Thanks to the structure of the industry and the sky-high refunds by the insurance companies, France was and still is a paradise for opticians. As a result the amount of stores has grown exponentially over the last years. No crisis at all. No competition either. This all seems to become subject of change as the government will oblige eye doctors, who do all the eye measurements, to complete their receipts with all necessary information needed to order glasses online. The optical establishment is furious but will need to evaluate their added value in France as well. Interesting development which once again proves that opticians, like any other retailer, will have to deal with serious internet competition in the near future. Just surfing on an “old” imago of quality and craftsmanship will not be enough to convince the younger and modern consumer. Web stores already openly question the price-quality relation. It is time for new “added value”, more exclusive and beautiful products, more variation in the collection, much better marketing and communication, more service and most of all more shop experience. Nice challenge and certainly not only for French opticians.
