Frames at Work: Mastering Your Board's Brand Mix

How to balance brands for the best return on inventory investments

By Amy Spiezio

In previous down economies, ECPs went right for name brand frames as insurance that patients would buy them thanks to the comfort of familiarity. These days, the mix may be a little more complicated.

While name brands are still a powerful driving force for optical inventory, now there are so many brands available that ECPs have to finetune the selection process for their success.

And let's not forget house brands and private label brands, two options that are taking up more inventory share thanks to value pricing, profit opportunities, and pumped-up design efforts in the latest crop of product.

Here, we look at balancing your brands for the best return on one of your practice's biggest investments: inventory.

ClearVision's latest house brand Junction City

NORDSTROM OR WALMART?

Getting down to the business of putting your frame lines to work starts before the first rep walks in the door.

The most important thing the ECP needs to do is understand their practice demographics and customers. “It takes a little homework. They should dig a little deeper to know where their frames are selling—what price point and demographic. I would try to understand these before the reps come in,” says Viva International Group's senior vice president of U.S. domestic sales and Canada, Jan Corey.

Take the time to analyze the location of your dispensary and whom you can realistically expect as a customer.

“It should be a customized formula based on who your patient is and how you want to position yourself in the market,” says ClearVision Optical's MaryRose Jaszczynski, business development manager.

Self-analysis can be a bit easier when you compare your practice to other retailers.

“Do you want this to look like Walmart? Do you want it to look like Nordstrom? What's the message you want to send?” says Safilo sales director John Blake.

“I will ask them, ‘Who do you want to be to your customer, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom, Saks? What kind of environment do you want to create? Most want to be Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom. They don't want to be the cheapest guy in town or the most expensive,” says Marchon's Victoria Hallberg, director of brand sales.

When you've decided on the position of your store in relation to department stores, it's time to go shopping. “A good way to keep a gauge of which brands are relevant is to go where your target consumers are shopping, and you should be carrying the brands they are buying,” she adds.

BRAND BUSINESS

Once your target market is set and you understand what they are buying in other retail environments, it's time to look at your own inventory. Finding the right mix of name brands and house or private label brands can balance what is a large portion of the dispensing practitioner's business.

Tweaking one's board mix is a delicate science and one of the most important steps to take is to select the names—or lack thereof—that will constitute your inventory.

Even before the selling process begins, having the right name brands in place for your customers can help make them feel good about making purchases there.

“When a person walks into the dispensary and sees the brands, they draw conclusions about what sort of dispensary they are in,” Safilo's Blake says.

Name brands are still powerful selling tools as well. “A good brand can lend a lot of credibility to a product and encourage [customers] to spend a little more than what they would pay for non-branded eyewear,” notes Marchon's Hallberg.

The market has shifted, however, and consumers are more open to a non-branded frame story, if the dispensers are skilled enough to tell it well. “If someone comes in and asks for brand x and you say you don't have it, that's no good. But, if you have a highly trained person who says, ‘We don't have the brand BUT … ,’ that's a different conversation,” Jaszczynski says.

Brand displays can drive purchases. Image courtesy of Viva International Group

HOUSE BRANDS/PRIVATE LABEL

House and private label brands are increasingly attracting inventory buyers and patients alike.

“Brands are still important, and to have their physical presence and marketing material is important. But people are much more likely to accept a non-brand,” says ClearVision's Jaszczynski. “In this last downturn, consumers focused on the affordable product.

Styling is playing a large role in successful house brands, as the design efforts for these groupings have been increased dramatically in the past several years.

“House brands have definitely become sexier,” notes Hallberg. “The better-quality house brands don't forsake fashion or quality. There are beautiful styles with great fit that don't necessarily have a brand.”

One business route is to opt for these “non-branded” brands entirely. Refusing brands attracts certain clients seeking more exclusive looks and labels, notes Mark Dolabany president of Best Image Optical, “I have clients who sell zero brands. They refuse to carry any; they only carry upcoming lines and their own private labels.”

That can be a risky prospect in terms of selling frames, though. “I understand why they would think it would be a good move, but even though it costs less and has a good image, it may not turn as quickly. I would be careful and not go too far the other way,” Corey says.

If you can't live without name brands, mix them with private label, Dolabany suggests. “I would get my feet wet, find my footing, and expand. It doesn't mean you have to cancel out brand names. It's a mix.” EB

A house brand frame from Plume by Best Image Optical, top, and a name brand frame from Michael Kors from Marchon

PLAN-O-GRAM

When your brands are in place and you're ready to start selling, creating a plan of action for the entire staff to follow can help build your bottom line while showing your brands to their best advantage. A planogram is a map of a retail space that shows a blueprint of the selling floor inclusive of all potential selling areas, from freestanding displays to frameboards lining the walls of the practice. Any store in the mall is likely to have a planogram, and a dispensary is equally a candidate for the inventory arrangement tool. “An optical shop should look like a retail environment,” says Victoria Hallberg, director of brand sales at Marchon. “It's really important that the way your shop is laid out is immediately appealing.” There are a variety of ways to create your first planogram, from hand-drawing on a grid to elaborate computer programs that show you a sku-by-sku rundown of every item on sale in your dispensary. Hallberg recommends creating planograms for each brand and category area to plan out the visibility of your product and maximize the appeal. “It's really important to plan that out, and you want to have merchandising areas, too.” A top consideration in creating an optical shop planogram is how your patients transition into shoppers as they move from the chair to the dispensary. “When we come out of the exam room, we automatically walk to the right. That's where you should put your high-end women's frames because you want patients to have very early exposure to that product,” Hallberg says. Not only will planograms help buyers control their inventory plans, they will also help employees focus on selling strategies while building familiarity with all of the dispensary's offerings. “It does make it fun to make a map of your floor. It's good for your staff, too. It's a really visual way to work, and the staff loves it,” says Jan Corey, senior vice president of U.S. domestic sales and Canada, Viva International Group.

Private (Label) Lives

If you've ever said to yourself, “I wish the factory would make me.…” then a collection of private label frames may not be too far from your boards. Whether it's an expanded color palette or wider offering of a particular shape category, private label gives dispensers the option of having just what they want very specifically. When it comes to cleaning products and small accessories, private label brands have thrived in optical for years. But when it comes to eyewear, however, private label has been more limited to large chains and those in the high end. Opticians who have become their own frame companies, such as Robert Marc, Selima Salaun, Ed Beiner, and Larry Leight, have paved the way for personal brands of product offerings with great potential rewards. Each of these brands maintains retail stores that sell not only their namesake work—the ultimate private labels—but also name brands from other frame manufacturers. CONSIDERATIONS The average independent practitioner may not be seeking fame and fortune as a frame designer, but they can still find compelling reasons to add private label eyewear collections to inventory. Smaller independents in the high end, such as Art and Science of Eyewear in Walnut Creek, Calif., use private label as a selling point. On its website, the two-location practice promotes its private label collections with customizable temples and shapes as bespoke eyewear service to its customers. Are you ready for a private label brand A couple of selling points include: ■ Private label eliminates the competition. “If you can afford to make private label, it makes sense. You can have a brand that no one else has. There's no competition from the Internet, no competition from suppliers at other locations. The name on that model is going to be yours and yours alone,” says Mark Dolabany, president of Best Image Optical. ■ Private label also provides the potential for more profit thanks to increased flexibility on the pricing. “You can adjust the mark up. You can offer deeper discounts without impacting the bottom line as much,” Dolabany adds. MAKING IT WORK The required minimums have historically kept the small independent ECP out of the private label gate. But thanks to accessibility via trade shows and the Internet, as well as business evolution within the manufacturing world, there are frame producers now catering to smaller orders by bundling several orders from smaller companies or providing custom labeling on house brands. Even with the smaller order issue resolved, however, there are some details to settle before making the leap into private label. ■ Going into the private label business means exploring the manufacturing universe to find your own reliable producers of quality frames. “Finding a good manufacturer is like finding a good prince, you have to kiss a lot of frogs,” Dolabany says. ■ The first instinct of many ECPs just starting in the private label game is to name their line after their shop. Dolabany cautions against naming a house brand after your practice. “The consumer doesn't need to know it's yours. It's just an exclusivity factor,” he says. “You don't want to be the brand because there will be discounts expected. Or they think you are marking it up more than average.” Instead, Dolabany recommends selecting a design-sounding name. “Once you have a label, don't do everything under that label. I strongly recommend that with every set of 10 models you bring in another brand.” ■ Be aware that adding private label to your practice is essentially starting a new business within your business. Instead of relying on frame reps to train staff, merchandise, and support warranties, all of those responsibilities fall on the ECP. Marchon's Victoria Hallberg, director of brand sales, notes, “I have had a couple of customers who have delved into it and realized that they are not getting the support they are used to getting, Hallberg says. “It's a whole different business.”