Frame Board Management Best Practices

What does a patient walking into a practice think about purchasing?

Many private practice doctors have frame inventories on their minds. Patient frame-buying patterns are not what they were and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to reimagine what the future of inventory management looks like. Rest assured, the power of your optical as a revenue generator still exists and this is the perfect time to re-evaluate and implement changes that can help increase profitability.

Creating an Elevated Shopping Experience for Your Patients

Approximately 65% of the average independent practice’s revenue comes from prescription eyewear, with 29% specifically from frames.¹ Acknowledging this and establishing optical as an experiential profit center is still relevant. Think about making your frame brands, and boards, pop.

Whether they realize it or not, a patient is evaluating if they want to shop in your practice as soon as they step inside. The amount of quality floor space, and consequently, frame board space, that you dedicate to eyewear sends the patient an immediate message. This is the perfect time to discover if you can re-imagine your floor space to allow for a layout that is more pleasing to the eye – and the rest of the senses.

Patients will also notice your merchandising of frames. Marketing frames from the same brand with similarly positioned brands in a centralized location tells a visual story that the patient shopping in your optical can relate to. For example, if a fashion-conscious woman enters your office, she should be able to immediately spot the name brands that she likes or perhaps has seen influencers wearing. She’ll be able to tell at a quick glance that she wants to shop there, based on your frame offerings from specific brands being placed together.

Here are some other practical tips:

• Shopping begins at home. Quite often, your patients are looking at frames they like online, prior to visiting your office. Consider having them fill out a lifestyle questionnaire prior to their visit. This gives you information about the frames they are interested in and allows you to offer a safe, concierge-level shopping experience during their visit by pulling frames for them beforehand.
• Keep it simple. Do not over clutter the frame board. Organize by brand positioning so patients can have an easier time identifying a style that works for them. This will also help with social distancing guidelines.
• Have a flow. Having an organized shape or color scheme, as well as brand sections, can help a patient pick out a frame faster. Material and price point matter too, so don’t forget to factor those in as you are organizing your boards.

Need a little more help? Consider using frame board management resources from Marchon and Altair.

^{1. The Vision Council Research, 2015.}