Online optical retail is likely to have another major player in the very near future. It’s not front-page news this week because the operation is still in the testing phase so there’s still time for the plug to be pulled. However, on the face of it, the model is well thought out and different to what’s currently out there.
It doesn’t matter how many opticians, optometrists or businesses owners I speak to or hear from, everybody has their own take on dealing with internet competition, but also the customers who buy online.
Showrooming, where patients browse collections and photographs for whatever details they can glean from a frame before going elsewhere to purchase, must be one of the most frustrating things for someone on the shop floor. A recent forum thread on this very subject highlighted the different approaches – from those willing to retain custom and those unwilling to compromise on their values.
One poster said the practice receptionist had finely tuned dialogue to deal with this type of patient, explaining that the practice didn’t give these details away. Another said their approach was to highlight the additional services buying in practice offered, such as a better trying on process and proper fitting.
The tongue-in-cheek strategy I liked most was a practitioner’s suggestion of price matching, with the caveat of also matching the seller’s terms and service. This meant posting the glasses once they had been glazed, doing away with the dispense and only complying with the online seller’s terms and conditions. At least that patient might get the message.
In all the years that online retail has been the proverbial thorn in the side of opticians, there doesn’t seem to have been a common strategy on how best to counteract its negative effects. Will such joined up thinking ever exist? It’s really hard to say, but with some of the suppliers practices work with, they’re not really helping themselves.