Due to its track record over the past few years, the high-end frame category has become particularly appealing to dispensers across the country. Thus, many have embarked upon a journey to grow their own upscale eyewear business and others are currently poised to enter the realm.
One area not to be ignored, if this is your mission, is the environment in which these luxury products will be placed. An assortment of high-end frames alone is not a ticket to ride. High-end customers will expect a boutique atmosphere, and creating one will certainly improve your sell-through of these high-end frames.
There are several ways to approach developing a high-end retail design, and two have proven to be particularly successful by experienced dispensers. The entire dispensary/optical shop can be redone to reflect this new direction or a special area within the optical shop can be designated as the luxury spot. Whichever mode you choose, be certain that it will enhance your sales.
“In the past, most frame displays have consisted of rows and rows of frames–and this still exists today,” says Sandy Bright, president of Bright Displays. “People who walk into a high-end optical shop expect a boutique atmosphere, not rows and rows of frames.”
Certainly, creating a boutique look for eyewear is no easy task. “The problem is that eyewear is small and you need to show a lot of it in an effective way,” says Sarah McGrath, account executive from ALU, a design/display company in New York City. Rest assured, however: There is a method of redesign available for every budget.
“You don’t have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to update your dispensary to bring in some higher-end frames,” says Lynn Franklin, designer at Fashion Optical Displays.
Here is a roundup of 10 tips to help pave the way for an upgraded dispensary design ready for high-end business.
|
|
|
|
Ennco Display Systems created a chic display case for Vision Care of Maine. |
1. Look at your dispensary as if you were a patient. Walk into your selling space with an objective view. If you were a customer, what would you want to see? What would inspire you to approach a display of high-end frames?
“The best thing to do is to sit down and look at your dispensary as if you were a patient,” says Franklin. “Take a bit of time to see the dimensions of the space and what is in it. You have to make people feel that they are going to find what they are looking for–otherwise they will go somewhere else.”
Once you have realized what your customer would appreciate, it’s time to take some appropriate actions.
2. Start with a focal wall. Starting with a smaller area of concentration can make the project seem more feasible and more affordable. Plus, if you sell a variety of pricepoints, it makes sense to highlight the area containing the high-end products. Choose an area in your selling space that can be visually separated from the rest of the dispensary.
“Take one blank wall, maybe three- feet wide,” says Bright. “Take down any old-fashioned displays there and put up shelves.” Merchandise frosted glass shelves, which can quickly create a more luxurious look, with displays, frames, and any point-of-purchase materials and you’ll be ready to go. “This can be a beautiful area where dispensers can test market this high-end concept,” recommends Bright.
Some also choose to tie in window displays to the focal wall or high-end section of the dispensary so customers can preview the attitude of the optical shop from the outside before walking in.
“We designed window boxes hanging from cables inside of the front windows for one dispensary,” says Justine Krefft, interior designer at Ennco. “They have frames in them. This window treatment looks really different, high end, and contemporary.”
3. Elevate your frames. One of the most important factors in properly displaying high-end frames is to get them up off the shelves on which they are being displayed. This will highlight their attributes. “It makes the frames look really cheap if they are just sitting on a glass shelf,” says Franklin. “You need to put the frames up on risers. If they are laying on the shelves, it will quickly take away their worth.” Frame risers come in a variety of sizes and price ranges and can be purchased from most display companies.
4. Secure the product. Because you are displaying expensive product, it must be in a secure area (usually near the register or dispensing tables) or in locked cases. “There are many showcases that give you that feel of a high-end boutique but you can keep frames locked up,” says Franklin.
If you can manage to house frames in a secure area, it may benefit you to make them accessible to customers. “You can increase sales by letting people be able to touch and try on the frames,” says Bright. “The more they try, the more they buy. If you keep just a few high-end frames out and keep the rest under lock and key, you can definitely win that way.”
If you do opt to add a locking display case to your dispensary, it is necessary to ensure this case is well-merchandised with frames, displays, risers, and point-of-purchase materials. “Display cases that lock are great, but you definitely need to add an interesting visual dimension into the mix, incorporating graphics and merchandising,” says ALU’s McGrath. “All those things can make it look more appealing.”
|
|
|
|
iDesign Concepts’ six-branch display unit keeps lenses elevated. |
5. Display fewer frames. One key to highlighting very expensive frames looks to the old adage: Less is more. “You don’t want to show as many frames,” says Ennco’s Krefft. “A lot of people want the inventory, so you can put them in drawers for easy access.”
This is also one way to separate your moderately priced frames from the high-end selection. “A dispensary can have both a section that is visible with a lot of frames and a high-end area that is more subtly done with fewer frames,” says Krefft. “The customer will know they are not walking into Wal-Mart, but an upscale boutique.”
6. Upgrade lighting and paint. If you are on a tight budget, but would like to make some changes to gain a higher-end look, changing your paint and lighting fixtures are two of the easiest and most cost-efficient ways to go.
“The two biggest things you can do on a budget are lighting and paint,” says Krefft. “Halogen track lighting makes a huge difference just by itself and paint is cheap.” She warns, however, that upscale translates to “trendy” and paint color should follow current trends and change with them.
“You have to change the paint regularly,” she says. “People think they have to spend a lot of money to make their dispensary look high-end, but you just have to make a few changes. Only $300 to $400 spent on design fees can look like a lot more.”
|
|
|
|
Glass shelves grace an étagère from Fashion Optical Displays’ Ovation line. |
7. Bringing in one display fixture can help. If budget is an issue, yet you want to change more than paint and lighting, even one new display case can make a big difference. “Bringing in one fixture alone can help,” says ALU’s McGrath. “It can be the focal point of the entire store.” She also notes that dispensers can take into consideration that if a system is going to allow them to show more product, and thus sell more, the display unit will end up paying for itself because it’s more functional. “That functionality has to be kept in mind,” she says.
8. Redesign gradually. As sales increase and profits start building, eyecare professionals can invest back into the store’s design over a period of time. “As you increase your high-end sales, you can keep taking down old sections and adding new sections,” suggests Bright. “You can do it gradually for around $500.”
9. Do something personal. One of the best ways to highlight a high-end area is to create a visually appealing display. Often, the items you may need for such a display are in your own home. One dispenser incorporated African artifacts as props in a room where everything else was glass and plastic, says Bright. Items such as these can come from a personal collection. “Whatever you love is going to excite your patients/customers and inspire them to spread the word to others,” says Bright. Additionally, store dècor can be changed quickly or seasonally simply by swapping things, she notes. “Give yourself, your staff, and your customers a lift,” says Bright. “Change is good in the optical environment. It’s all new the next day.”
10. A total remodel is less expensive than you think. The optimum way to create the boutique look is to undergo a total remodel. Many companies offer free consulting services for such undertakings and provide complimentary estimates and preliminary floorplans.
|
|
|
|
ALU’s Stylo internally illuminated display units feature a soft-edge, shopper-friendly appearance in a lockable cabinet. |
|
For example, Fashion Optical Displays offers a free dispensary design consultation–it takes the length of a dispensary’s doors, walls, and existing display units. “If dispensers want to keep their existing displays, they can just snap some pictures of them and we can offer a new floor plan, plus ideas for new fixtures and furniture,” says Franklin. “We can design at no charge and give the dispenser a cost estimate.”
As an example of an effective redesign effort, Franklin says frame bars (approximately five) could be added to the walls for about $300, and a new showcase for about $1,300. “The dispenser could add a showcase, new wall display, and other items for about $3,000 and make a noticeable improvement,” she says.
Certainly, the full cost will depend upon what you decide to undertake and the interiors you choose. However, Franklin tells of one dispensary in Los Angeles that spent $5,000 on a remodel: “The change was remarkable, it made a big difference.”
Link – Eye Care Business
