Here's my new message...

[Java99]

+1

I think that some people can't build the value, because they question if the value is true.

Those that are confident in their skills, their products, and the service they deliver, have no problem asking for what they deserve.

Amen. It really is that simple. If it weren't , no better mousetrap would ever sell to anyone.

[Chris Ryser]

So as professionals, how do you explain the differences between online opticals, when VSP and Essilor have an online presence. In the mind of the consumer, isn't one just like another?

Corporations like the above mentioned ones have the resources to make in depth market studies. When they move into one direction they know why they are doing it. They plan ahead and have always done so and have succeeded all the way with their system.

Opticians have forever, with some exceptions embraced the way of selling products at the highest margins possible, while bundling in after sale services for free. Some consumer will use those and some will not. It has worked well for the past as it became a standard around the world.

These days are over, or will be sooner than you think. The move of the 3 corporations mentioned above should have been the first warning sign. They are banking on the on-line business to move their products fast and in large quantities, while opticians discuss how to counter the new trend one by one with totally different theories and no real result.

For the ones in a niche business for the ones that want and can afford it there will be little change as they are selling luxury products.

[tx11]

Frame and lens manufacturers (including Brand names) are in the business of moving products. If they can sell more product by going on- line they will. Do they need opticians to move product? Probably not. All they need is a "salesperson" or a platform from which to sell (websites).

Perhaps all B&M opticals should get an incognito lower end presence on-line and start getting a piece of the growing market. Comments..

[tx11]

At least people still need to come to MDs/ODs for eyeglass and cl RX's. So there is still some sense that eyewear is actually a medical device and not just a fashion commodity.

[CoolOptician]

Maybe what you all say about the 'online presence' is true. I only have my very small experience. The two people who brought in frames they bought online, looked 'butt-ugly' in them. (Lol, no I didn't tell them that....I did say I'd be glad to put their Rx in them, but pointed out the flaws so they would be aware of the possible problems. Things they had never thought about in choosing a frame.

I have leftover frame stock from retirement. I've looked at many different ways of moving them. (Just selling them at my cost, so they are a buy for the consumer.) An Amazon store, or posting on about six of our local (within an hour or less) Facebook buy & sell sites, and selling to professionals at a very low cost. (None of my local professionals were interested, in my frames low-balled, or my records. I think their mindset is 'we will get all of your business anyway' without doing any kind of business with you.) Here's what happened. I have had minimal response on Amazon. Huge response on the Facebook sites, BUT the people that responded the most, all lived an hour away, in many different directions. All of them loved the pictures. NONE of them were interested in buying them without trying them on!

Now I've had a couple 'frame game' experiences in local businesses that asked me to bring in stock for their 'office help' to look at. In every store I've been in, I've sold a frame to every person in the office. And they have ALL told me that no one has ever 'helped' them choose a frame the way we do, pointing out the different effects of the frames they choose, etc. So maybe, if online eyeglass buying becomes that big of a deal, it is going to have to be because they come in to our stores and pick out the model they want first. Or we are failing on our job to show them that choosing the right frame for your face and prescription isn't quite as simple as they think!

[tx11]

[QUOTE=CoolOptician;438727]Maybe what you all say about the 'online presence' is true. I only have my very small experience. The two people who brought in frames they bought online, looked 'butt-ugly' in them. (Lol, no I didn't tell them that....I did say I'd be glad to put their Rx in them, but pointed out the flaws so they would be aware of the possible problems. Things they had never thought about in choosing a frame.

I have leftover frame stock from retirement. I've looked at many different ways of moving them. (Just selling them at my cost, so they are a buy for the consumer.) An Amazon store, or posting on about six of our local (within an hour or less) Facebook buy & sell sites, and selling to professionals at a very low cost. (None of my local professionals were interested, in my frames low-balled, or my records. I think their mindset is 'we will get all of your business anyway' without doing any kind of business with you.) Here's what happened. I have had minimal response on Amazon. Huge response on the Facebook sites, BUT the people that responded the most, all lived an hour away, in many different directions. All of them loved the pictures. NONE of them were interested in buying them without trying them on!

Now I've had a couple 'frame game' experiences in local businesses that asked me to bring in stock for their 'office help' to look at. In every store I've been in, I've sold a frame to every person in the office. And they have ALL told me that no one has ever 'helped' them choose a frame the way we do, pointing out the different effects of the frames they choose, etc. So maybe, if online eyeglass buying becomes that big of a deal, it is going to have to be because they come in to our stores and pick out the model they want first. Or we are failing on our job to show them that choosing the right frame for your face and prescription isn't quite as simple as they think! [

I think that low low price is the key to "no try on sales". It doesn't matter what brand they are. Vera wang, Vera bradley, Chanel... if it cost more than, let say $25.00, it's probably too big a risk for someone to take w/o trying on. The exception is if you offer a no hassle return/exchange policy.

I don't know if every B&M optical has felt the effects of on-line yet. I work in a high tech, higher income area in Texas and I get questioned about on-line at least twice a week. Probably twice a month someone comes in wearing a pair of glasses that they purchased on-line. They are not bad looking. The frames are mostly injection molded plastics or inexpensive metals with spring hinge. PDs are accurate MOST of the time , but usually within tolerance for the lens powers. When asked they seem to be happy with what they received for what the paid.