Trudi Charest is the Co-Founder of Marketing4ECPs, a digital marketing agency for eye care professionals in North America. Trudi is an Optician, entrepreneur, best selling author, business coach and consultant. Trudi can be reached at www.marketing4ecps.com or trudi@4ecps.com.
"The optical industry is one of the few industries that actually still allows for product to be returned or exchanged. Most retail businesses buy product that they then own outright and they have no option but to sell it one way or another. Of course, we all want to sell our products at full price and fast, creating a great turnover ratio but alas that is not always the case."
But is the answer exchanging or returning? Not if you want to retain some profits on your purchases. You are much better off trying to move the product, even at a lower price or at the cost of the lenses if your return rate makes you lose money.
So how do you move unmoveable product? There are lots of ways to liquidate eyewear.
When a frame is not selling it might not be that the frame is not a great choice, it may actually be where you are positioning it on your frame boards. Retail stores do this all the time where they will move products closer to the front door of the store to get it more exposure. Think the same way about your frame boards. Eye level is prime real estate so try moving frames to this area and watch what happens.
Give that dusty, old frame a polish and cleaning. Think of what happens when you take a tired pair of boots to the shoe shiner. They come out looking like new. Run the frames through the ultrasonic, polish with a cloth, remove the cull lenses if they are scratched and replace price tags.
When we get new shipment of frames in the optical we tend to make them the highlight of our displays. Let’s flip that around and take 10 frames we want to move out the door and make them the center of attention. Place them in areas that everyone in the office needs to pass by and dress up the display to grab attention.
Smart retailers do this all the time. Think recently reduced signs or yellow highlights signs at Costco or my favourite the “rollback” at Walmart. It’s not a sale…but a price reduction. It might have been a bit too high to begin with so lowering the price makes your optical staff show it more. You can also try “anchoring” a common retail tactic. Leave the original price up, with the reduced price beside it.
It is different than lowering the price because we are leaving it at the original price but offering a sales incentive. I know most small businesses don’t like losing any margins but it’s better to blow it out the door than return it. Don’t do 10% or something low that won’t get any traction. Start at 25% or 30% and work your way up to 50%. You can also try a dollar value…that sometimes works better and is still around the 25% off, for example $100 off.
Optical staff love new product. So you have to find a way to make them love OLD product. Easiest way is to incentivize them with a bonus, stiff or contest. Who ever sells the most old product in a month gets a half day off.
We see a lot of frame and lens companies working together these days to offer value packages. Talk to your lab representative and see if they have a special deal you can take advantage of and build an area for the price conscious consumer with frame and lens packages starting at $159 or $259. Whatever works for your area and price point.
Similar to above, many labs have a second pair deal on lenses. You can do the same with the frames you are trying to move out. For example; patient pays full price for the first pair but get’s 50% off the second pair frame and lenses but from a designated selection of frames.
I honestly fall for this one myself all the time. When I go into a store that has highlighted what is a staff favourite product I immediately am interested because I think the staff must know what is the best and trendiest. Staff have access to all the products so for them to highlight it must make it special. Try doing this with older product. Get your staff to put their stamp on their favorite out of the frames you want to move out and see what happens.
This works great with sunglasses you want to move out the door because you are not relying on having to provide prescription lenses as well. We want to stir up engagement on our social media channels and a great way to do is to have people engage and follow to win a prize. Write it off as an advertising and marketing cost.
Have you thought about taking some of those gorgeous designer frames and putting some plano tinted lenses in them? What didn’t move as an eye glass frame just might fly out the door as a sunglass.
Put on a once a year blow out sale! Everything for 1 week is Buy One Get One. Email your entire patient database, post on your social media, even consider buying some Facebook or Google ads and make a huge deal of it.
If you have a bunch of old stock from a few particular vendors, consider contacting them about a trunk show. The rep will bring in all of their “new” product but give the rep that extra incentive that you want their help selling the old product as well.
Use the clearance product for charitable causes. Offer to “give” away a pair of glasses a month for women in shelters or some other worthy cause and use it as a marketing and charitable play. Not only can you utilize product you would lose money returning, you will feel you are supporting the community while doing it. Doesn’t hurt to market that as well.
Use designer frames and sunglasses as barters with other businesses. For example, let’s say you want to partner with a local salon. Get them to give you some product you can give away or use in a contest in exchange for your product. Win – win both ways…as you are both helping each other with exposure.
Teach patients why they need multiple pairs. One of the last statistics I heard from the recent Vision Council reports was that only 25% of North Americans had a second pair of glasses. Even from a purely vision oriented recommendation they should always have a clear back up pair but think of all of the new technology we can offer from blue light lenses for computer work, computer only glasses, eyewear specific to hobbies or sports and of course prescription sunglasses. We should always be talking second pairs. Now offer a selection of discounted frames for these multi pairs from the stock you are trying to blow out.
A strategy used by almost every smart retailer is lost leader advertising. Putting a product or bunch of products on 75% clearance way at the back of the store. You need to pass all the “new” products to get to it only to find there are only a few left or you found one of the new products you like better. Get them in the door with the huge discount offer of 75% off and upsell them from there.
Spaving is the concept of buy more to save more. You have all experienced this. Buy one bottle of vitamins for $19.99 but if you buy thee it goes down to $15.99 a bottle. Buy one pair of glasses save 10%, buy two pairs save 30%, buy three pairs save 50% and so on. And of course from a select group of frames.
Time tested tactics that work with us consumers every day. Put a bunch of your blow out frames in a special area and put a huge sign that says one of the following; “limited time special, until supplies last, last ones in stock, sale finishes on Friday”.
As the landscape gets more competitive and consumers more savvy, it’s important to think more like a strategic retailer. Trying different ways to sell more, and sell differently will be a smart business strategy that will grow your optical and revenue at the same time. Happy selling.