Your Guide to a Booming Optical Dispensary

It’s no secret that optical dispensary sales play an important role in your practice’s profitability. Recent studies suggest that retail sales contribute up to 60% of a practice’s total revenue. But having a thriving optical dispensary does not come without its challenges—including a ton of work, setup, and investment in terms of time and money.

As all industries continue to face staffing shortages, high turnover, and “The Great Resignation,” you may be relying on a leaner team which can have significant effects on your practice productivity. Throw in the rise of e-commerce and you’ve got a whole lot of change to navigate. Luckily, there are steps you can take to empower your staff to work more efficiently without compromising the patient experience.  

There are a lot of opportunities when it comes to your optical department. For instance, the Vision Council's Consumer inSights Q1 2022 Report found that 59% of adults in the U.S. received an eye exam within the past year. But how do you turn these exams into optical sales? Let’s get into it... 

Remember, you’re the expert.  

Let your patients know you always have their best interest in mind by explaining prescription details while they’re in the exam room. By discussing why you’ve recommended a specific frame or contact lens, you’ll build trust and understanding with your patients. From there, your optician can go through the nitty-gritty, narrow lens selections based on what you suggested and even further educate the patient on the benefits of the materials, coatings, etc. to close the sale.  

Consumer research shows that 85% of recent orders were bought in person, while the odds are in your favor, why not try to win back the estimated 14% that bought their eyewear online? When you and your optician are on the same page, you can provide a unified experience from the exam room to the dispensary. 

Help their dollar go further.  

As we face inflation and other economic impacts, we’re all more conscious about our spending. Help your patients maximize their benefits by ensuring that you have the correct insurance authorization and eligibility information. With tools like the VSP out-of-pocket calculator in Eyefinity Practice Management, you can price their order to the penny! When they have more visibility into their out-of-pocket cost, you can get patients the look they want within their budget.  

There’s power in the upsell.  

Alright, your optician has absolutely crushed it and the patient bought prescription eyewear from your practice, but what’s next? Keep your patients coming back for more with an inventory that includes readers and sunglasses. Research shows that nearly one in four adults use readers and similarly, one in four wear plano sunglasses. This is a superb opportunity to meet patients' needs while boosting your sales.  

Experience is everything.  

The minute your patient walks through the door there is an opportunity to engage. Do your opticians use iPads to customize and price patient orders right before their eyes? Are you able to easily search by order number to view past transactions and statuses to quickly find a patient’s order?  

Ensure you are providing a modern start-to-finish optical experience with technology that supports your optical staff. If you’re looking for practice technology that can manage inventory with ease, ensure order accuracy, and more, here’s how Eyefinity Practice Management can help:  

• Increase efficiency with key VSP integrations that allow staff to pull bulk VSP eligibilities and authorizations in advance and make billing adjustments without leaving your software.  
• Manage inventory all in one place with the ability to house frames, select pricing, and easily add new frames/inventory with barcode scanning. 
• Eliminate double data entry with the ABB Catalog integration and automatically send VSP lab orders and claims upon invoicing.  
• Verify the lab order and reduce errors with the Frames Data Catalog that shows you an image of the frame. 

Discover how Eyefinity Practice Management can transform your optical experience for patients AND staff here.