On a warm Sunday afternoon in May 1987, Ben Lynch first conceived of an idea that was later to emerge as a chain of shops retailing ophthalmic products. Reading a financial profile of an ophthalmics retailer in the UK, while relaxing in his back garden, Ben concluded that he did a better job than the management of this company seemed to have done. He decided to investigate the possibility of entering the ophthalmics retailing business in Ireland. 

 Optimeyes' first shop opened in South Anne Street in Dublin in September 1988 and the business grew quickly to a chain of five shops throughout the country by 1992. 

 The ophthalmics products industry  

The structure of the industry

The ophthalmics products industry can be defined as the manufacture and distribution of products designed to correct defects in vision. The first stage of spectacle manufacture was the production of glass blanks of suitable quality for grinding into lenses. These lenses were subsequently ground to standard specifications of size, strength and curvature. Lenses were then sent to glazing houses, sometimes known as manufacturing opticians, who performed two tasks. First, they assembled spectacles to orders from optometrists and were involved in cutting, edging and fitting appropriate lenses to frames chosen by customers. Second, glazing houses provided special finishes such as tinting, anti-scratch surfaces, anti-reflective surfaces, etc. In order to fulfil this function, glazing houses needed to carry large stocks of lenses. The last link in the chain of supply of spectacles to the consumer was in the hands of three groups. Optometrists, previously known as ophthalmic opticians, were the most popular. They provided three services, namely the testing of eyesight, the issuing of prescriptions and the dispensing of corrective solutions. Ophthalmic medical practitioners or ophthalmologists tested eyesight and prescribed but did not dispense. Dispensing opticians could dispense only to prescriptions written by a member of the other two groups. 

 

A regulated industry

 Ben quickly realized that this would be an exceedingly difficult business to enter. First, there was the challenge posed by the existing competitors in the industry. There were about 475 optometrists operating throughout Ireland. These were generally small, familyowned, operations that were traditional and conservative in their approach to the business. They were not retailers in the general sense, as most required appointments and consultation tended to take place in private, in a manner similar to the general medical profession. Products were generally not displayed. During consultation, spectacle frames were taken from drawers and consumers were invited to choose from a small selection, typically three or four. Industry regulations favoured optometrists as spectacles or contact lenses could be purchased only with a prescription which they, in the main, provided. In addition, the Opticians Board placed further regulations on marketing activity in the industry. Only a limited number of spectacle frames could be put on display and optometrists could not include prices in their advertising. Thus, industry regulations effectively barred anyone who was not a qualified optometrist from the business. The Act allowed for a general medical practitioner to test eyesight and to prescribe corrective products. A further critical breakthrough came when a contact in Hong Kong informed Ben of the availability of a product called an automatic refractometer, which could mechanically test eyesight. 

 

Start up and growth

 Committing personal savings of IR£10,000 and a bank borrowing of IR£25,000 to the business, Ben bought the lease to an outlet in South Anne Street, just off Grafton Street in the centre of Dublin. This branch opened for trading on 1 September 1988. Start-up costs were kept to a minimum with promotion efforts restricted to printed leaflets distributed to rail commuters and publicity in local newspapers. Ben felt that he would have difficulty sourcing supplies of frames and lenses in Ireland as companies supplying optometrists may not be able to supply him. His search for suppliers took him to the UK and eventually to France where he attended the industry's premier trade fair, Silmo, in 1988. Having to source supplies abroad proved to be a blessing in disguise as the company was able to offer a range of fashionable frames unlike anything available in Ireland. 

 

Marketing strategy 

 With this research and other information collected from visits to retailers in the UK, the USA and France, Ben had developed a sense of how he wanted to position the business. He dismissed the idea of the discount retailer, popular in the UK. He felt that Irish consumers were not ready to make the big switch from the traditional mode of obtaining ophthalmic products through optometrists to literally buying them off the shelf. Furthermore, getting costs down to a level necessary to operate as a discounter required economies of scale which, given his limited resources, he would not be in a position to achieve for a substantial period of time. For similar reasons, he rejected what he saw in the United States as a trend towards super optical outlets (that is, very large retailers, competing based on offering the widest possible range of products). Thus, he wanted to position Optimeyes, as he describes it, as the Marks and Spencer of ophthalmic retailing, providing a range of quality products at affordable prices, backed by service which was second to none. 

 Three characteristics, which set Optimeyes apart from the traditional optometrist, were price, product range and the speed with which the consumer could get a pair of spectacles. Optimeyes were able to offer substantially lower prices than their competitors at the outset. In 1989, the company was offering ready-made reading glasses complete with case for IR£17.95. These were sold to people with a recent valid prescription, with the idea of being a cheap second pair of reading glasses. A new set of spectacles, made to order, was available for as little as IR£39.95. 

 Publicity in 1990 described Optimeyes as having few 'safe frames' in fashion terms. The company tried to convince the conservative Irish consumer to be more adventurous when choosing spectacles. Colour was a distinctive feature of their frames with reds, blues, yellows and tortoise available. The company was so committed to its line of French designer frames that anyone who bought an avant-garde style and changed his or her mind, up to a year later, could get a new replacement frame free of charge. 

 Initially, the company aimed to supply a new pair of spectacles within 24 hours. With an in-house glazing laboratory, this timeframe was significantly reduced and the company's promotion stressed that consumers could come to town in the morning or afternoon, have their eyes tested, choose from a variety of fashionable frames and within the hour wear their new glasses home. This was a significant advance on traditional practice, where the consumer often had to wait for up to two weeks for a new pair of spectacles. 

 

Product range

 The company carried a complete range of ophthalmic products. These included lenses, spectacle frames, sunglasses, ready-readers, contact lenses, contact lens solutions and accessories like magnifying glasses, clip-on sunglasses, etc. The percentage of sales accounted for by each product category was recorded. At any one time the company had between 400 and 500 spectacle frames in stock. It catered for all market segments with ranges including children, college, family, economy and the exclusive/trendsetter range. 

 

Customer service 

Ben Lynch was a strong advocate of customer service and the company pioneered many service initiatives in the ophthalmic retailing industry. Shop opening hours were longer than normal from 9a.m. to 6p.m., Monday to Saturday, including lunchtime. Customers were invited to browse through the shop and were offered a cup of tea or coffee, while waiting for a sight test. For purchasers of contact lenses, the company included in the package a lesson in how to fit and use the lenses. Optimeyes offered a guarantee on their products for up to one year, so even if customers broke their spectacles, they promised to replace them. Ten to twelve days after a person purchased spectacles or lenses, Optimeyes followed up the sale with a phone call to make sure the customer was completely satisfied. The company initiated a policy of giving people who visited a shop, but did not buy from the company, a pre-paid postcard on which the recipient identified the reasons for not buying from Optimeyes. Training of sales personnel was rigorous and ongoing and the company evaluated its salespeople on their performance in terms of customer service on a three-month basis. 

 

Promotion 

Despite a limited budget the company used a combination of advertising, publicity and sales promotions to increase awareness of its products. Optimeyes spend about 4 per cent of annual sales on advertising, though in its opening year, this figure was closer to 12 per cent. Advertising was largely carried in the print media, including regional newspapers and trade magazines. The company generally developed its advertising on an as needed basis. Staff were usually consulted during the message development process and their ideas on what might not work were considered. The company's advertising has revolved around the themes of variety, value and top-class service. 

 

Challenges and opportunities  

Optimeyes have been resilient, surviving and growing from a very small base. However, as the company considered its marketing strategy for 1993 and succeeding years, a number of major challenges and opportunities had to be assessed. 

The Irish market for ophthalmic products 

Very limited information was available on the Irish market. Sales of ophthalmic products tended to be very seasonal, highest in January, May and September and lowest in March, June and December. Spectacles were considered to be the dominant product with sales estimated to be about 1 million units per year. Contact lenses gained in importance during the late 1980s but sales in 1989 were still a mere 32 000 units, worth IR£489000. Thus, just over 3 per cent of all those requiring optical assistance in Ireland chose contact lenses compared with, for example 10 per cent in the United States. A higher percentage of women than men chose contact lenses.  

With the exception of the United Kingdom and France there is very little information available on the composition of market demand for ophthalmic products throughout Europe. Ireland is no exception but is considered to resemble the UK market. Company sales had increased strongly in 1992, exceeding figures for the previous year by approximately 51 per cent. 

 

Market trends 

 A number of trends in the business internationally were also worthy of note. Spectacles had become fashionable and were no longer an object which people disliked wearing. Many consumers, particularly in France and Germany, owned several pairs of spectacles, which were colour co-ordinated with different outfits. In 1992, figures showed that Irish consumers, on average, still owned only one pair of spectacles per person compared with three or four in some European countries. A further illustration of this fashion trend was that people with perfect eyesight were wearing spectacles, typically with clear lenses. Creating an image can be done as easily with spectacles as any other fashion item and magazines have described a number of looks, from the 'Saturday night relaxed' look to the 'rock star' look and the 'casual look'. As a result, the market was expected to grow for two reasons: customers would want to own more than one set of spectacles, and, as fashion colours change, consumers would discard old frames. It was generally agreed that the replacement and/or multiple purchases of optical aids was one of the few areas of potential growth in the industry in the developed world. 

 

The price of ophthalmic products continued to be driven down. Readyspex, a UK retailer of ready-made reading glasses based in Blackburn, sourced products in Taiwan, which it retailed for £2.99 a pair. The ultimate expression of spectacles as a convenience product was the launch of a spectacles vending machine by Readyspex in 1990. The machine allows the customer to select one of five ranges of frames and then choose which of nine different corrective strengths is most appropriate, before inserting money into the machine and pressing the button. Samples of the design are affixed to the side of the machine in order to allow customers to try on the spectacles with mirrors available. Readyspex believed that the machines would become popular in airports, supermarkets, libraries and other outlets, where people may suddenly realize that they need a spare pair of spectacles. 

 

The competition 

Two strong international competitors recently emerged to challenge the growing strength of Optimeyes. Specsavers, a large player in the UK market, operated on a franchise basis with nearly 200 outlets in total. In 1989, they opened a pilot shop in the Henry Street Arcade off Henry Street in Dublin and over the next three years opened shops in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Belfast. Specsavers offered the consumer a choice of 2000 frames and claimed to be able to provide 90 per cent 

of spectacle orders within an hour. In 1992 the US super optical, Vision Express, opened outlets in Tallaght, a large Dublin suburb, and in the Ilac Centre off Henry Street in the centre of Dublin. In January 1993, they began running a 'buy one pair of spectacles, get one free' promotion using a 30-second television advertising campaign on ITV. They offered consumers a choice of 3000 frames and claimed to be able to provide 95 per cent of its spectacle orders within one hour. These companies were a particular threat to Optimeyes, as they could match most of the innovations which Optimeyes had brought to the Irish market and were armed with substantially larger promotion budgets. By late 1992, one optical supplier estimated that, between them, these two competitors had swallowed up 40 per cent of the Irish market. 

 

The traditional optometrist treated these new competitors, including Optimeyes, with disdain and relied on the legal process to try to stymie their growth in the market. In 1991, the Opticians Board issued a summons against Specsavers for including prices in their advertising and for offering special deals. Specsavers countered by making a submission to the Director of Consumer Affairs suggesting that the board's regulations restricted trading and threatened to take the matter to the European Court, if necessary. The board dropped its action against Specsavers pending a decision from the Director of Consumer Affairs, who subsequently agreed that its regulations restricted trading. 

 

Questions

a)  SWOT analysis for Optimeyes

b) What recommendations would you make regarding future marketing strategy for Optimeyes?

c) Highlight elements in the case study that demonstrate the extent of customer orientation attitude of Optimeyes