The independent sector has become comfortable with market segmentation, consumer fragmentation and offering differentiation.

On hearing the presentations at the Sight Care conference 'Riding the waves of uncertainty', I was positively welling up for the multiples as a succession of speakers painted the rosy picture independents could look forward to.
Joking aside, it was a very well attended meeting and an extremely lively conference and the feel there implied that perhaps the independent sector had a flexibility that the corporates would find difficult to match.
Sitting among the 540 or so independent optometrists, dispensing opticians, practice managers and support staff who travelled to Birmingham, there was a tangible feeling of optimism.
One practice-fitting company exhibiting at the conference said it had been contacted by 40 start-up practices since November, again indicating that there was optimism and positive activity taking place.
The teabreaks provided a golden opportunity for networking and the talk from the podium and on the conference floor was about customers, propositions and market identification.
Most of the speakers talked about the changing nature of the optical business, the changing nature of customers and the necessity of practices to be able to adapt to meet those needs.
The independent sector has become comfortable with market segmentation, consumer fragmentation and offering differentiation. This may be clumsy marketing jargon but they are also the factors that are changing everyday practice life.
Independent practices are ideally suited to making those changes in a rapid, yet people-friendly way. The conference begged the question, have the chains become too large and lost the flexibility needed to woo today's consumer?
I would pose another, has the independent worm turned? For a full listing of RBI titles http://www.reedbusiness.comHas the worm turned?optician published every Friday © 2004 Reed Business Information Limited at Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. Telephone 020 8652 3500. Fax 020 8652 8993. Printed in Britain by Williams Press (Berks) Ltd, Cordwallis Works, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7BX. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office, distributed by Marketforce. ISSN 0030.3968.OpticianEditorial tel: 020 8652 8243 Editorial Fax: 020 8652 8993
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