand.’