Play to your strengths AOP tells practitioners

A frank report on the contact lens sector, outlining the strategic options for optometrists facing new competition from supermarkets and internet businesses, has been published.

One of its key findings is that practitioners need to improve their contact lens skills, as well as their commercial acumen to offer consumers the premium service which is their strength.

It also found that optometrists need to be more proactive in targeting potential new lens wearers when they sell spectacles, and for some selling lenses should no longer be the preserve of younger customers, and that older patients are ‘an attractive target group’.

Independents, in particular, are encouraged to build on their professional authority, reputation and individual service, rather than compete on convenience and price. Optical outlets can provide ‘destination credential’ as the supermarkets’ roll-out is likely to be limited.

Although the report points out the opportunities in the sector for independent and multiple optometrists, comments from industry and professionals in ‘Contact Lens Strategies for the Future’, indicate the concern for traditional sales routes following last year’s liberalising legislation (see panel).

The AOP commissioned management consultant Practical Management Solutions and Insights (PMSI) to conduct the research, and its methods included consultation with industry experts in the UK and other European markets as well as telephone interviews with a sample of UK optometrists.

Association chief executive Bob Hughes said: ‘The AOP commissioned this original research to help the profession play to its strengths and ensure that contact lens patients fully understand the service they are being offered, plus the enormous health benefit gained by regular visits to an optometrist or contact lens optician.’