So, online sales are the ‘big bad’ that everyone seems to be talking about. Regardless of whether you think it’s good, bad, or you don’t care about it at all, it’s definitely one of those things that’s only going to get more and more popular. That means you’re probably only ever going to see more and more people talking about it, or even asking you to help them order their … [Read more...]
Human Interaction
Technology is everywhere, and you aren’t going to be able to just ignore it. As you see it starting to impact your business, you take steps to account for it. Ideally, of course, you can see it coming and take the steps before your business is impacted, but that’s often like saying that if you had known what the lottery numbers were going to be beforehand that you’d have chosen … [Read more...]
Lens Designs
How Do You Find The One? When we, as eyecare professionals, want to fight the big machine, we first need to understand the world that we’re in. We aren’t in a world of level playing fields, where everything is just ‘perfect’ and fair. No. We’re in the harsh world where reality is what is created by everyone following the mold of Big Optical, and everyone falling into place … [Read more...]
One Site To Rule Them All
Let's take a look at why Responsive Web Design (RWD) is such a critical feature and necessity for mobile friendliness and successfully reaching your audience in today’s technologically driven world. Plus, the millennials kinda forced the issue… What Is RWD? RWD or Responsive Web Design is a website that is designed with responsiveness in mind, it is a website that … [Read more...]
FEA Industries – A True Independent
In general, labs can be strange. Traditionally, they’re sort of like supermarkets. They stock the shelves with brand name products, and you can go in and pick what you want. If you start asking for a recommendation, however, can you really know there’s no ‘influence’ behind their suggestion? The real question is - how independent is an independent? I mean, if you go into a … [Read more...]
Papers, Please
I saw one thing pop up in a discussion a little while ago regarding ‘certificates of authenticity’ for various optical products. Some could be for frames, lenses, coatings, photochromics, or whatever else. These things seem somewhat innocuous, but have you ever stopped to think what their real purpose is? Let’s run through a hypothetical scenario, and see who these certificates … [Read more...]
Philly Eyeworks
As many of you have seen, online sales are becoming more and more popular. I don’t need to tell you that. However, some of the online retailers are also doing a little bit more in terms of ‘direction competition’ against smaller, local optical shops. One such case happened in Philadelphia with Philly EyeWorks and Warby Parker (WP). You may have read about this, as it was in … [Read more...]
Survival Guide: Coatings
Lens coatings have become as much of a concern as the lenses themselves, these days. There’s plenty of choices when it comes down to it, and you really want to know what it is that you’re buying, and what kind of performance you can expect from it. This is where it does make sense that the ‘brand name’ coatings are popular. They give you a better idea of what you’re going to be … [Read more...]
Survival Guide: Lenses
Let’s assume that you agree that you want to ditch the “Big Optical” lens brands and give something else a try. There’s a lot of things to consider since, at the end of the day, you don’t want to cause yourself more headaches than you solve. Your primary goal is to keep your business running smoothly, which means you need to be careful when it comes to switching … [Read more...]
Surviving the Opti-Pocalypse
War. War Never Changes. Seemingly stuck in an unending battle. People that were once friends have changed sides, and are now working for the ‘other side’. Brother against brother, with the larger side having an inescapable grasp around the throat of the opposition. You’re the opposition, by the way. At least, we hope you are. With all of the mergers going on, there’s a … [Read more...]