Playing both sides

[tx11]

Has anyone here tried to gain market share through MY ON LINE OPTICAL STORE? Was it an extension of your B&M store or did you use a DBA? What has been your experience?

[tx11]

????

[Jacqui]

I looked at it, but decided it wouldn't fit my operation. There was some talk about it on one of the Facebook groups.

[Chris Ryser]

All the information is at:

http://www.myonlineoptical.com/

[tx11]

Are there ANY others BESIDES ESSILOR ?

[Jacqui]

Are there ANY others BESIDES ESSILOR ?

Don't think so Start your own

[fjpod]

I could be wrong, but I think most consumers that go for online eyewear are bottom feeders. Oh..., they may think they are getting trendy product, or better product for half the price, or they don't have the time to go to a BM store... And some of these reasons may be somewhat valid, but do you really want to compete for the bottom? Do you really want to go head to head with the BIG online retailers and compete on price? It's not like you can compete by offering personal service.

Although we have not made it work in our practice, I think promoting your online store to existing patients might produce the best yield.

[braheem24]

Promoting your online store to existing patients might produce the best yield.

...or drive them out of your door and into someone else's virtual door with an extra click of a mouse.

[Chris Ryser]

I could be wrong, but I think most consumers that go for online eyewear are bottom feeders. Oh..., they may think they are getting trendy product, or better product for half the price, or they don't have the time to go to a BM store... And some of these reasons may be somewhat valid, but do you really want to compete for the bottom? Do you really want to go head to head with the BIG online retailers and compete on price? It's not like you can compete by offering personal service.

fjpod...............I know you get up early in the morning and you might only see my post by then.

One of my daughters dropped in this morning, fathers day, with a home made carrot cake, of which she makes THE BEST (my mothers receipe), and we had a long talk about business these days.

She and her husband own a beauty parlor hidden away in an office complex without any through traffic. So they live on reputation only, but they charge $ 120.00 for a hair cut and $ 45.00+ for a manicure and have barely felt the tough times we all do. They cater to the local wealthy customers who refer their friends to see them.

Discussion is, that on internet sales, and I learned, that today you can have all the beauty parlor supplies on line, like we can get all the optical stuff at a fraction of our normal sales prices.

So why is my daughter and husband busy, make money, have a beautiful house and garden and a few cars to play with. They claim, and I believe them, they sell their personality, service, and know how and not the products they use and sell.

If a customer buy's the most expensive item on line for a fraction of their selling prices she still does not know how to apply it the right way. So they let them bring in the product use it and charge them for their own artistic work and maybe the customer has saved a few bucks but will not bother with it the next time.

Acording to her it is we have to sell the personality and not the product and it seem to work for them.

Opticians could do the same thing, get the internet purchasers into your store for before and after service, charge them for it have a happy camper who will return for advice and guidance, thatis what you are good at, for a price and they will start finding it a normal way of doing it.

[fjpod]

fjpod...............I know you get up early in the morning and you might only see my post by then.

One of my daughters dropped in this morning, fathers day, with a home made carrot cake, of which she makes THE BEST (my mothers receipe), and we had a long talk about business these days.

She and her husband own a beauty parlor hidden away in an office complex without any through traffic. So they live on reputation only, but they charge $ 120.00 for a hair cut and $ 45.00+ for a manicure and have barely felt the tough times we all do. They cater to the local wealthy customers who refer their friends to see them.

Discussion is, that on internet sales, and I learned, that today you can have all the beauty parlor supplies on line, like we can get all the optical stuff at a fraction of our normal sales prices.

So why is my daughter and husband busy, make money, have a beautiful house and garden and a few cars to play with. They claim, and I believe them, they sell their personality, service, and know how and not the products they use and sell.

If a customer buy's the most expensive item on line for a fraction of their selling prices she still does not know how to apply it the right way. So they let them bring in the product use it and charge them for their own artistic work and maybe the customer has saved a few bucks but will not bother with it the next time.

Acording to her it is we have to sell the personality and not the product and it seem to work for them.

Opticians could do the same thing, get the internet purchasers into your store for before and after service, charge them for it have a happy camper who will return for advice and guidance, thatis what you are good at, for a price and they will start finding it a normal way of doing it.

I guess your daughter and her husband are very personable. Kudos to them. For better or worse, eyecare in the US has become an item covered by insurance. I find consumers like to use their insurance and have come to expect everything for free.

If I were to offer online sales to my current clientele, it would be for their convenience. I would probably do delivery at the office with the same personal hands-on service they have come to expect from my office.

[Stan Tabor]

I could be wrong, but I think most consumers that go for online eyewear are bottom feeders. Oh..., they may think they are getting trendy product, or better product for half the price, or they don't have the time to go to a BM store... And some of these reasons may be somewhat valid, but do you really want to compete for the bottom? Do you really want to go head to head with the BIG online retailers and compete on price? It's not like you can compete by offering personal service.

Although we have not made it work in our practice, I think promoting your online store to existing patients might produce the best yield.

I am not sure I would call them bottom feeders. Some may be, but the reality is many people are either unemployed or have a job without eyecare benefits. For them, online is an affordable solution to their eyewear needs. Additionally, many have purchased second and third pairs online as affordable fashion accessories and the bad news is customer satisfaction levels are very high. This tells me that consumers who buy online do not see the additional cost at a brick and mortar as bringing value commensurate with the cost. Don't believe me? Look at the facebook and twitter feeds of Zenni, Frames Direct and Warby Parker. You will see many happy customers and very few complaints. When it comes to consumer satisfaction, perception is reality. And the satisfaction levels of the consumers buying online is generally very positive.

Online is still a small % and as others have pointed out, those who offer superior service, unique products, and have loyal customers will continue to thrive. But to simply dismiss those who buy online as bottom feeders overly simplifies what is really going on.

Regarding promoting your own online, unless you invest heavily in paid searches, consumers will only see your site if they search directly on your company name or key in the URL. Appearing on the first page of organic keyword searches using eyewear terms requires time and money to develop a presence with the search engines. I am not sure this is a viable solution for the typical retailer unless you heavily market your online name to your customers and prospective customers.

[tx11]

$$$

[Java99]

A place where I worked previously used that service. It was a mess and didn't make any money. People would come into the office expecting to see all the frames available at the site in the actual building, which was impossible since most of them were lines we didn't even carry.

I think it could be viable in a different form, but not as it stands.

[Johns]

If a customer buy's the most expensive item on line for a fraction of their selling prices she still does not know how to apply it the right way. So they let them bring in the product use it and charge them for their own artistic work and maybe the customer has saved a few bucks but will not bother with it the next time.

1, If they only cater to the wealthy, and have not been affected by the economy, why would they be applying products on customers that purchase products online?

2. Applying a product is not like putting on a pr. of glasses, unless you are talking about the actual fitting process.

[Johns]

...or drive them out of your door and into someone else's virtual door with an extra click of a mouse.

Couldn't agree more, bro.

Why educate them on how to purchase online? Those that want it will find it without you turning your patient base over to the big E.

Really? Really? Why are we even having this conversation? This should be SO (SO) obvious to everyone what has happened, and how they are using you all to accomplish it.

Really?

[tx11]

Is anyone contemplating going on line in 2014?

[becc971]

Is anyone contemplating going on line in 2014?

Our boss just asked us to start coming up with ideas on how to do this :-[

i'm NOT excited.

[MakeOptics]

Is anyone contemplating going on line in 2014?

The OAA, AOA, and ABO. Last newsletter was an article about possibly certifying online opticals. I have been waiting for someone to post but it's not news worthy I guess.

[CCGREEN]

Is anyone contemplating going on line in 2014?

By "going on line", just what do you mean? Selling on line or making something like a Facebook page?
If its a Facebook page I am quite surprised at the amount of MD's (of other professions) that have FB pages that come into our office asking why we do not have one. I guess its time we jump on the band wagon and do the same on FB. But yes we do have a website www.advancedeyecare.net and have had it many years. It needs a lot of work on it I think to make it more user friendly and unfortunately the MD who owns all this kinda looks upon optical as just a courtesy for his patients. So its real hard for me to make any real money here. We have a OD in here only 1 1/2 days a week so its hard for me to make much money off her Rx's.

[tx11]

Actually both but especially selling online.

[uncut]

Unfortunately....there are two things I find difficult to purchase/participate in "on-line"..................eyewear, and sex.....as it is difficult to get the right "fit" in both instances. Of course that is simply just my opinion!

[tx11]

[MakeOptics]

Would it be helpful to have the ability to take a PD from a client online? Would it help if the software was open source and freely available? Would that level the playing field?

[Golfnorth]

Would it be helpful to have the ability to take a PD from a client online? Would it help if the software was open source and freely available? Would that level the playing field?

I'm not sure how the ability to take a PD online will help someone purchase sex online and get a good fit.

[optical24/7]

I'm not sure how the ability to take a PD online will help someone purchase sex online and get a good fit.

A Pelvic Diameter just could be helpful information.