9 Ways to Increase Sales for Your Optical Shop

Buying online is genuinely trending. A whopping 1.8 billion consumers shop or have shopped online.

If you are feeling the sting of e-commerce retail competition on the sales of reading glasses or sunglasses in your optical shop, here are nine insightful tips that can help you pump business back up.

1.Brand It

Brand awareness is massive in marketing.Branding your product simply means setting it apart. It’s what you think of when the brand comes to mind.

What do your clients think of when they visit your optical shop? Are they blinded by a bombardment of eyeglasses? Perhaps they don’t even realize you sell glasses. Creating an awareness of your optical shop is imperative if you want to sell glasses.

To do so, you’ll need to set your shop apart. Find an angle that interests your clientele, like being fashion-forward, glamorous, or by honing in on the personal touch your optical shop offers.

2.Be Informed

Knowing your market is the key to effective branding and effective sales.

Are the majority of your patients young? Perhaps you have a large number of middle-aged clients.

Or, you may serve a variety of ages and economic classes. Find out what is important to them in terms of eyeglasses.

If they want quality and value - give it to them. If they want top fashion - make that your goal. In the event your target group is diverse, be sure to offer a myriad of options.

You can’t service their needs and wants if you don’t know what they are.

Also, be sure to train your team to be experts in vision and in sales. If they are lacking in knowledge, teach them what they need to know.

Give them incentives to boost sales like running contests, initiating a commission for sales, or merely acknowledging a job well done when an employee makes a sale. Pat yourself on the back when you do too.

3.Smart Product Positioning

Chances are that your clients are coming in for eye exams or other optometry reasons. Unless your eyeglasses are correctly positioned, it’s possible they don’t even realize you sell them.

On the flip side, if you have them displayed in a cluttered way, your customers are probably turned off by the disarray.

Just like any other retail shop owner, you will want to set your store up in an attractive manner.

Have a good selection with plenty of stock, but certainly don’t overload. Keep a nice eyeglass display near the counter where your patients pay, and don’t be afraid to hang some informative signs around boasting prices, sales, and other incentives.

Placing posters around of people sporting the glasses is optimal for business too. Don’t forget to keep the area super squeaky clean and dust-free.

Check out our article on visual merchandising if you want to learn more.

4.Use Your Competitive Edge

What is it about shopping for eyeglasses online that is stealing your customers away?

If it’s convenience, take the opportunity to let them know they can walk out with a pair of glasses from your optical shop right then and there.

If an online price is attracting them, educate them on the benefits of buying from you instead with some of the suggestions below.

Don’t forget to mention the advantage of not having to pay shipping fees when shopping in a brick and mortar store.

Encourage your customers to support local businesses too. You can also emphasize the knowledge you and your team possess about eyeglasses.

Who knows more about reading glasses than an eye doctor and their staff?

Share information with your patients about finding the right measurements and getting the perfect frame fit.

If you know your customer reads a lot, suggest the best glasses for doing so. If your customer uses the computer frequently, incorporate that need into their eyeglass shopping.

Educate your customers. Find all the ways you can to have a competitive edge over your online competition and implement them.

5.Make it Personal

There is one area your e-commerce competitors cannot touch. You and your employees have the advantage of adding the in-person personal approach.

Make sure your customer service is second to none. Always wear a smile and make sure your staff members do too.

Get to know your clients. Find out who they are, their likes and dislikes, what hobbies they have, and anything else you can learn about them. If they have kids or grandchildren, ask about them.

What makes their world go round?

It’s worth finding out. The more you know about them as human beings, not just customers, the more you’ll be able to add that personal touch to your optical sales.

Plus, it’s just good business all the way around.

6.Picture This

When you set your eyeglass displays beside clean, streak-free mirrors, you will entice your customers to try on a pair.

Creative signage comes in handy here. Encourage them to try your wares on through a sign and also through verbally suggesting it.

Comment on how they look in the glasses.

Learn a little about how eyeglasses face shape fittings and other essential things that will help you help your customers as they try glasses on.

Offer suggestions as far as the shape, size, and color. Do the frames of a particular pair of glasses bring out the color of their eyes?

Is the shape of the fashion-forward glasses make an older lady look younger? Don’t be shy to pass out the compliments as long as they are legitimate. Your customers will eat the positive strokes up and will likely take a pair of glasses home with them.

7.Promote your Products

Don’t hesitate to toot your own horn.Your products and your service are superior.

You know that, so it’s time to let your customers know it too. Things that customers tend to want in a product include an expansive collection, reasonable pricing, fabulous styles, and excellent quality.

Being able to compare prices readily is essential to many online shoppers. Brag about the quality of the reading glasses you carry. Do they come with a warranty? Do you offer a satisfaction guarantee or give their money back if their significant other hates the choice of spectacles? How about that buy-one-get-one-free special? Let it all be known.

If your prices are competitive, get that information out there because otherwise, no one will know. If you find your reading glasses line needs improvement, make the changes. You can’t brag if there’s nothing to brag about

If you can’t get reading glasses you are proud of at a reasonable enough wholesale price, you can make a profit without charging an arm and a leg, change wholesale suppliers. This is where the confidence you have in your eyeglasses selection comes to life, so let it shine

8.Can’t Beat ‘Em? Join ‘Em

An online presence is vital these days. While you may or may not sell your glasses online, you can undoubtedly promote them online. Most optometrists have a website of some sort.

Your site is the perfect place to market your eyeglasses along with your optometry services. It is also a service you do for your customers. They deserve to be able to find you online. Make it easy for them to see you and be sure your site is attractive and informative to your viewers.

Let your viewers see what you’ve got and give them ample information about the brands, types, and styles of glasses you carry.Show great pictures of your products.Seventy-two percent of all online shoppers initiate their purchase with a Google search. Make sure your page comes up on top by optimizing keywords.

If you aren’t a website designer, writer or marketer, hire one just like you employ a mechanic, plumber, or any other professional. Encourage them to leave feedback, ask questions, or enter in giveaway contests.

Get involved in social media. Work on getting a customer following and send emails out when you have sales on your reading glasses.

Participation from your visitors will make a huge difference. The investment you make in promoting your eyeglasses online will never let you down.

9.The Winning Home Run

Great shoe salesmen know the benefits of letting customers try on shoes they can walk out of the store in.

When your customer tries on a pair of glasses, let them know they can have instant gratification. They can take those reading eyeglasses home immediately. Take a little time to read up about sales psychology. Brian Tracy’s book, “The Psychology of Selling” is a masterpiece when it comes to getting inside your customer’s brain.

In the book, you’ll learn that customers long for a problem to be solved when they make a purchase. Sure, they want value and quality, but most importantly, most customers are craving an experience.

They long to gain something emotionally - to be more attractive, feel healthier or wiser, see better, or learn something in the sale that positively affects the way they think and makes them happy.

Bring home to your customers the fact that they can own them today...right now!

When you combine all the tips above, you’ll have a fail-proof strategy for selling eyeglasses in your optical shop.

It won’t matter how many people are buying online as long as you are getting your share of sales in your store, and you will if you take a little time and make an effort to do so using these nine simple suggestions.

References:

72% stat reference - https://www.business2community.com/social-selling/4-surprising-social-selling-stats-might-change-sales-strategy-0792314

Sales Psychology - https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-psychology-of-selling