Secret Shopping for Sun

Our team of editors went undercover to shop for sunglasses at opticals—from large and small chains to high-end shops and optometric independents—across the country. The results, which reveal how eyecare businesses scored with this niche business, may just surprise you

Erinn Morgan

Sunwear is a highly competitive—and growing—category. In fact, plano sunglasses rang in an impressive $3.5 billion in sales in the U.S. from December 2011 to December 2012, according to The Vision Council’s Vision Care Market Quarterly Overview (released January 2013). This was nearly a five percent increase over the previous 12-month period. This is compared with only a half percent growth realized in ophthalmic frame sales during the same period.

Which is exactly why we chose to hone in on how eyecare professionals across the country treat plano and Rx sunglasses (and their customers) in the dispensary. Are they capitalizing on the growth in this category?

Our team of secret-shopping editors set out to find out. Our shopping roundup includes visits to 25 independent and chain locations across the country. Target zones included Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and Colorado. What we found during our visits was both inspiring and disconcerting. Here, a look at the sunwear retailing trends we unearthed.

MEETING AND GREETING

First impressions can be everything. But, our secret shoppers were greeted immediately upon entering the shops we visited less than half the time (48 percent). We were greeted eventually at 28 percent of locations but were never greeted at 24 percent of the businesses visited.

One Pennsylvania shopper who was greeted after a minute or so actually overheard the salesperson in the back say to her coworker, “We’ve got a live one!”

Across the board, our shoppers were greeted right away at smaller independents and high-end locations. A number of shoppers got the cold shoulder at chain and big box locations, and some received cooler greetings at large optometric practices. The warmest welcomes were found in Florida and New Jersey.

Best Of: Florida High-end Optical Shop—“Upon entering the shop, the optician greeted me immediately and asked how he could help.”

Worst Of: Florida National Chain—“Upon entering the store, no one greeted me even though the store was not busy. After a few minutes I walked up to the register and the person behind it barely acknowledged me and said just, ‘I’ll be with you in a minute.’ No one actually came over to assist me for another 20 minutes.”

GETTING ASSISTANCE

Is personal assistance important in the dispensary? We think so, which is why we were pleased to see a salesperson walk us over to the sunglass section and offer help at 52 percent of the businesses we shopped. High-end optical shops and independent opticians scored best on this test, while some national chains and big box retailers surprised us with a lack of service. Many optometric practices, likely unaccustomed to walk-in traffic, also lacked in the service department.

Many eyecare professionals were busy serving customers but still made an effort to welcome us and point out the sunglass assortment. The optician at a small chain in Nebraska told our shopper, “I’m just finishing up an order for this customer here, but give us two minutes and we’ll be with you. In the meantime, look in the back right and you’ll see our sunglass selection as well as information about the lenses we recommend for them.”

Still, a full 48 percent did not offer any kind of assistance in the dispensary.

Best Of: Pennsylvania National Chain—“Yes, in fact she noticed that the sunglasses I had were missing a nosepad and she said she could fix it while I looked for something new! And she did. After I looked over the board, she invited me to sit down at the dispensing table and spoke about getting something new with Rx and better lenses.”

Worst Of: Colorado Optometric Practice—“I was never offered assistance, so I finally asked a question to the receptionist and she paged an optician, who came out a few minutes later to help. There were no other customers in the dispensary at the time.”

SUNGLASS ASSORTMENT

Our team of shoppers was impressed with the amount of sunwear on display at optical businesses across the country. ECPs in sunny Florida, of course, gave the most real estate to sunwear—all types of eyecare businesses visited there (OD practices, chains, and high-end opticians alike) boasted a sunglass assortment that accounted for anywhere from 33 percent to nearly 75 percent of the total frame assortment.

Still, ECPs in other locales also made a serious commitment to the category. While some spots in the Northeast and Midwest had just a small selection—from one rounder or 10 percent of all frames—some showcased hundreds of sunwear frames, much of which was Rx-able.

All locations had sunglasses, even one veteran Connecticut optician who had none on display but pulled three styles out of the stock room to show us. Almost all had designer sunwear, save for about 16 percent who just stocked sports sunglasses. At the same time, nearly all had sports sunglasses to offer, save for about 16 percent that only stocked designer sunwear. These locations were mostly high-end optician businesses. Only 36 percent of businesses visited carried sunglasses for kids.

Best Of: Nebraska Small Chain—“Yes, we have a few styles that we suggest for children. Most parents don’t think about it for their children, though. Our doctors recommend Transitions lenses—those are photochromic—as they are a combination of sunglasses and regular lenses.”

Worst Of: Nebraska Optometric Practice—“Most kids don’t need sunglasses.”

SUN MERCHANDISING

Where did optical retailers display their sunwear? A number mixed the sunwear frames in on boards along with the ophthalmic frames. Many that stocked sports sunwear utilized locking, branded rounders, and display cases to house their products.

Display trends were fairly uniform across the country, but national chains and big box retailers tended to mix sunwear right onto display walls instead of using the display cases more typically utilized by independents.

A full 64 percent of businesses visited organized their sunwear assortment by brand. A few merchandised sunwear by function, such as sports, safety, and fashion. Some mass merchants visited organized the assortment by gender and then by brand within gender.

We noted at a few locations where sports sunwear was displayed in locked cases while higher-end, designer sunwear was displayed on frameboards or in non-locking cases.

Best Of: Pennsylvania High-End Optical–“The storefront display featured three large penguins (stuffed animals) wearing shades. It was really cute and attention grabbing. Throughout the store, there were a few posters, but most of the sunwear was categorized by brand with logo plaques guiding the customer.”

Worst Of: Connecticut OD Practice—“The sunwear was organized oddly. One grouping was in a locked case. Another was mixed in with eyewear on a wallboard. There was a locked case of sports sunwear and some women’s fashion sunwear on a wallboard. And two pair of unrelated sports sunwear on a stand.”

LENSES AND RX SERVICES

Polarization—in plano and Rx versions—was a hot topic on which most ECPs were well versed. In fact, 72 percent pointed out their polarized sunwear offerings when asked. More emphasis was placed on the benefits of polarized lenses by opticals located in The Sunshine State of Florida and sun-infused Colorado.

In general, the high-end retailers visited, as well as a few standout optometric practices and chain stores, came across as highly knowledgeable about lenses. Every location we visited offered Rx services for sunwear, many through the proprietary programs offered by sunglass manufacturers plus their own labs. Some businesses even checked prices for us by calling their labs or referencing price sheets. A few, mostly chain and big box locations, gave us price sheets to take home for consideration.

While there was much discussion about polarized and photochromic lenses, such as Transitions lenses, only 12 percent of locations visited mentioned advanced options such as Vantage, Transitions Optical’s newest photochromic lens with variable polarization. In fact, some less knowledgeable retailers mentioned photochromics as a “new technology.”

Several less-informed eyecare professionals also discouraged the purchase of photochromics because they “don’t activate behind a car’s windshield”—a previous concern with clear-to-dark photochromics that is now solved with one of the Transitions options. A large number of optical retailers did mention Transitions lenses by name and a few also mentioned other branded lens options, such as Crizal.

A number of retailers were forthcoming with pricing for prescription sunlenses, including polarized and photochromic options with extras like AR coating. Lens-only prices varied wildly:

■ Single-Vision Polarized: $80 at mass merchant to $542 at high-end optometric practice (including AR and mirror coating).

■ Single-Vision Photochromic: $125 at mass merchant to $390 at high-end optician (including AR).

■ Progressive Polarized: $129 at mass merchant to $400 at optometric practice.

■ Progressive Photochromic: $194 at mass merchant to $400 at OD.

■ Other: Transitions Vantage polarized photochromic lens was quoted at $440 at a high-end optical.

PROMOTION STRATEGIES

What’s in a sale? Independent optical businesses we visited rarely offer sales and promotions on sunwear. More than 55 percent never run sunwear sales or promotions.

One Nebraska optometric practice said that sales are not part of its business strategy. Staff noted: “No. We are owned by two eye doctors. There are lots of chains and big places in the city, but we don’t run sales here.”

Conversely, sales and promotions appeared to be the name of the game in sunwear at national chains and mass merchant locations.

A national chain location in Southwest Florida pointed out a huge prescription sunglass sale that was going on, which gave customers 40 percent off sunglass frames with polarized Rx lenses. The optician told us, “Prices start at $255 for both frames and lenses.”

While many ECPs do not run sales, when asked if they’d supply a second-pair discount if we purchased both our eyeglasses and sunglasses at the same time, more than 76 percent said they would, and locations noted a variety of discounts. Second-pair discount discussions included:

■ None. “Most of our patients only buy one pair when they come in for their exam.”

■ Yes, but unclear. “Yes, we’d work something out.”

■ $200 off second pair always.

■ 20 percent off frame and lens of second pair if Rx glasses purchased at the same time only.

■ 25 percent off second pair. EB

Seen & Heard in the Dispensary Best Of

New Jersey Chain Location: “The optician was really quick with the lens information and she gave some great pointers on how sunglasses should fit properly and comfortably—and demonstrated how they should sit properly.”

Connecticut Chain Location: “I was told that because of my rather extreme Rx in one eye, not all frames are going to offer me optimal vision. The bigger the wrap, the bigger the problem for me. I was guided to the type of sunglasses that would work best with my Rx, and still give me sun coverage.”

Pennsylvania High-end Optical: “I appreciated that he called his Oakley rep while I was there to get accurate pricing on lens options.”

Pennsylvania Independent Optician: “We talked in depth about what polarized means and what it does. He did a demonstration and had me try on the two tints he had available (gray and brown), and had me look at various things outside to show the difference in glare with polarized vs. non-polarized lenses. Also, he offered a quick turnaround of two to three days.”

Colorado High-end Optician: “The optician greeted me and said, ‘Have a seat. Can I get you a drink? I’ll bring the sunglasses over to you so you can sit down.’”

Colorado Mass Merchant: “The optician sent me home with a lens option price sheet that was a pretty impressive resource.”

New Jersey Optometric Practice: “They had great service and told me, ‘You can have anything you want; I’ll help you find the right size.’ The optician made a point of starting a case file for me with the numbers of the top two styles we picked and call-back info.”

Florida High-end Optician: “The owner/optician shared a lot of information about the new Transitions Vantage polarized photochromic lenses. He has a great knowledge about lenses and he was excited about digital lenses—he said he only offers digital lenses to some customers and took the time to explain the technology to me along with features and benefits.”

Seen & Heard in the Dispensary Worst Of

New Jersey Mass Merchant: “There was tons of dust, which really pops on sunglasses. It made a decently organized space look very messy.”

Connecticut Chain Location: “The optician steered me away from photochromics because, she said, ‘They don’t really change behind the wheel of the car, and they can be a problem in tunnels.’”

Connecticut Optometric Practice: “The lack of service I got for a full 15 minutes—likely because I didn’t go to the desk to announce myself as an exam appointment.”

Connecticut National Chain: “The optician took the time to explain digital progressive lenses to me, but he told me I probably wouldn’t want to put a digital lens in my sunwear because my everyday lenses were ‘regular progressives’ and I would notice the difference and not like that my two pairs were different.”

Connecticut Independent Optician: “The optician didn’t seem that interested in getting my exact Rx from my OD. He said, ‘I have a machine in the back that will tell me what it is.’”

Pennsylvania Regional Chain: “The ‘deals’ seemed to be at the optician’s discretion instead of being a set sale. Also, I couldn’t help but feel pressured to buy—like she was eagerly waiting for me to whip out my credit card.”

Colorado Optometric Practice: “I was brushed off by the receptionist and no one ever came out to help me until I asked a second time.”

Florida Optometric Chain: “The optician was a little gruff and at one point she was buzzed to take a phone call and she never excused herself from me—she just took the call, then left the dispensary, and left the sunglasses that had been locked in the case on the counter with me.”