Exclusive but not healthy
My son has just arrived home a little late from school. He tried to get a different bus to the usual, but wasn’t allowed on because there was only one of him. The conductor explained that the bus company had a new sales policy: not to sell anyone less than nine tickets (per annum). As my son, bewildered and upset, stepped off the bus, he noted its truly exclusive and sadly rarefied atmosphere and wondered where this might lead.
Anyway, he had just passed his driving test and by the bus stop there was a Rolls Royce showroom. ‘Can I buy just one of those?’ he enquired and was soon on his way.
S***ouette currently won’t sell a frame to anyone who has bought less than 10 from them (per annum). Bulk may be exclusive but it’s not a healthy business.
David Burns
London N17
Supply without safety checks
Earlier this year I carried out a small test of my own, regarding contact lens supplies over the internet.
I chose to order some disposable lenses from Coastal Contacts, not with the intentions of purchase but just to see if their checking system worked. How surprising when, I did not enter any optician details on their website, I was still able to order a batch of lenses. Not only did I manage to order the goods, they arrived very efficiently within the next few days. These were sent on an invoice basis, so I now had some time before I had to pay up. Thinking that someone would contact me to confirm my contact lens specification, this did not happen. So I decided to continue with the process and went to the website and paid up.
Since then I have been getting their emails reminding me to purchase more lenses. So, as a registered contact lens optician, I contacted the GOC and sent them the goods with all the details, invoice confirmation of payment etc. Their legal department wrote explaining that there was nothing they could do as the supplier was not registered with them.
So my gripe is how can they be protecting the public - they can only protect the public against registered members or companies.
What a nonsense. A member of the public will sooner or later lose their sight as a direct result of the wrong product being supplied. Who will they turn to? Interestingly the GOC had no answer for this. Maybe the new legal director will have a different viewpoint.
No doubt the original prescriber will come under scrutiny, and go through a lengthy worrying period of investigation.
Tom Burleigh
Seaford, East Sussex
Progress report on direct supply
On April 21 2006, Optician kindly published an article and editorial on the decision by daysoft to introduce a direct-to-wearer contact lens service while supporting its existing customers (exclusively UK independents) with a rebate credit. The reason for adopting this strategy was then, and still, is published on the B2B/B2C website www.daysoftlenses.com. I would like to provide a progress report and thank the Optician for the opportunity to do so.
Our initiatives have attracted many comments, some informed and some not so! In each case we have addressed the points raised and reflected our conclusions in various updates and improvements to the website and this we will continue to do. There has been continued support from our independent optician customers and new accounts have been opened. Direct-supply sales are well on their way to clocking up the first one million lenses driven by a very high level of repeat purchases and ‘tell a friend’ referrals. The contribution from these sales has helped us avoid a price increase for our fifth successive year, giving prices to independents at up to 50 per cent below our competitors.
We have also amassed extensive data on ‘verification’ and ‘brand matching’ and expressed our willingness to liaise with the GOC on how these processes might be developed and how the lessons learned might be applied to help create a much-needed ‘level playing field’ in the UK. In this regard we look forward to hearing, at the end of October, how prevailing ambiguities relating to the application of the Opticians Act can be clarified following the review of this on behalf of the GOC by Queen’s Counsel.
The above encouraging progress has helped us secure new investment in excess of £2m. This will be directed at further innovative commercial developments and for advertising in both professional and consumer media. For example, in October and November daysoft daily disposable contact lenses will be advertising extensively in in-flight magazines under the ‘Believing is seeing’ banner (EasyJet and BMIbaby) and in a new magazine for students (Beat). We will also continue to encourage contact lenses wearers to care for their eyes via our order processing systems, our website www.daysoftlenses.com and our monthly news letters by encouraging regular aftercare checks and to direct wearers to local independent opticians for aftercare when we are (increasingly) asked to advise them.
By maintaining our strategy of only making and selling daily-disposables, the healthiest form of contact lens wear available, by investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing technology and by linking the ordering convenience of the internet to our network of independent optician customers, we will grow the UK contact lens market while ensuring the highest levels of patient safety, convenience and value for money.
Ron Hamilton
Founder, daysoft