Hydrophobic slick coats
have been around since 1987 when I first introduced them at
Vision Expo and the OLA exhibitions. They can be applied by
evaporation of a pill under vacuum, from a liquid concentrate
under vacuum, or by dipping the lens into a finished solution
at room temperature. This solution contains no solvents is
water based, emits no fumes, is totally safe and the process
allows to do it with unprotected fingers.
As the finished solution
is a water based air cure material, very oxygen sensitive,
there is no further action required, just dip and wipe, no
baking or other process is needed.
The base material is a
Dow Corning polysiloxane, mixed with several surfactants by
using water as the carrier. It provides, a super slick coating
on the lens that is also an excellent scratch resistant
treatment through its super slippery surface.
This coating also has an
excellent adherence to most surfaces as CR 39, Polycarbonate
and High Index lenses and their hard coats. To provide an even
better mechanical bond there is a product to etch the untreated
surface microscopically.
Lenses stay cleaner longer
By adding anti-stat and
ant-fog chemicals to the solution, dust will not be attracted
to the lenses, they will stay cleaner longer, and any fogging
up will dissipate within seconds. All other advantages you see
on slick coated AR lenses can be applied to regular non AR
coated lenses and achieve tneir full equivalent.
These slick coats can
easily be applied after the lenses have been edged so they will
not turn and come off axis during edging process.
A one Liter bottle will
coat over 200 pairs of lenses during its shelf life, at a cost
of
$ 0.32
There are two products
marketed by OMS Opto Chemicals for this purpose:
"Scratch Guard"
regular…………and "Super Scratch Guard", (ant-stat and anti-fog)
How to survive in the
optical retail market ?
[QUOTE=hcjilson;331137] posted on OptiBoard February 3, 2010
People are using
the internet to shop, compare prices, and SAVE MONEY! Optometry has
shown us a way to compete in this market but it's going to require some
major changes in our thinking. It's called "fee for service" and it will
allow us to compete, (perhaps compete better than) internet retailers.
Our retail prices reflect not only the cost of goods sold but the
service required on that product for a protracted period of time. As a
result, the retail price of a frame might be considerably higher than
what some would think a normal mark up.
Blog
Comment
Harry
has put it straight forward in his post. There has to be a total new way
of thinking in order to survive in this new way of doing business.
Adapt
to new times, give good service against being paid for it. Sell the
product at a fair mark-up instead of an inflated price that includes all
future free services as it has been in the optical retail business
forever.
That is the only way to counter the fast
growing new wave of optical on- line retailers. I have been following
the trend very closely and there are definitely dangerous clouds hanging
on the optical horizon.
On-line means selling through a website. The website is their store, and
finding their store is a matter of being well listed on search engines,
which will direct potential customers to their on line store which is
open 7 days and 24 hours per week..
Success on-line is simply the law of average. If you make 5 sales per
every
200
visitors, you need 2,000 visitors to make 50 sales. Therefore you have
to get all the website traffic that is possible, the more you get the
more you sell.
As the
on-line websites are showing heavy increases of web traffic to their
sites over the last 12 month we can safely assume that their sales have
increased as well.
On
line optical sellers do advise their customers to have the purchased
glasses adjusted by an optician, that should be one of the first changes
opticians should do without delay. Start charging for that service.
Mention it in the shop window and the store with the fee charged.
And
start rethinking how to charge for new glasses without service and then
add the service and you could be able to compete with the new wave of on
line opticals.
Do not
count on help by lens or frame manufacturers as they will sell their
goods anyhow.
Chris Ryser
Quote:
Originally Posted by
YrahG
Since many of these
large companies are
moving into the retail
sector and competeing
with their current
clients in order to turn
a buck, what's stoppign
anyone from importing
direct from China and
cutting them out of the
supply chain all
together?
That is one way to go, but that is one
way that can not be done alone. In order
to do that you have to be group of same
minded retailers that will have to fund
the venture, as the China supplier will
not sell their products one by one.
Then you will also have to study the
on-line competition where the major 8
players sell between 3 and 5 thousand
pairs of glasses per day and their sales
are going up. The labwork is done
overseas by people that make a fraction
of the salaries paid on this continent.
And they work with the most modern
equipment.
This market segment is not going away
soon. The major corporations will give
them all the support as they are major
customers an individual optical can not
compete with.
However they have a vacuum at the end of
the rope..............no service to
adjust the glasses and few opticians
that are ready to service them.
There are about 30,000 pais of glasses
deliverd per day that need adjustments
and service. You should find a solution to make
some money by servicing these products
on which you are making nothing right
now and that are selling anyhow.
__________________
__________________ Chris Ryser ______________
