Eyewear Tips From the Field #1 Men’s Eyewear
Written by Shirley on September 27, 2009 – 10:02 pm -
I am out and about in the “field” right now working on an eyewear survey which involves talking directly to eyecare providers and they have a wealth of observations and tips to share. I am not the expert but I know that when we are dealing with the same subject every day we often take a lot of what we know for granted. It is sometimes hard to step back and put ourselves in the optical consumers’ shoes. Therefore a lot of these eyewear tips from the field might seem too obvious but I have seen enough recently to know that what should be obvious is not always what happens in a sales environment.
Let’s start with the male optical consumer:
Many men do not like shopping for eyewear, they see it as a chore.
Izod Man - A Man's Man!
Men want to know where to look for frames and they are ususally more comfortable with a specific area to browse and when they can see male images. Zyloware’s Stetson images are good examples (I like looking at the Stetson man myself!). Look at Tura’s website for great men’s eyewear visuals also. No man wants to be George from Seinfeld getting accused of wearing a Woman’s eyeglass frame so a little reassurance that they are definitely looking in the right place helps the sale.
There is also a significant number of male optical consumers that need larger sized eyewear but these potential purchasers often find their choices limited. You might be losing these men if they are not comfortable with the ophthalmic frame environment in your practice and if they can’t easily locate what they are looking for. One of the chains (hint it has a famous tools department) does an excellent job of merchandising and creating a “male” space with as many frame styles on the boards suitable for men as for women. You may not want to go this far with the frame board space but male images and merchandising can do the job just as well. A lot of men do not relate to the very glossy, fashion forward images and need to see an image that they can identify with maybe like the Izod one above.
Your input on recommended larger eyewear styles for men would be much appreciated as I would like to post information about this subject.
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Tags: Eyewear, Marketing, Optical Vendors, RetailPosted in Marketing | 1 Comment »
By Shirley on Sep 29, 2009 | Reply
Thank you to “Striderswife” who answered my question on Optiboard for some ideas about larger size men’s frames. She says “The XXL line by A&A has a lot of good men’s frames in large sizes, but they don’t have just humongous, goofy-looking lenses. I really like this line because a larger guy an wear a frame that fits well and is still “trendy.” They have styles also for guys with a wider head, but a relatively narrow PD. They need a wide frame, but not wide lenses. I’ve fit several teenage guys in these frames. It’s a good feeling when the patient feels they look sharp in something that fits.”