Offerings and values
has maintained its founders' philosophy of providing affordable fashionable eyecare for everyone. It offers more than 2,000 styles, including designer ranges such as FCUK, Quiksilver, Monsoon, the excusive Red or Dead collection and its best-selling own brand designer range Osiris.
All Specsavers glasses now include Pentax lenses as standard and pricing is kept as simple and clear as possible so there are no hidden extras.
The largest retail provider of home delivery contact lenses in Europe and one of the top two retailers of continuous wear lenses in the world (Source: VisionTrak Sept 2005), Specsavers was one of the first optical retailers to introduce a direct debit scheme for contact lens wearers. Its own-brand easyvision lenses include daily disposables, monthly disposables and continuous wear lenses, which can be worn for up to 30 days and nights without removal.
Specsavers is still very much a family run company with values to match. Over the past few years, more than £1m has been donated to various charities. Every two years the company also nominates a national eyecare charity to support - its current relationship with Guide Dogs has seen Specsavers stores raise more than £200,000 to fund the training of 40 new Guide Dog puppies.
Innovations and promotions
Specsavers has invested heavily in innovative systems and equipment to help ensure that it attains world class standards. For example, in 2005 it introduced high quality Pentax lenses as standard in all its glasses.
As part of its ongoing Drive Safe campaign, Specsavers has introduced a range of lenses especially tailored to drivers, including their own brand UltraDrive lens and a new Polaroid lens, which reduces glare from road surfaces.
Specsavers has also recently launched a store voucher for employers, meaning companies can now offer their staff more affordable corporate eyecare.
Specsavers has been the largest advertiser in the optical sector for many years, with a gross annual spend of £20m to promote its special offers and build its brand. Indeed, 96% of consumers recognise the Specsavers logo (Source: TNS).
The brand's "Should've Gone to Specsavers" campaign was the first to win a Retail Week Marketing 北京赛车pk10 of the Year award two years running and the phrase has been adopted by the nation. Specsavers' sponsorship of football and rugby referees has attracted much support as it reflects a sense of humour appreciated by consumers. Specsavers has also recently started sponsoring Channel 4's flagship daytime programme Countdown and launched the first Specsavers Spectacle Wearer of the Year competition to find the UK's sexiest specs wearer.
It also has a duty of care to inform people when their next eye examination is due, which is done through more than 280,000 pieces of direct mail every week.
Market context
The current UK market for eyecare products and services is estimated at more than £2bn, with less than 40% still being provided by small independent opticians (Source: Mintel). In the UK optical market, Specsavers currently has a 30% share of transaction - three times that of its nearest competitor, Dollond & Aitchison (Source: GfK December 2005).
While most opticians suffered a decline in turnover as the number of eye examinations dropped and consumers deferred buying their glasses (Source: Mintel February 2006), this didn't affect Specsavers, which continued to expand, opening 40 new stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland and increasing its Hearcare outlets.
Expansion in Europe, where Specsavers is one of the few British retail success stories, has also been brisk with the acquisition of the 32-store Louis Nielsen chain in Denmark and a move into Norway, where there are now 23 Specsavers Optikk stores. The company also opened new stores in Sweden and the Netherlands, bringing its European portfolio to nearly 200, including the opening of its first franchise store in Spain.
Achievements and future prospects
Specsavers has already achieved record sales of almost £15.8m in one week in 2006, while annual turnover for the group reached a record £758m for the financial year 2005/06, with sales for 2006/07 predicted to reach £830m.
The future looks bright for Specsavers, with a new store opening somewhere in the UK or Europe every week. Its Hearcare service is also set to double so that a Specsavers hearing service will be available in more than 200 locations by the end of 2006.
1984
Specsavers Optical Group is founded by Doug and Mary Perkins. The first Specsavers Opticians open in Guernsey, Bristol, Bath, Plymouth and Swansea.
1997
Specsavers Opticiens open in Haarlem, the Netherlands, followed by Breda and Gouda in 1998.
2000
Specsavers is named Britain's most trusted brand of opticians by Reader's Digest, which surveyed more than 25,000 consumers in 14 countries. The company wins the same accolade for the next five years.
2002
The brand expands into hearing, opening the first Specsavers Hearcare outlet.
2004
Specsavers opens in Sweden and opens its 500th UK store in its 20th anniversary year.
2006
Specsavers celebrates record sales with turnover of €1.1bn for the financial year 2005/06 and sales for 2006/07 predicted to reach €1.2bn.
Things you didn't know
Specsavers carries out 5m eye examinations each year in the UK - more than a quarter of all the sight tests carried out in Britain (Source: Mintel).
Specsavers sells a pair of glasses every six seconds.
If all the glasses Specsavers have ever sold were laid end to end they would wrap around the world nearly three times.