The cost and convenience of purchasing contact lenses from online retailers is the reason many patients purchase contacts online, according to Jobson Optical Research’s 2013 Contact Lens Insight Survey. Some 61.7 percent of those who purchased contacts online cited cost as the driving factor, while 55.2 percent said it’s just easier to purchase their contacts online. Another 20.5 percent said they like that the contacts they purchase online arrive sooner than they do when purchased in an eyecare provider’s office. Some 14.2 percent said online retailers seem to have a better selection of contact lenses, while 5.7 percent cited “other” unspecified reasons for purchasing contacts online and 3.1 percent said they didn’t know why they purchased their contact lenses online.
The issue for this week is straightforward–contact lens sales that walk out the door. There are three approaches to address this issue: education, price and convenience. Let’s take them one at a time.
Education is key. It is important to answer patient questions before they ask them. It’s a sign of respect. Here’s how you do this. For the next two weeks, keep track of every question your patients ask while in the office. Now, come up with answers for these questions and strategically answer them before the patients get to the exam room or the optical. Some of the questions can be answered with signage (including video), some with staff scripts. The key is to answer them before they are asked. Make sure one of the questions you answer is “Are you too expensive?”
To be competitive, the price of your contact lenses needs to be within 7 percent of what the patient can purchase online. This is an easy calculation. Go online and see what it costs to purchase the contact lenses you prescribe for your patients. Include any membership fees, shipping costs and handling fees. Create a chart that you can show your patients when they state they want to go online to purchase their contact lenses. Your staff can say, “Which company would you like to use? Take a look, we’ve done the work for you. And here is what our fees are. In addition, here are services we do for our patients wearing contact lenses that you cannot get online.”
Convenience is a big driver as well. The internet has made everything convenient. Because of the internet, people can shop and buy when they want. So, how convenient is it to order contact lenses from your practice? The majority of contact lenses are sold online between 7-8 pm. Can a patient easily purchase contact lenses from your practice at 7-8 pm? If not, then fix that problem. There are many online solutions you can utilize for your practice to enable patients to order contact lenses online from your practice. Find the one that is best for your practice and get it up and running as soon as possible.
Approximately 20 percent of all contact lenses are sold over the internet. Those are sales that should take place in your practice. Handle these three issues in your practice this week and you will keep your contact lens sales from walking out your door.
