The Profit Potential of Mirrors
Ramp up your mirror coating sales and see how profits can soar.
Ramp up your mirror coating sales and see how profits can soar.
By Debra R.White, MSEd, ABOM, FCLSA
Published by Vision Care Product News, May 2010 - www.totallyoptical.com
Published by Vision Care Product News, May 2010 - www.totallyoptical.com
Raise your hand if you sell eyewear. Keep your hand up if you sold a mirror coating within the past week. Where did all the hands go? Mirror coatings can be a useful addition to your lens toolbox. Recommending mirror coatings on plano and Rx eyewear boosts patients’ lens performance while promoting fashion. It can also increase your profit picture.
Where's the action?
The fashion market continues to feature flash mirrors and flash gradients while the sports market shows new bold colors. Mirror coatings have improved tremendously over the last couple of years and, for many retailers, have become a profit center all by themselves. The profit margin a mirror coating sale provides will often make up for the discount you might offer on a second-pair sunwear sale, so it’s more important to your profitability than you might suspect.
As you can see in Table 1, a $3,120 annual prof it can easily be made by selling just one extra pair of mirror-coated lenses per week. Remember, a backside antireflective (AR) treatment is recommended with a mirror coating and that is reflected in the “cost” figure in the table.
Where's the action?
The fashion market continues to feature flash mirrors and flash gradients while the sports market shows new bold colors. Mirror coatings have improved tremendously over the last couple of years and, for many retailers, have become a profit center all by themselves. The profit margin a mirror coating sale provides will often make up for the discount you might offer on a second-pair sunwear sale, so it’s more important to your profitability than you might suspect.
As you can see in Table 1, a $3,120 annual prof it can easily be made by selling just one extra pair of mirror-coated lenses per week. Remember, a backside antireflective (AR) treatment is recommended with a mirror coating and that is reflected in the “cost” figure in the table.
Having so many mirror types to choose from makes it easy to recommend them. Solid mirrors provide the ultimate glare reduction on top of a dark absorptive lens, perfect for park rangers, dog walkers, or just your average Joe or Jane. Gradient mirrored lenses come in handy when there is a strong amount of light from above, such as biking and hiking. Double gradient mirrors offer protection from glare above and below the line of sight, such as snow shoeing. Boaters and other water enthusiasts should be offered mirror-coated polarized sun lenses to cut glare and reduce the intensity of the sun.
Table 2 illustrates how selling a mix of mirrors can affect your profitability. If $318 can be realized in one week, the profit that can be made selling five different types of mirror treatments equals $16,536 annually. Ten mirror coatings can add an additional $636 weekly, with 20 mirror coatings per week - a whopping $1,272. Now, raise your hand and repeat after me: “I pledge to recommend mirror coatings in my fashion eyewear and sunwear presentations.” If you do, you’ll significantly increase your profits.
Debra R. White is a former opticianry professor. She is currently an optical consultant, lecturer, and writer.
Table 2 illustrates how selling a mix of mirrors can affect your profitability. If $318 can be realized in one week, the profit that can be made selling five different types of mirror treatments equals $16,536 annually. Ten mirror coatings can add an additional $636 weekly, with 20 mirror coatings per week - a whopping $1,272. Now, raise your hand and repeat after me: “I pledge to recommend mirror coatings in my fashion eyewear and sunwear presentations.” If you do, you’ll significantly increase your profits.
Debra R. White is a former opticianry professor. She is currently an optical consultant, lecturer, and writer.
