Basic Lens Dispensing Part 7

The ODMA board is committed to the ongoing education and training of the optical dispenser. To that end, in this issue we continue our series of articles from the ODMA Optical Retailers Guide with the seventh part of our series on the Basics of Lens Dispensing: Polarisation.

Our research indicates that the real sunwear business opportunity in Australia could be over a billion dollars, twice the current business of only a little more than AUD$450 million total Rx and non-Rx sunwear. That means that there is over AUD$550 million dollars worth of value to be created. Therefore, the opportunity for you is enormous.

The current market is shared by optometrists, retail outlets, specialty sunglass stores, department stores and mass sellers of sunwear. Optometrists and retail outlets only have about a third of the total amount.

Sunglass Hut has about 50 per cent of the Sunglass Specialty category. The rest is made up of lower-range sunwear. The average Sunglass Hut sells almost as much Plano sunwear as the average optometrist currently sells in total prescriptions. If optometrists could simply address the needs of the patients we already serve, it would be like adding a sunglass specialty shop to every practice that exists today.

Let's compare the Sunwear Industry to the Athletic Shoe industry. In 1980, the "sneaker" or "tennis shoe" industry in the U.S. was about USD$5 to 6 billion dollars. By the end of the decade, that industry had transformed itself into a USD$14 Billion dollar "athletic shoe" industry. What can that industry teach us? We need to change the way we see ourselves, and the way we present ourselves to our customers. We need to inform our customers, our patients, about the benefits of sunwear like the athletic shoe industry has done with the consumer. Sunwear must become like athletic shoes i.e., walking indicators of culture, full of lots of impressive options! More than one pair of eyewear, like shoes, should be the norm. And, polarised lenses should be the first sunwear

option.

 

Polarised Lenses

Polarised lenses have experienced dramatic growth in the past 15 years. In 1994 polarised lenses represented just one Rx out of 500, about 0.2 per cent.

Today, one Rx in 20 is polarised, about five per cent. Dramatic as it is, the real opportunity for the eye care professional is to increase the number of patients that have at least two pairs of glasses, with that second pair being polarised sunwear.

This means that each and every one of our businesses could double in size just by fulfilling our patients' needs for daytime safety and comfort. This means eliminating glare and in doing so, both the patient and our businesses benefit.

 

What is Glare?

Glare has more than a dozen categories and definitions in lighting engineering but there are just four that we need to know about for eyeglasses and eye sight. The source of the light as well as its intensity define glare.

 

Distracting Glare

- A minor annoyance caused by lens surface reflections that lead to eye fatigue.

- Distracting glare occurs when light reflects from the lens surface or from within the lens, is caused by sources such as street lights or car headlights at night, and results in squinting and eye fatigue.

 

Discomforting Glare

- You squint at it when everyday light is too bright, because the eye is unable to adapt naturally. It occurs even when it is cloudy outdoors, and makes you tired having to avoid or deal with it.

 

Disabling Glare

- Significantly reduced visibility or blocks vision because of extreme brightness. Sometimes it is also called veiling glare because it is like looking sheer window curtain. The intensity of the light becomes extreme, above 10,000 lumens.

 

Blinding Glare

- Completely blocks vision and is caused by light reflected off smooth, shiny surfaces such as water or sand. This mechanism is rather unique and will be explained later in detail.

You should prescribe and/or recommend polarised lenses to all patients. Why? Because polarised lenses are the only lenses that effectively remove the effects of all glare inclusive: discomforting, disabling and blinding glare. Because polarised lenses already have tints of varying densities (grey or brown), they absorb excess light which is the culprit in discomforting and disabling glare. Only polarised lenses are capable of absorbing and eliminating blinding glare.

Lastly, AR coating on the back surface of polarised lenses eliminates distracting glare and in that way all forms of glare are addressed in one pair of sunglasses.

 Benefits of Removing Glare

• Helps to maximise vision by reducing visual noise
• Improves Visual Comfort
• Ensures a comfortable level of light, helping to eliminate squinting and eye fatigue
• Eliminates annoyance and inconvenience
• And by reducing glare, the overall quality of vision, being able to see the best you can at all times, is improved.

 

How Polarised Lenses Work

Light waves travel in all directions from a light source, like the sun. Light is reflected off objects fairly randomly, and you see them and their colours.

However, when light hits horizontal surfaces (like the asphalt in Image 1) the reflection is concentrated into one plane and you get intense, polarised reflection of light. This creates blinding glare and can hide the other objects that are in the field of view.

If you look through a lens with a tinted polarised film two things happen. First the intensity of the light is reduced dependent on the density of the tint. Then, the polarised crystals, suspended in the film, absorb reflected horizontal polarised light. In this way, blinding glare is absorbed and eliminated. The glare is blocked and only the light carrying information reaches the eye.

Today many products use the term "glare protection" to capture the patient's attention. You now know that describing anti-reflection as

"no-glare" is not completely true. AR reduces reflections, increasing light transmission indoors, at night and especially on the back side of polarised lenses to reduce the mirror effect of a dark sunglass lens. AR addresses distracting glare and this product is a true benefit.

Photochromics and tinted lenses reduce light transmission, allowing better viewing comfort. These products help with discomforting and disabling glare. However, none of these lens options address Blinding Glare. Only polarised lenses virtually eliminate all forms of glare.

 

Consumer Preferences and Effects of Glare

According to ODMA's research, consumers want their sunwear to block glare as the number one benefit Therefore, this is a ready-made opportunity to educate our patients.

Impaired outdoor vision can occur when:

Driving in the early morning with clear lenses and using a hand which should be on the steering wheel to block the rising or setting sun.

• Reflections off a wet pavement in the morning completely blinding the view of oncoming or your own lane's traffic.
• Boating or skiing on a bright sunny day.

Now polarised lenses in single vision and progressive designs are able to be dispensed into large fashion and sports frames without fear of optical distortions or "cut out" issues. This is because free form technology creates a personal file for customising each order with expanded visual zones- not previously available in wrap prescription lenses.

"Cut out" issues are eliminated in progressive lenses as the optical centers are produced in the free form manufacturing process. Conventional non free form progressive lenses have the centres already positioned in the lens and have to be physically moved to achieve the desired PDs.

The other effects of extreme excesses of light are colour distortion and poor depth perception. These are dangerous effects of glare. Discomforting, disabling and blinding glare and decreased safety go hand in hand.

 

Polarised Lens Manufacture

Today's quality polarised products are one-piece cast or injected products. This process requires the polarised wafer to be integrated within the resin structure of each lens.

The polarised filter is created with PVA (a plastic film) which is stretched in one direction establishing a grain to the PVA. Iodine crystals combined with dichroic (coloured) dyes are applied to the PVA. The Iodine crystals line up with the grain of the PVA, similar to the vanes of a Venetian blind. It is the iodine crystals and dichroic dyes that absorb and filter polarised light. The PVA is then prepared to the lens' mould requirements and positioned within each mould and the lens is cast.

Dichroic dyes in the polariser are designed to absorb light overall or, to absorb/transmit selective wavelengths to achieve specific colour and visual effects. Tinted and photochromic lenses have specific absorptions but have no polarising ability. Also, at this time, there are no known clear polarisers that can block disabling or blinding glare.

Not all polarising lenses block the same degree of glare. Polarising efficiency must be near 100 per cent to work best. The best polarised products block in excess of 97 per cent of the polarised light or are ">97 per cent efficient".

There are polarised lenses with lower efficiencies; these are often in "fashion" colours. To achieve these light fashion tints, they compromise on the amount of strong polarised light absorbers in the lens, and therefore provide poor glare protection.

 

Polarised Eyewear

Remember, polarised, is the proper term, not 'Polaroid', which is a registered trademark. Whatever the age, demographics, or special needs of the patient, you can be sure that there is a particular sunwear to fit their needs.

Don't judge or assume that people cannot afford quality sunwear. Nothing could be further from the truth. People spend money on quality clothes, cars, and an endless variety of other things. Start making sunwear important to them, and teach them about the benefits of sunwear. Polarised lenses repay the investment every time you wear them!

 

Price Sensitivity

Be prepared to answer the patient when they say, "Quality sunwear is too expensive."

One of the primary reasons for price sensitivity with sunwear is all the cheap, low quality sunglasses that are channelled through every imaginable type of business. From street venders in the CBD to markets and service stations, there are millions of pairs of sunglasses readily available.

Over-the-counter products by and large, are of inferior quality and often lack UV protection. Many sold as polarised are simply formed sheets of film that are stamped out in the millions. They possess polarising capability, but the optical properties are demonstrably inferior to ophthalmic lenses. Many ophthalmic sunwear offerings are AR coated, a benefit not often found in cheap over-the-counter sunwear. Most importantly, cheap, ready to wear

sunwear isn't prescription! The long term results of cheap sunwear may include serious accidents caused by glare and permanent eye tissue damage, leading to cataracts and macular degeneration.

 

Other Alternatives

Patients like the perceived convenience of clip-ons. But, consider the lens options most of our patients purchase on our recommendation: hi-index materials, various lens coating and cosmetically appealing lens styles. Lens attachments like clip-ons can scratch or may be a safety problem while driving and trying to attach or remove.

 

The Ageing Eye

People in Australia are living longer; and so the number of ageing patients is continuing to grow. As the eye ages, it becomes more light sensitive, the internal media scatters light more, and the eye's reflexes slow. Glare recovery time for an older patient is longer than for a younger person. Polarised lenses are available in a light grey colour with high efficiency for greater safety and mobility out of doors.

 

Children

Children in most of the world and certainly in Australia are seldom viewed as patients for quality sunwear. Yet studies show we experience more than half of our lifetime exposure to sun light and the damaging effects of UV before the age of 18. The Italians have been the quickest to recognise this responsibility and now fit 30 per cent of their children with quality sunwear. In Australia we fit less than three per cent.

Children need more than hats and sunscreens; they need to experience the importance of sunwear from the earliest age possible. Establishing wellness habits is good for our future. Post-cataract patients and Lasik patients too, are

patients for quality sunwear.

 

Make Selling Sunwear Important

Making selling sunwear important can change any optical location into one where sunwear is an important part of their sales.

One smart practice in the U.S. has created an athletic department selling sports eyewear branded athletic gear. Besides sunwear, this practice has made their location the one-stop shopping spot for anything with that sports brand. This practice also sees to it that their products are represented in greater selection than can be found anywhere else in that metro area. All products are attractively displayed and pricing is always as good as or better than prices available elsewhere.

This practice even leverages their sunwear sales with their clear lens sales, so competitors selling only sunwear and sportswear are at a disadvantage because they cannot discuss the patient's prescription needs. When a patient needs prescription eyewear, their sunwear must be prescription as well.

 

Market Research

An independent poll in the U.S. revealed that when consumers were asked if they experienced problems with glare while driving, 73 per cent of the 5,000 surveyed answered in the affirmative. That's three out of four people identifying themselves as candidates for polarised lenses.

With the hot and sunny climate we have in Australia, this proportion would be even higher. Only polarised lenses can solve this problem with glare. For those in the 35 to 54 age range, that number climbs to 80 per cent, or eight out of 10 patients reporting trouble with glare. When the question was made general; "have you experienced problems with glare?", 82 per cent  responded that they did experience glare problems. That's four out of five people self-identified as needing the benefit of a polarised lens.

When simply asked, "What do you most want from sunwear?", consumers answered that they wanted protection from glare. We have the solution to their glare problems, but unless we talk polarised, most will never know it.

Be sure your sunwear is as diverse as your patient base. A good rule of thumb for an average sized practice is to carry between 200 and 300 pieces of sunwear, both Rx-able and planos. This inventory should be closely monitored for style and quality just as frames for clear lenses are monitored. Your sunwear department needs to stand out and command attention. When well done, sunwear will act as a magnet for patients entering your place of business, regardless of the primary reason for their visit.

 

Demonstrate Polarised Lenses

New glare demonstrators show exactly how polarised lenses block glare. The surface reflections off the picture obscure the scene. When viewed with the polarising lens lorgnette the scene is visible. This is exactly what happens when reflected polarised light blocks the view when driving.

Use the "Polarised Lens Success Cycle". This cycle can be repeated to achieve each goal you set for your practice. Firstly, determine what percentage of your total sales comes from sunwear. Your long term goal should be to achieve a 50/50 mix. But, initially, set an achievable goal such as five per cent of total sales. That's just one pair out of 20.

If you're already at five per cent, then set your next goal at 10 per cent; that's just one pair out of 10. Use the steps in the cycle of success and you will see growth sunwear polarised sales.

Our industry can easily transform itself from a AUD$450 million dollar industry into a Billion dollar one! The biggest question you must ask yourself is "What does this information mean to you and your business?" We are still in the early days of this sunwear explosion, just like the early days of progressive lenses. Make selling sunwear important not only for your own success, but also for your patients!

Part 7 of the Basic Lens Dispensing series has been reproduced with kind permission from the ODMA. This article appeared in the ODMA Optical Retailers Guide, in the Education and Training section, under the heading of 'Basic Lens Dispensing Part 7'.

Independent practitioners, who would like to receive a copy of the ODMA Optical Retail Guide, should contact ODMA on E: marketing@odma.com.au

David Rips is President and CEO of Younger Optics.