UK-based eyewear brand, Specsavers, has kicked off a $10 million investment in Canadian marketing alongside a roadmap to opening 200 stores across the country. Today on The Voice of Retail, grab your reading glasses for this close-up look at Specsavers’ strategy to enter the Canadian market. I sit down with the company’s General Manager & Executive Vice President, Bill Moir to talk about the big news.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
UK-based eyewear brand, Specsavers, has kicked off a $10 million investment in Canadian marketing alongside a roadmap to opening 200 stores across the country.
Today on The Voice of Retail, grab your reading glasses for this close-up look at Specsavers’ strategy to enter the Canadian market. I sit down with the company’s General Manager & Executive Vice President, Bill Moir to talk about the big news.
Bill offers insight on the company’s decision, how they plan to enter an already saturated North American market and how their marketing mix and powerful business model is ready to take on the challenge and improve Canadian eye care at the same time.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into Barbeque, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
Marketing / Ecommerce / Commercial specialist in consumer facing organisations focussed on: customer proposition development; business growth; turnaround; go-to-market strategies; marketing effectiveness; digital transformation.
PROFILE
Fifteen years’ Executive Board experience, in marketing, ecommerce and commercial roles, incorporating over 20 years multichannel retail expertise. Instigated and directed change programmes to: introduce multichannel customer experiences and launch products globally; double advertising and brand recognition; increase repeat purchases by 80% and ROI by 40%. Used commercial acumen and customer insight to double market share and turned around business areas to restore market share growth. Applied a flexible leadership style to build high performance teams.
Specialties: Leadership, trading, retail, customer insights, marketing, ecommerce, advertising, branding and identity, CRM, purchasing / buying, negotiation, social media marketing, team development, merchandising; customer proposition development; business growth; turnaround; go-to-market strategies; marketing effectiveness; digital transformation.
To find out more about business opportunities at Specsavers visit spectrum-specsavers.ca or contact the partnership team at enquiries.ca@specsavers.com
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. UK-based eyewear brand, Specsavers, has kicked off a ten-million-dollar investment in Canadian marketing, alongside a roadmap to opening 200 stores across the country.
Michael LeBlanc 00:19
Today on The Voice of Retail, grab your reading glasses for this close up look at Specsavers' strategy to enter the Canadian market. I sit down with the company's GM and Executive Vice President, Bill Moir, to talk about the big news.
Michael LeBlanc 00:30
Bill offers insights on the company's decision, how they plan to enter an already saturated North American market, and how their marketing mix and powerful business model is ready to take on the challenge and improve Canadian eye care at the same time.
Bill Moir 00:43
More recently, we're seeing consolidation in the market. So, we're seeing a smaller number of private equity banks, corporates, kind of buying up independent optometrists. And that means there's less choice for customers and there's less opportunities for independent optometrists, and business owners, to be successful.
Bill Moir 00:57
So, so our aim is to reverse that trend. We believe the way we'll deliver that, and deliver the best patient care to customers, is by really ensuring the independence and auton-, and the autonomy of optometrists, opticians and retailers.
Michael LeBlanc 01:12
Let's listen in now. Bill, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this afternoon?
Bill Moir 01:17
Really good. Thank you, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 01:19
Thanks so much for joining me. Where am I reaching you today?
Bill Moir 01:23
I'm in Vancouver.
Michael LeBlanc 01:24
Let's just jump right in. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Your personal, professional background, your journey and your role at Specsavers.
Bill Moir 01:33
Okay, cool. Well, first of all, thanks for having me today, Michael. You may tell from my accent that I'm not Canadian born and bred, I'm actually born in Edinburgh, in Scotland.
Michael LeBlanc 01:43
Love Edinburgh. Been there a couple of times.
Bill Moir 01:45
Ah, yes. Good.
Michael LeBlanc 01:45
Love Edinburgh.
Bill Moir 01:47
Well that's great. So, you can understand my accent, which is even better. But most of my working life was actually in London. So, spent 20 years working in various executive board roles, in various retail businesses in London, mainly in consumer electronics. So, companies like Kasa, or Google, Dell, working across lots of different functions in marketing, e-commerce, trading.
Bill Moir 02:09
And then about eight years ago, I moved to Melbourne in Australia, where I worked with Coles, who's the market leading supermarket out there, and ran their marketing strategy before I joined Specsavers, in, joined them in Melbourne about five years ago. So, my first role with Specsavers was as Trading Director for Australia, New Zealand.
Bill Moir 02:29
Where I looked after product and marketing, and PR. And was basically responsible for driving the front end of the business. And that was about eight years after Specsavers had arrived in Australia, New Zealand. So, a really, really exciting time to join. And really, it was great to be with a business we, as we hit some key milestones. So, things like reaching over 50% market share and generating a billion dollars in revenue for the first time.
Bill Moir 02:51
Most importantly for us, though, was about how many people we helped, looking after the eye health needs of about three and a half million customers a year. So, really exciting. And then, a couple of years ago I moved into a group e-commerce and digital role for Specsavers, and that was just before the COVID pandemic hit.
Bill Moir 03:06
So, I had the joy of leading our efforts to make sure we could still service our customers in all our markets and their needs remotely, while we were in lockdown in various countries across Europe, with services like, like e-commerce and tele-remote care.
Michael LeBlanc 03:20
Right.
Bill Moir 03:21
And then when Specsavers moved into Canada at the beginning of last year with the purchase of a chain called Image Optometry in, in BC, I jumped at the opportunity to come over to Vancouver to lead our entry into a new market as the General Manager. So, I moved to Vancouver with my family in May last year and I've been building the team and putting together our plans to launch the Specsavers brand to Canadian customers.
Michael LeBlanc 03:44
Well, welcome to Canada. Thank you for bringing your expertise and, and the global perspective. Now did you always want to be in this part of business? Was this always the kind of thing you wanted when you were growing up, you wanted to be in business some way, shape, or form. Or a little bit about your background, that you seem to be thriving in this, kind of, mix of technical, technological and, and service. Is that, was that always the case?
Bill Moir 04:07
I studied Business and Marketing at university, so I always had a, a desire to go into that, that kind of area. And I've always enjoyed retail. But there's always been, it’s interesting, consumer electronics is where I started, which is a very high service retail environment.
Bill Moir 04:23
So, it's interesting, now moving to Specsavers, which is very much, it's the first time I've been in a business which is a combination of retail and healthcare. I think that's what's really been interesting for me, is applying the knowledge I've had in retail, and the passion I've had for retail over the last 25 years. But applying it in a, in a healthcare environment where you're, kind of, improving people's eye health and caring for customers as well.
Michael LeBlanc 04:47
Right on. Well let's, let's talk about Specsavers. I knew of the brand, actually I, I was in one of your locations in, in Dublin. And then in another one, I do some work for the Irish government, so I happen to spend a fair bit of time, or used to, in, in Ireland. So, that's where I first met the brand, so to speak.
Michael LeBlanc 05:04
But probably familiar as a name to many. But tell us about the origin of the business, scope and scale. I mean, what makes you different. It's, it's not like, it's not a crowded marketplace. You sound like it's been met with great success and, and talk about your business model.
Bill Moir 05:19
Yeah, sure. I mean, it has been a very successful journey. I mean, we were founded 40, 40, just under 40 years ago by an optometrist, husband and wife team. So, Doug and Mary Perkins. And they set out really to provide accessible and quality eye care to everyone, that was their aim.
Bill Moir 05:36
And they opened the very first store in Bristol, in the UK. So, it wasn't Ireland, it was Bristol, in 1984. And we fast forward to today, Specsavers, we're now the world's largest optometrist-led business. We've got over 2300 optical and audiology stores—
Michael LeBlanc 05:53
Wow.
Bill Moir 05:53
In 11 different countries. And we're the market leader in pretty much every market we operate in. So, really from, from two eyecare professionals, Doug and Mary, with a really powerful vision, there are now over 35,000 colleagues working within Specsavers partnership—
Michael LeBlanc 06:07
Wow.
Bill Moir 06:07
And we're looking after the eye health of more than 41 million people in 11 countries. So yeah, it's been a huge success story. In terms of what makes us different, there's probably three things about Specsavers that I think really has, has led to that success. The first one is, I think, is we're privately-owned and purpose led. So, Doug and Mary and their son John, still actively lead and run the business today.
Michael LeBlanc 06:31
Wow. Family-owned business still, right.
Bill Moir 06:33
Family-owned today. And I was speaking to John just last week, in fact, their son. And they do, they do it with the same level of passion, care, commitment that they always have done. But that means we don't need to answer to shareholders. We can take long term decisions, it means we can genuinely prioritize the needs of, of customers and partners.
Bill Moir 06:51
And I've, I've worked in lots of different businesses over the years, and many who claimed to be purpose-led, but in reality, they simply lead by what's right for the bottom line, or what's right for shareholders—
Michael LeBlanc 07:01
Yeah.
Bill Moir 07:01
Which is understandable. But because we're privately owned, Specsavers, I mean, our mission is to improve people's lives through better sight. And that's absolutely ingrained in the business, to make sure we provide accessible quality eye care to everyone. So, as far as business I've worked in, who actually live and breathe the purpose in everything that we do.
Bill Moir 07:19
So, that's the first thing, I think, is that, that private-owned, purpose-led element. I think the next one for me is about it genuinely puts customers first, because of the purpose and the ownership structure, we can truly have a customer-first mindset in everything we do, from consistently striving for clinical excellence in eye care to, to making sure we have really high-quality eyewear, and making that affordable to customers.
Bill Moir 07:41
So, I mean, to give you an example, we own, own our own supply chain, which means we give our customers more choice of frames, and we respond more quickly to change the customer's demands. But it means we can guarantee the quality of our products second to none. And globally, we now do, around 18 million frames go through our supply chain every year—
Michael LeBlanc 08:01
Wow.
Bill Moir 08:01
Which means we’ve got huge economies of scale, which we can then pass on as lower prices for our customers to make sure our eyewear is really affordable. So, that's customers. And then the thing that's core to the Specsavers model, and the third thing for us, that makes us unique I think, is partnership.
Bill Moir 08:16
So, all our Specsavers stores today remain owner-operated under a really supportive franchise partnership model. So, we've got around three and a half 1000 partners across the globe today. And our aim is to make them successful and to support them. So, they can focus on the eyecare, and the eyewear needs of their customers and their local communities. And—
Michael LeBlanc 08:34
You've said, you've said that a couple of times, optometrist-led. So, is that the model, it, it's, it's optometrist-led. Is that uniformly, 100%, that's where it begins? Talk about that a bit.
Bill Moir 08:44
Yes, optometrist-led, because Doug and Mary themselves are optometrists. So, their, their passion and their care and their, their reason for being in business is to help people and improve people's eye health. In terms of the stores individually, each store typically has two partners, and they jointly own it.
Bill Moir 08:57
So, there's an optometry partner who looks after the clinical needs of their customers. And then at the front of stores, the retail or optician partner, who looks after the retail area. And they look after the eyewear needs of their customers.
Michael LeBlanc 09:09
Sure.
Bill Moir 09:09
And then we put a high support model in place around them, and it frees them up so they can work together to really focus on growing the business, developing their team, and caring for their customers. So, if that's the thing that's really core is the, is the, the customer and partnership focus.
Bill Moir 09:09
I mean to give you an idea how deep rooted that, that is in, in the meeting rooms we set up in our support office here in Canada, we’ve got a sign on the wall in every meeting room which says "Better for partners and better for customers". So, we can constantly remind ourselves that any decision we make needs to satisfy these two things.
Michael LeBlanc 09:40
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've been, I've been part of many franchise-led or franchise component organizations. Last stop would, would, would, would have been a Pandora Jewelry that you would know—
Bill Moir 09:51
Oh, yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 09:51
How important it is to have that partnership and, you know, some, some go down a different track or a parallel track, right, of corporate-owned and franchised. Do you have any corporate-owned, or you're 100% franchise?
Bill Moir 10:03
100% franchised, and I suppose that that's the essence of the model is that we, we were passionate about making sure there's people owning a local store. So, they wake up every day caring about the needs of the customers and their local community, that's what our business is all about.
Michael LeBlanc 10:15
And now, do you make, make the frames, make the product, the glass in each country that you operate? Or is there a central like, like, is there, let's call it a manufacturing or processing plant here now in Canada, is that, is that part of the model as well?
Bill Moir 10:29
We've got elements of supply chain all over the world. We have them in, in Asia. We got sites in the UK, in Australia, and we've got, we have got a facility here as well. We've got a lab here in Vancouver, we're doing as well.
Bill Moir 10:43
So, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll move around production and edging of glasses to the place that makes more sense for our customers and give them the best value. But we've got a variety of, variety of different sites we can use. Which actually has been very helpful during the last couple of years with, with COVID. We've been able to flex our—
Michael LeBlanc 11:01
Yeah, yeah.
Bill Moir 11:01
Supply chain, so we can still ensure continuity of supply for customers.
Michael LeBlanc 11:05
And last question, just about the model, is all of your frames, are they all licensed brands? Do you have any private label brands? Talk a little bit about the product.
Bill Moir 11:14
Yeah, well, we offer both. It's all about customer choice. So, we have some exclusive license agreements with some third-party brands, which we offer. And we also, a lot of our range is our own brand product, which tends to be better value for customers, as well. So, we want to cater, the overall concept is Spec-, Specsavers is there for everyone. So, we want to have a wide range that appeals to the majority of the market.
Michael LeBlanc 11:39
Well, all right. So, what brought us here to get, today, specifically, is this big news that you put out this week. A big investment in Canada, big expansion, everything is, is pretty significant. It made quite the impression. So, share what, tell the listeners what's going on and what about the plans, what are you doing in Canada?
Bill Moir 11:58
Well, yeah, some really exciting news. So, we've been excited about Canada for a long time. And we, it's really always appealed to us really, because there's been lots of different optical players here. But we don't believe anyone's really properly servicing the needs of customers. And we, we see, see high prices being offered, which leads to long purchase cycles for customers and, and therefore the people aren't getting their eyes checked very often, so, eye exams very often, so pure clinical care.
Bill Moir 12:23
And more recently, we're seeing consolidation in the market. So, we're seeing a smaller number of private equity banks, corporates, kind of buying up independent optometrists. And that means there's less choice for customers and there's less opportunities for independent optometrists, and business owners to be successful. So, so our aim is to reverse that trend.
Bill Moir 12:41
We believe the way we'll deliver that and deliver the best patient care to customers is by really ensuring the independence and auton-, and the autonomy of optometrists, opticians, and retailers. We're creating amazing opportunities to enable them to own their own thriving business and have access to cutting edge technology to put their patients first.
Bill Moir 13:01
So, we started the journey already, we've opened four stores now in BC. We'll have another 12 open by April this year. And that forms the start of a really ambitious rollout plan, which we'll see us open 200 stores over the next two years across multiple provinces. So, we're already in conversations with landlords to secure properties in the best locations. We're now speaking to partners who share our values, who'd like to come on board, and own one of these locations, and run their own business, so—
Michael LeBlanc 13:29
And they should, if anyone happens to be listening to this that may be intrigued by that on the business side, they should reach out to you directly.
Bill Moir 13:36
They, yeah, absolutely. We, we’re doing something that, as far as I'm aware, has never been done before. So, as I explained before, each store is going to be jointly owned by an optometrist, and an optician or retailer, and we're offering them an incredible opportunity to own their own business. We are build-, we're going to build these stores brand new. We're going to put in the latest clinical equipment and technology.
Bill Moir 14:00
We're going to give, put in all the stock. All in it costs around half a million dollars per store. And then what we're going to do is we're going to cover 100% of that cost, 100% of that startup cost will be covered purely by Specsavers. So, the optometrist, the opticians, the retailers who come in to partner with us, will—
Michael LeBlanc 14:16
Wow.
Bill Moir 14:16
Own these stores and they'll get a brand-new business, completely set up, debt free from day one. Which, that means that we, the partners who join us now, can start making a profit from day one. And we'll also give them lots of support to help them to, not just help them set up their business, but guidance, training, development, admin support to make sure their business grows and is successful.
Bill Moir 14:35
So, you know, not only that, they'll benefit from our multi-million advertising spend, which kicks in, in BC later on this year. To make sure customers know about the brand. So, yeah, if, if any of your listeners are interested in finding more about them, they can, they can either email us at enquiries.ca@specsavers.com.
Bill Moir 14:51
Or they can visit, there's a website spectrum-specsavers.ca. So, spectrum-specs, let's try it again. Spectrum-specsavers.ca. (Inaudible) . And all lots of information there about what it's like—
Michael LeBlanc 15:05
Right.
Bill Moir 15:05
To, to work with us as a partner.
Michael LeBlanc 15:08
Well, amongst other things, send that to me and I will put that, for the listeners, in the show notes. So, they can, they can easily click on that link. All right, so that's a huge investment, even made more so by the, by the model. Now, you know, when I think of the optician, the optical, the glassware category, I think, I think of it as pretty crowded, actually.
Michael LeBlanc 15:25
I think there's, there's a lot of what we, you and I might call digital, native, vertical brands. There's the mass merchants who are involved. There's, you know, everything from reading glasses on. So, what, what is it that, that, you know, you said that there's a gap in this market.
Michael LeBlanc 15:39
You feel that that kind of investment is warranted, and is it because of the value you bring, the, kind of, that value equation that think, that's going to make you popular? What is it that gives you that confidence that Canada is the right market for Specsavers?
Bill Moir 15:53
You're totally right, Michael, I completely agree. You've got to be, you've got to bring something different to the market if you're going to be successful. And it's not just for customers, but also for the professionals who work in the industry too. And that's why I'm confident, because Specsavers is bringing something unique for everyone, I think. Our aim is quite simply to transform eye health and transform careers.
Bill Moir 16:12
So, let's break that one down. So, transform eye health is about giving customers better patient care, a greater variety of affordable high-quality eyewear. So, in terms of patient care, what does that mean? Well, we're equipping every single store with a brand-new OCT machine. So, that's the machine which can take a really comprehensive 3D scan of the back of your eye.
Bill Moir 16:34
And it gives us much greater ability to detect eye diseases early. We've actually proven that by doing this with every customer, we can double the usual detection rate of diseases like glaucoma—
Michael LeBlanc 16:44
Wow.
Bill Moir 16:44
And in Canada, we're going to put that, we're going to be introducing that as free for every single customer as part of our standard eye exam. And as far as I'm aware, we're the only optometry chain in Canada who'll be offering, offering that. So, that's how we'll really drive patient care. And then—
Michael LeBlanc 16:57
It's an interesting point. I want to hang on that a little bit because as you probably know, in Ontario, there's a bit of a bun fight happening between the optometrists' care and the government's. And then you, you have as a stakeholder, particularly in Canada, the, the governments in terms of their health care that your, your solution integrates with that. But it sounds like you've gone over and above in terms of the value you deliver from, as you, as you continue to see the health, not just the vision part, yeah.
Bill Moir 17:22
Absolutely, yeah. So, it's not about, it's not, for us it's not about pricing, or discounting this early eye exam, making them affordable. But it's really making sure that when we do them, we have a very comprehensive eye exam, which is available to everyone.
Bill Moir 17:38
So, we want to make sure everyone gets the best clinical care and the best, the best, the best eye health exam when they come to us for an eye exam. And that's why we're introducing the best of the latest technology into all our stores and giving it to customers as part of a standard exam.
Michael LeBlanc 17:53
Well, it gives you, it gives you the confidence. Let's talk, you, I mean, you come here, I can't miss the opportunity to have you on the mic and, and not ask you questions about, kind of, your perspective about how to grow a business.
Michael LeBlanc 18:03
I mean, there's the one side, is getting, getting the business setup and the franchisees, and the right business partners, the right real estate, but let's talk about what happens next, which is, you know, the marketing and getting out to the people your message.
Michael LeBlanc 18:14
How are you thinking about that? What's been successful in your experience? You had great success in Australia. Great success internationally by the sounds of it. What is it, is it a mix of, of traditional media and social media? Is it influencer marketing?
Michael LeBlanc 18:26
Is your answer just going to be yes to everything, which is, I guess, part of our world these days. But, you know, stores as an acquisition, the bit about stores. What, how do you think about the marketing mix to achieve the, the demand side of, of your, for your partners?
Bill Moir 18:42
Yeah, well, we've got, we've got a really significant marketing spend. It's a huge, it's a huge part of the focus, as we build up our brand Canada. So, our goal, ultimately, is to make our care accessible to everyone. So, we need to leverage a mixture of, kind of, new and traditional media. And to make sure we share the message with a really wide group of customers. What you find in the optical market is it doesn't have a high frequency of purchase.
Bill Moir 19:03
Customers, maybe only purchase every couple of years. So, social media has been, is a really useful tool to, to engage with customers directly and build a relationship with them outside these key purchase points. We use it to engage with customers on, on something beyond optical, so they stay engaged, engaged with us. We use our sense of humor, we use some care stories, it helps keep us top of mind when the time comes for the next—
Michael LeBlanc 19:26
Style, I guess. Style as well, too, yeah.
Bill Moir 19:28
Style is absolutely critical to a lot of people, yeah. We also use, we use it not just in our marketing activity, we also use it for customer care and services. Because it's really important to be accessible for customers, however they want to interact with us. I mean, over the last couple years, obviously with COVID, some customers have preferred to reduce their visits to stores.
Bill Moir 19:45
So, social channels have become the primary channel for us to engage with them. And we've been able to let them know we're there for them and have human-to-human conversations. So, it's a really key channel.
Bill Moir 19:56
I think the other thing that's important to us, is it's not all about new channels, the traditional media is still really important to us. In optics, the customer demographics tend to be a bit older. The very nature of the category. People's eyesight tends to deteriorate once they get older, so—
Michael LeBlanc 20:11
Once I hit 40, it was unbelievable. I had perfect eyesight until I hit, I hit 40. Almost like to the day, and then it started to, I have glasses that I read with, my, my long, I can see far away perfectly but my, my reading, I needed reading glasses and that, boy, you're right about age. Snapped that button at 40 and I'm like, oh my goodness, I need glasses. But—
Bill Moir 20:32
Yeah, and you're pretty much, pretty typical, I'd say for that. 40 to 45 year old’s, age category is exactly when people start to find their eyesight deteriorates and they need to get glasses. So, so we do, we do often speak to, to slightly older demographic.
Bill Moir 20:46
The other thing is, because unlike some other categories, which have a high propensity to go online, our stores are still a fundamental part of our customer journey. I mean, to properly assess a patient's eye health as part of an eye exam, it needs to be carried out by a trained optometrist with the right equipment in store.
Bill Moir 21:00
You can't really do that remotely. So, while social media is important to us, we need to, we need to keep a really balanced mix across new and traditional channels. Stores are central to the customer journey. And that's why we're rolling out 200 of them over the next two years.
Michael LeBlanc 21:13
Yeah, it's a, it's a big, it's a big push. Now, have you observed any, any broader trends? I think of things like ESG. And, you know, people thinking about where their products come from. I mean, after this couple of years of this COVID-era, I think we're all thinking, or trying to understand what is different about how consumers approach all the things that they do, all the things that we do. Any, any thoughts on that and, and the role of ESG and sustainability, what that means in your business?
Bill Moir 21:40
Yeah, I mean as, as with all business at the moment, it's absolutely critical to us. We are, interestingly, our CEO, our owner, John Perkins, is actually our Chief Sustainability Officer. That's how important it is for us. So, we ensure sustainability is considered right from the very top of the business. And like, you know, like many businesses, we're on a journey.
Bill Moir 21:56
We're constantly looking to make improvements. We just introduced our re-wear line, which is a glasses line made completely from recycled materials, because we know these things are really important to customers. And we've also got re-, glasses recycling options available for customers in all of our locations.
Bill Moir 22:13
But it's not just about environmental things. When it comes to our community and charity, where we focus, we focus on that both at a local and national level. And our stores are locally owned by optometrists and retail partners who work in the community. And they often decide on the, the projects and charities they want to work with.
Bill Moir 22:27
I was speaking yesterday, in fact, Seija Gilks, who's our retail partner in our Woodgrove store, in Vancouver Island. And she was telling me she's been building relationships with her local indigenous brands, so they can benefit from our industry-leading eye health and amazing price and benefits. And they've been really appreciative of what we represent and the benefits we can bring to their community.
Bill Moir 22:48
So, we do things on a local basis. And also, larger charities, I mean, for example, last 10 years in, in, we've, in Australia, we've donated more than $4 million to The Fred Hollows Foundation, to help improve eye health services for Aboriginal communities.
Bill Moir 23:02
In the UK we support numerous, numerous charities like Glaucoma UK, or Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. And in Canada, at the moment, we're, we're raising funds for the Canucks for Kids Foundation, that does some great work over here, as well. So, yeah, it's, it's always a really core part of our strategy and our plans.
Michael LeBlanc 23:21
You know, one thing we didn't talk about is, tell us about the value proposition, like at, at a price point level, the price point, kind of, spans a spectrum. If I was to walk in as I, kind of, need now, I'm a little late on it, if I need a pair of glasses, I mean, give me an idea of, of your average price point.
Michael LeBlanc 23:37
Just so we can, kind of, again, put you on the map, that listeners can, kind of, put you on the map if they're not aware of you, and figure out where you, where you sit in the value equation.
Bill Moir 23:45
Sure, but let me ask you, your, your glasses were yourself, Michael, how much did you, if you don't mind me asking—
Michael LeBlanc 23:50
Yeah.
Bill Moir 23:51
How much did you pay for your last pair of glasses?
Michael LeBlanc 23:53
I think I, which sits at the bottom of a lake right now, unfortunately. I paid, let's see, $349, because, and I know that price point because the retailer I went to has one price point for basic. I have transitions, also known as bifocals, that we used to call them, but now they're called transition.
Michael LeBlanc 24:12
So, $349. Now the pair I'm wearing today is, you know, bespoke, kind of, I think it was $1,400 or $1,500. Kind of, from a local eyewear. So, quite the range really, in terms of. So, that's where I, kind of, that's a pretty broad range, but that's—
Bill Moir 24:28
Quite a big range.
Michael LeBlanc 24:30
Yeah.
Bill Moir 24:30
And that's, I mean, seeing that is fairly typical in the market here. There's, there's, the, the average price for a pair of glasses is quite high in Canada. We're, we've got custom made glasses that start for, from $69, for a complete pair of single vision glasses, and that includes the frame and the lens.
Michael LeBlanc 24:46
Wow.
Bill Moir 24:46
And for $149 you can get a complete pair of progressive lens glasses that includes the (inaudible), the frames, and the lenses as well. So, the prices we're, we're offering are considerably more affordable than the rest of the market. That's, and that's a really important part, actually, of what we're, what we're wanting to do and why, why I know the model is going to be successful in Canada.
Bill Moir 25:10
It's a really tried and tested model. If I give you an example of, I tend not to like comparing different countries, but most of the dynamics I'm seeing in optics in Canada are quite similar to, to what we saw in Australia. It's a large country, multiple provinces—
Michael LeBlanc 25:23
Yeah, very similar. We often compare, we often compare ourselves to Australia, more than any other country, for a whole bunch of reasons, right.
Bill Moir 25:28
Yeah, exactly. And I think, and I think when we launched in Australia 12 years ago, it was very similar to here. The average cost of a pair of glasses was high, it was about 800 bucks. The levels of clinical eyecare were poor, because of the high cost. People delayed their visits to the optometrist; they only went every four or five years. So, we came in with high standard of clinical care and high quality, affordable glasses, and grew really quickly.
Bill Moir 25:50
Ten years later, we've now helped a lot of customers, we're the market leaders. We've changed the whole dynamics in the market. We've now more than halved the cost for a pair of glasses across the whole of Australia. Which means customers aren't delaying their visits to their optometrist. And now they're having eye exams much more regularly, it's every two or three years.
Bill Moir 26:08
And that's significantly improved the eye health of the nation. And because we have made eyewear more affordable, customers are now buying, buy more glasses. So, we've actually doubled the size of the market as a whole as well.
Michael LeBlanc 26:20
Huh.
Bill Moir 26:20
So, we've created an environment which is better for customers and, and eye health, but also better for the industry as well. That's exactly what we were hoping to do in Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 26:28
All right, well, listen, I usually ask my guests what's next? But boy, I think, think you've got a lot of what's next going on. You know, when you, you talk about your number of stores, when do, when, what's your timeline for all that? Where do you, I mean, sounds like you're moving with, with great pace.
Michael LeBlanc 26:43
You know, when do you think, you, is this 18 months, two years, like what's your, what's, I guess, is the right pace to find the right partners is job one. But talk about what's next and when you think you'll be moving ahead, and achieve that, at least, first milestone of the, the big footprint in Canada.
Bill Moir 26:58
Yeah, well, we're, we're on the journey already. So, as I said, four stores open, we've another 16 which will be open in the next two or three months. Our aim is to focus on 200 stores across Canada in the next two years. And we've committed to creating these as successful independently owned businesses, with the aim of trying to improve the lives of Canadians through better sight.
Bill Moir 27:21
So, we started, started to secure locations across Canada. And we're already in conversations with optometrists, opticians, and retailers who want to turbocharge their careers by owning one of them.
Michael LeBlanc 27:33
All right, well, listen, you've told us about how franch-, a potential franchisee partners to get in touch. How about getting in touch with you? Are you a LinkedIn person? What's the best way to get in touch with you and, and learn more and just stay, help you stay connected to the industry?
Bill Moir 27:45
Yeah, absolutely. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm always open to people to connect with me there. We are, we're starting the revolution in Canada. And it's going to transform eye health and transform careers. And anyone who'd like to join us on that journey, please feel free to reach out to me directly on LinkedIn. If it sounds interesting or anyone else is interested, or want to find out more, I say email us at enquiries.ca@specsavers.com.
Bill Moir 28:10
I'll give you the details, you can put them in the podcast. We're also, in fact, running a series of online information sense-, sessions, as well, throughout February. So, there's some webinars, different ones for different provinces, which we can share more details about the amazing opportunity we've got to own your own store, and the separate ones for retailers and optician, or optometrists.
Bill Moir 28:30
So, I can share the information that's really specific to you. So, if you want to find out more, that's a really good source. I would register, the spots for the webinars are filling up fast. We're running in February, so I'd advise registering quickly if people are, are interested. I can provide the details for when they're running.
Michael LeBlanc 28:45
Perfect. Well listen, lots going on. So, really appreciate you taking the time to speak with The Voice of Retail. It was a real treat meeting you and welcome, again, to Canada. And wish you continued success and success in the future as you establish your, your foundation here. And again, thanks for joining me on The Voice of Retail. It was a real treat, getting to chat with you and, and learn about the business.
Bill Moir 29:04
Thanks very much, Michael. Great to, great to, thanks for the opportunity to, to share our story.
Michael LeBlanc 29:10
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and click and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, so new episodes will land automatically twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.
Michael LeBlanc 29:30
Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all-new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbecue, with new episodes each and every week. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website at meleblanc.co. Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
customers, canada, stores, business, optometrists, glasses, retail, brand, partners, market, led, eyewear, people, eye, eye exam, australia, marketing, important, years, optical