last word

Is the Price Right?

By Erinn Morgan

Their fixed-income status often makes seniors the first group of retail customers to balk at higher prices. In addition, today's economy, replete with spiraling costs for items like gas and prescription drugs, has lowered the boom on seniors' wallets.

While your older customers may be less price resistant than generations past, there are differences between seniors and other age brackets on this front. For example, the country's 78 million boomers are reported to have a disposable income of $2 trillion a year, according to a recent report, "Following the Money," from Unilever Americas.

Unlike baby boomers, who are more free-flowing with their disposable income, seniors generally have a limited amount of dollars to allocate to the eyewear purchase.

"There can be price concerns even at the very wealthiest customer level, which we do see," says Nancy di Cosmo, president of Au Courant, which has locations in New Jersey, Michigan, and Florida.

"It's always a question. They ask, 'Do you do a senior discount?' or 'Can you do a better price?' But we take a stand that we don't discount. It's hard, but we try to make them understand they are getting the best value for their money," she says.

In addition, Au Courant's high-end assortment is peppered with more reasonably priced goods to sate this customer's needs.

Some dispensers warn not to judge an older customer too quickly. "The days of sticker shock are over. People understand if you want a quality pair of glasses, you are going to pay the price," says Greg Ferguson, owner of Beach Drive Optical in St. Petersburg, Fla.

He learned to keep an open mind in the selection process by making a mistake with one older customer.

"We try to listen to what they say about their needs. Once, this lady in her 70s came in and got only a lens change, so I read her as concerned about money," he says.

She was offered a closeout on a $125 frame that came free with the purchase of lenses. Then the trouble began, and a lesson was learned by the dispenser about the importance of product value.

Ferguson notes: "She got them and was in twice a week with problems until she finally purchased a frame for herself. She felt there was no value in the closeout frame. She didn't pay for it."

Eyecare Business (ISSN 0885-9167) is published monthly by Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins VisionCare Group. Advertising, editorial, and accounting offices: 1300 Virginia Drive, Suite 400, Ft. Washington, PA 19034. Subscription information and address changes: please call 800-306-6332, or fax 847-564-9453. Eyecare Business is free upon request to qualified optometrists, dispensing opticians, ophthalmologists, and optical product buyers and executives at chain headquarters. Free subscriptions are available in the U.S. only. Others are eligible for paid subscriptions at the following rates, prepaid only in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank: U.S., $90 per year; Canada, $180 per year; other countries, $175. Single copies, $6. Eyecare Business is a registered trademark of Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins VisionCare Group. All rights reserved. Periodicals Postage Paid at Ft. Washington, PA; Bolingbrook, IL 60440 and additional mailing offices. Copyright 2007 by Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins VisionCare Group. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. Acceptance and publication of advertising and/or editorial does not imply endorsement of any product, service, or company by Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins VisionCare Group.

POSTMASTER: If undeliverable, send form 3579 to Eyecare Business, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 3041, Northbrook, IL 60065

Canada Post International Publications Mail Product, (Canadian distribution) sales agreement #IPM0601551, Volume 21 Number 8