Keeping the customer at the centre: independent eyewear in focus

Consumer behaviour, loyalty, and keeping ahead of change were all topics of conversation at the Independents Day event on 30 June.

A panel on The future of independent eyewear discussed some of the factors shaping the market from the leaders of independent eyewear brands and practices.

OT gathered a selection of the top takeaways from the panel.

Doing things differently

Jason Kirk, CEO of Kirk & Kirk, described his family’s legacy of more than 100 years in optics.

He shared: “My grandfather used to really try and drive the industry forward, rather than just driving his own business forward.”

This ethos is central to the way the eyewear brand is run, with Kirk adding: “We are really passionate about the independent sector of our business.”

When things are going well for the sector there can be a temptation to avoid change, but Kirk cautioned against this. He highlighted: “You really need to change because you can’t stand still. Everyone else is moving forward.”

Ed Bird, founder of Bird Eyewear, shared his unlikely journey into the industry, moving from a drummer attempting to make a drum shell using laminated acetate, to cutting himself a pair of sunglasses – and winning an industry award a year later.

“We came in totally fresh to the industry. No optical background, no industry experience at all,” he said, adding that this enabled the business to approach the sector in a different way.

He shared: “We made lots of mistakes along the way, but learnt to develop and manufacture frames, how to approach solving problems, materials, colouring, and our supply chain completely differently, because we had no idea how anyone else in the industry was doing it.”

The right suppliers

Rebecca Thompson, dispensing optician and founder of the Eye Style Studio, shared how she approaches choosing a new supplier.

She said: “I start with the client in mind. So, who am I buying for? What do they want to feel when they put on the frames? Then I look at the numbers: how many can I buy? When can I buy them?”

Ahead of an industry event, Thompson will research every exhibitor, book meetings, and compile a list of questions ranging from where the frames are made, who they are designed by, to the delivery process and sustainability. Thompson then scores each supplier.

“I’ll pick the top three and have another conversation with them. At that point, I’ve been so thorough in everything that I’m looking for I think they really understand what I’m trying to do and how we can collaborate,” she said.

You really need to change because you can’t stand still. Everyone else is moving forward

Daniel Barnes, founder of the eyewear brand, Pop Specs, explained that the company’s model operates around affordability and choice.

Barnes wished to address “anxiety” that customers can have around pricing in optical practices by offering a set price for all single vision spectacles and for varifocals.

The company also wanted to offer “variety and colour” to give customers a greater variety of choice. 

Bird shared that, from their background in musical instruments, the founders had experience of manufacturers in China, and now the brand has a global web of manufacturers.

This is all presented transparently to stockists through a map of all Bird Eyewear’s manufacturers and the shipping routes.

“We have done a full carbon audit of our products. What we discovered as part of this process is that shipping a frame via sea freight from China has a much lower carbon footprint than flying a frame from Italy or somewhere in Europe, which is the traditional route,” he said.

Without the inside knowledge of supply chains in the eyewear industry, Bird shared: “We’ve simply been trying to solve one problem at a time, and every step has been: how can we do this slightly better?”

Bird runs a recycling scheme for all stockists, and the company also has a manufacturing operation in the country, with Bird sharing: “Interestingly, our highest carbon footprint product is the one we make in the UK.”

Customer experience and earning loyalty

Eva Davé, practice owner, eyewear stylist and founder of the Eyewear Styling Academy, shared her view on how a good customer experience can mean something different depending on the individual.

She said: “I think every person wants to feel seen, understood, and special. I think the customer has to be at the centre of everything.”

This requires practices to look at every touchpoint of the customer journey, from the website, to arriving in the practice, to their waiting experience.

“Every single part of that experience has to be thought about, talked about, and trained on,” she said.

Davé considers customer experience in two ways: a category experience and a luxury experience.

Describing her practice, Style Optique, as a high-end luxury independent opticians, she said: “From a customer point of view, what would you expect from a high-end luxury opticians? You would expect it to look good, for the space to be aesthetically appealing, good quality frames and lenses, trained staff, and for everybody to be nice to you.”

“What is a luxury experience? It’s all of those things and more, creating that rich, meaningful experience that takes people out of their everyday lives,” she added.

I think every person wants to feel seen, understood, and special. I think the customer has to be the centre of everything

Conversation turned to patient and customer loyalty, with Thompson suggesting that within optics there is an assumption of loyalty.

“I think this is starting to change now,” she said, adding that, with markets growing: “The sky is the limit for choice. I think that the lifetime value of your patients is now starting to shrink because of that.”

This could mean in the future, there will be a greater challenge in retaining customers.

“I do question – have we earnt that loyalty or are we just expecting it? Every single day I’m asking the same question when it comes to generating loyalty: what am I doing today that, a year from now, I’m going to be glad I did. That is what will keep those people coming back,” she shared.

She also pointed out the different buying habits and approaches to loyalty that can be seen between generations.

Thompson asked: “One of the questions to address is: how are we looking to attract and retain the next generation?”

Barnes shared: “We can’t take loyalty for granted.”

Of the customers that take their prescriptions to Pop Specs, a significant majority are from multiples, he explained.

Speaking to independent practices, Barnes said: “That’s telling me your customer base is incredibly loyal to you.”

When customers go to Pop Specs, he said: “I don’t see someone coming to me as me trying to gain their loyalty. I’m trying to create a great experience here and now. If they want to go elsewhere to get something, that’s great. If our teams give them the best experience there is a good change they’re going to come back to us, but they are still going to go to you.”

Attracting customers and competing in a digital age

Kirk also noted the shifting demand between demographics as the customer base ages, asking – where are the younger demographics purchasing from?

“They want to buy something cool and trendy, so they go to a shop that looks cool and trendy,” he said. He added: “They’re not offering the same service that you are, but does the customer understand that? Are we communicating that? Are we letting them know? Do they understand what they are paying for?”

“My crusade at the moment is to give the customer all the information – the true and honest information about where the frame is made, the carbon footprint – it's all relevant because different things matter to different customers,” he said, adding: “Give them that information and let them make an informed decision.”

What we can’t do is be all things to all people

Bird emphasised the importance of finding a niche. He shared: “We’re in places where we have a stockist at one end of town and a stockist at the other end, and they are completely different and serve completely different demographics.”

“What we can’t do is be all things to all people,” he cautioned.

In the US, practices are blending online and offline optical retail into a hybrid model.

Bird shared: “We’re partnering with companies where we’ll have a whole virtual catalogue. We might only have 12 frames in the practice but 100 on the virtual portal.”

This means the customer can be provided a coffee, take a look around the practice, then look through the digital catalogue and try on frames virtually.

Bird also noted that practices, focused on clinical services, can often see themselves as “not in retail.”

He argued: “I think in the eyewear industry, if you are charging for something, then you are in retail whether you like it or not.”

Creating the right environment and changing the conversation

Thompson gave thoughts on the key ingredients to a thriving practice. She said: “The first essential thing has got to be creating a space that people want to spend time in. It’s about people coming into your space and feeling that it’s okay to be themselves.”

She added: “It’s not about them coming in and seeing you once a year and getting a new pair of glasses. It’s a space they want to keep coming back to. They’re passing by and pop in to say hello, they come to your event because they want to spend time in your company.”

“The second thing I think is essential is building a real connection. Over and above ‘we’ll see you in a year or two for your next eye test,’ it’s really understanding the person in front of you and being in touch between times,” she said, such as inviting them to events.

The additional element that can “make a business sing” is the element of surprise, Thompson revealed.

“We’ve all experienced, particularly in the last year or so, an oversaturation from all angles. Everybody trying to sell to you, massively overstimulated on social media, messages coming at you from all angles,” she said.

“People are bored. If you can surprise them with something, if you can make them stop, then you are going to absolutely sing when it comes to customer experience,” she highlighted.

This does not need to be a grand gesture, Thompson noted, but sending a message about something that reminded you of the customer, or checking in about an important event they mentioned coming up, or through stocking frames that they wouldn’t find anywhere else.

“The element of surprise, making somebody stop, that’s the bit that is going to make the experience stand out for me,” she said.

People are bored. If you can surprise them with something, if you can make them stop, then you are going to absolutely sing when it comes to customer experience

Encouraging patients and customers to be bold with their frame choices starts with the practice itself, Davé shared.

From the social media page, to the practice team, Davé said: “If you look the part yourself and as a collective, as a practice, you can inspire other people to do the same thing.”

Colour is a route into multiple frame dispensing, she noted, emphasising: “When people start getting more colourful frames, they start having multiple pairs.”

Kirk shared that, when finances are tight and times are uncertain, consumers typically respond by “watching every penny.”

However, Kirk encouraged practices to “change the conversation” away from a price-focus.

He commented: “What we do is different. We’re not talking about price. We’re talking about service. We’re talking about quality. We’re talking about interesting, beautiful products. We’re talking about emotion and how you feel when you wear the frames. That’s something that is not to do with money at all. So, if you don’t like the conversation, change it.”