When Specsavers entered the Dutch market they produced quite a lot of noise. The British chain was there to conquer the country and everybody should know. Advertising told consumers other opticians were far too expensive and they were even called scammers. The tone of voice has, with some exceptions, changed during the years. The Dutch consumers proved to be less sensitive to the Specsavers message and the competition was stronger than expected. The increase of stores stagnated and instead of becoming the marketleader, Specsavers remained a relatively small player with today a bit more as 100 shops in smaller villages and city areas and an image that is mostly built on a lot of noisy press releases and activities. In an effort to beat Hans Anders the company recently focused on the quality of its eyecare. Hans Anders doesn’t have a lot of graduated employees and Specsavers did everything to make that clear to the consumer. But despite even some won trials in court the consumer did not seem to be interested and Hans Anders remained the major player at the bottom of the market. Now Specsavers seems to target on the regular clientele of the independent opticians. They are supposed to be more fashion aware and should be attracted with fashion and care together. Something Specsavers did before when it offered old series of frames of Ralph Lauren and Missoni as the newest collections of those brands. Even some fashion editors believed it but once again the consumer wasn’t impressed. It looks like Specsavers Netherlands doesn’t know what to do anymore. All efforts to gain a larger marketshare seem to fail and look a little bit desperate. At the upper part of the market the independent opticians are strong and well-established and at the bottom Hans Anders and Pearle can’t be beaten. The only option left is a marginal position but that is something they certainly don’t like at Specsavers.
