EDITOR’S LETTER
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
you spoke, we listened. In our exclusive 2016 Eyecare Business Focus Group Readership Study, an overwhelming 90% of eyecare professionals said they either Loved or Liked the idea of us covering how to compete with online eyewear sales. Many, many ECPs also typed in comments saying that online eyewear sales are one of their biggest concerns.
So, we dug in and immersed ourselves in the online eyewear world to provide you with some key insights + competitive strategies. A (virtual) reality check, if you will.
Online Eyewear Test Run. We visited websites, purchased, tested, and rented Rx eyewear and plano sunwear online. We visited Warby Parker stores and purchased eyewear there. How’d they all stack up? Check out the surprising results, starting on page 82.
The Wild, Wild Web. What exactly IS selling—and how much of it—on the Internet when it comes to eyewear? EB contributor (plus Forbes.com retail editor) Barbara Thau dives deep to provide us with the state of online eyewear sales + 5 smart ways ECPs are gaining a serious competitive edge (including selling online themselves). Get the scoop starting on page 78.
“We use what we call ‘Prozac elements’ to make our clients feel more comfortable with purchasing online. Our Face Shape Finder, Discover Your Fit, and ‘Ask a Stylist’ live chat features... have helped drive our online sales.”
—Kara Przybyl, director of brand strategy for the four-location Black Optical, tells EB in this issue
My biggest takeaway from this Wild, Wild Web issue is simple: You’ve got this.
Online Rx eyewear sales still represent just 4% of all Rx eyewear sales (up slightly from 3.2% in 2013). In addition, while there will always be the customer to whom price (and online convenience) is king—and that’s where online sellers deliver the goods—there is a sacrifice for low price. Product quality and options, customer service and professionalism, knowledge and passion. You’ve got this.
Patients aren’t buying toasters here. Excellent eye care, stellar service, outstanding in-store experiences, in-person styling assistance, technology, and product features education. Independent eyecare professionals can—and do—deliver it all.
We hope you enjoy the issue and gain some excellent ideas and insights. There is so much more on the pages to come, keep on turning for a guide to social media stardom (page 46), a gorgeous look at fall’s biggest eyewear style trend (page 68), our BIG Vision Expo West Guide to events and Vegas hotspots (page 99), and a behemoth new products section (page 131).
And, if you’re at VEW this month, please be sure to stop by our booth (#LP6115) to say hello, and I’d also love to meet you at my Pop-Up Talk on Fall’s Biggest Eyewear Fashion Trends at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, in the Galleria.
EB celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Do you remember this puzzling cover from 1998?
Erinn Morgan
Editor-in-Chief + Editorial Director
Eyecare Business