Optical Company

Henry Smith + Hamylton Opticians
Organisation background:

Henry Smith & Hamylton are a family based opticians, established in 1887 providing professional eyecare for over 130 years. Registered with the General Optical Council, Harley Street.

As a 3rd generation family run independent opticians we pride ourselves on our unhurried eye examinations, professional advice & friendly individual service.

All our professional staff are fully qualified and expertly trained. Incorporating the latest modern sight test & screening equipment, as well as our impressive selection of designer & fashion eyewear, many are exclusive to our Leicestershire & Peterborough practices.

We carry many independent and unique eyewear brands including eyewear produced using 100% recycled ocean waste, 3D printed eyewear along side our own eyewear collections produced by our sister company, Henry Beaumont.

1. Project Outline
The way in which retail has changed within the past decade & the difficulties that many city centres have faced across the UK, we find more consumers opt to shop online or within a shopping centre environment, automatically visiting high street chains. High street multiples are very good at brand awareness, consistency & although the consumer knows it might not be the best service or quality, they feel reassured as to know what to expect.

The optical industry is seeing one of the biggest and fastest changes in its history. Within the past couple of years, the worlds largest frame manufacturer (Luxottica) merged with the worlds largest lens manufacturer (Essilor). Earlier this year, the group announced they were purchasing ‘Grand Optical,’ who own Vision Express & Tesco Opticians. The Essilor/Luxottica group also own Sunglasses Hut, David Clulow, and Glasses Direct. This alongside the aggressive & strategic domination of Specsavers (who now have the highest market share within the optical industry) has a huge impact on the Independent market.

Independent retailers need to offer a different service to high street chains, to be unique and give a far superior experience & product mix however in doing so does this then become a barrier and in fact cause the consumer to feel intimidated to step through the door?

Multiples are very good at advertising lower priced goods, however the price advertised is very rarely paid as ‘add on’s’ very quickly increase the purchase value. Most Independents are perceived as expensive even though the final price paid between Multiples and Independents are usually similar.

The demographic within Leicester City has shifted to more students and young professionals living in the City Centre and with established businesses moving their offices into the city (IBM, Mattioli Woods, Octopus Energy etc) an increase in office workers. However the big multiples have undercut the Independent market with their corporate packages, this with direct marketing to this demographic, it makes it harder for the Independent to target.
How can we as Independents become noticeable to the demographic within the city? How can we encourage potential customers to escape the bubble of the shopping centres and to explore what the Independent retailers have to offer?
What can Independents do to overcome psychological barriers and price expectations?

Additional notes:
The task that I have to do for the research project is to develop a top-line marketing plan. Some of the objectives are to increase average selling price from existing patients, and to attract new customers from two key demographics:
1. Younger people focusing on fashion trends
2. 40+ individuals focusing on progressive & occupational lenses.

A plan for each of their 8 practices are needed. The top priorities for this project is to develop a top-line plan, a detailed plan by month with clear goals, objectives, and channels to market for the next 12 months. Last February 5, I attended their company meeting with Hoya lenses at the Marriot Hotel. Hoya Company is a Japanese company that manufacture optical products and they will be the new supplier of lenses for Henry Smith + Hamylton. The lenses and training were discussed in the meeting and it gave me insight ino the lens side of the business. The marketing plan for 2020 were also outlined across the company. My host required me to develop a plan on how to draw more people into the practice and to develop a marketing plan.

STRUCTURE OF REPORT
FOR SECONDARY RESEARCH
• Introduction (10%)
• Company/organization background
• Revisit the initial brief/objectives
• What was planned and how it was planned it
• What actually happened and how (useful to justify changes in the project, etc.)
• Describe the parts of your work
• Literature review about the research theme (10%)
• Theme of your research, concepts and definitions, introduction to the research framework (if any)
• Research methodology (10%)
• Sources used. Importance. Validity. Sequence/timeline of events as far as research is concerned.
• Findings (30%)
• Presentation of the results as per the secondary sources used
• Analysis (30%)
• Analysis of the sources, comparison and contrast
• Conclusions/Recommendations/Limitations (10%)
• References
• Appendixes
• Reflective piece