Online Optician News

[rbaker]

I found this on a blog. I am passing it along for your comment.


Online optician 'wants to mimic success of web insurance'

Category: Ecommerce
March 19th 08, 11:14

Internet optician Glasses Direct has compared its growth to that of the insurance industry when it made its initial foray into cyberspace.

Speaking to E-consultancy, marketing director Phil Gates said that consumers embraced the process of online shopping for insurance products and were likely to do the same for glasses.

Recent comScore figures revealed that the number of car insurance policies purchased online exceeded two million last year.

"Customers buying their prescription glasses online do require a leap of faith; faith that the public demonstrated when moving to buying insurance online not so many years ago, rather than being told what policy they should have by a broker," he asserted.

Crucial to this shift in customer sentiment is the element of control, Mr Gates explains, noting that e-commerce offers the consumer the opportunity to drive their own purchase decisions.

Advice offered by Mr Gates to start-up e-commerce companies includes incorporating complete control of costs into any business plan, as well as adopting a customer-focused approach over product or channel-centric strategies.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.

[AdmiralKnight]

That's quite the leap of faith. Faith that they'll be able to make a custom set of glasses without seeing the patient. Awesome.

[For-Life]

Ya, that will happen when they keep under bidding each other for $32, $16, $8, $4, $2 glasses.

Either way, insurance is something remarkable. You cannot see it. You can see the piece of paper it is on, but until something happens, it is not there.

Glasses are very visible. I give them to you, you can see, fee, and touch them. Not only that, but you can wear them. Feel them on all of the time, and they have the ability to drastically make you very comfortable or the opposite of such.

Watch people in your store. Look at how they try on glasses. They do not just walk up to the board, point, and say "I'll take those." Grab a frame without a spring hinge and they will let you know. Grab a light frame and they will let you know. Change the size and they will let you know. Most of all, tell them there is another colour and show it to them in a catalogue. Next thing you will hear is them asking for you to bring the model into the store.

Will people buy glasses online? Yes. Is there a market for it? Yes. But the way I see it, these guys have already been wearing junk and buying from the bottom of the hole for years anyways, so it will not affect me.

As for those clients of yours that you have dealt with for years and go online to buy a pair - You cannot tell me that has never happened with Wal-Mart or Lenscrafters before. In the end, they come back.

[Ginster]

Its the personal touch, and the knowledge we all jave that you can't get out of a box, This to me is scarry, but I beleive this to shall pass.

[THE MEB]

and the embarasment of coming into the shop with their new glasses wanting a special adjustment that only "you" can provide, at n/c, of course. That is how we retain or patients that go to Wallyworld because of price. They inevitably find their way back because they can't stand the fit or the rx there, compared to our place.

[apaul]

This guy is in the UK got himself a shed load of publicity
and seems to be doing very well bless him:angry:

ps:angry:

[jediron1]

[quote=For-Life;234263]Ya, that will happen when they keep under bidding each other for $32, $16, $8, $4, $2 glasses.

Already happening! Have you seen Sears ad for 50%,60%,70% & 80% off and then I just saw another one for $89 complete with frame and no-line. Boy I have a headache!

[ikon44]

This guy is in the UK got himself a shed load of publicity
and seems to be doing very well bless him:angry:

ps:angry:

the guy that owns it ,james murray wells is very connected in the media and mixes with princes william and harry,he is an expert at getting himself into the news,however he has trouble delivering what he promises... he opened another website called contact lenses direct,promising to have the cheapest contact lenses in the uk,in fact his lenses were the most expensive on the internet, the site has now shut down.