Zenni Business preps for full launch with OD practices in pilot phase
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NEW YORK — Zenni Business aims to help independent eye care practices grow their business by providing and managing customized eye wear collections for individual locations, company executives said at Vision Expo East.
“We’ll curate a selection of frames they can have at a low cost,” Brian Persons, head of business development at Zenni, told Healio. "There are no minimums or commitments to get started. Practices can set their own prices, resulting in higher margins.”
Optometrists have been losing patients and optical business to big retailers and warehouses, Persons said.
“Zenni doesn’t operate unless people have prescriptions,” he said. “We’re going to help enable those optometrists. We’re not stealing their patients. We send people from Zenni.com to that doctor. This entire program is to help enable them to be able to compete with everything else that’s been their downfall over the past few years.”
Zenni’s business program was introduced in September 2023.
Meta, U.S.Vision and PPG are now using the Zenni Business end-to-end suite of eye care solutions, Persons said. In addition, 35 independent optometrists are in a pilot phase, participating in the program for eye care practices, with “hundreds waiting.”
“We piloted with multiple locations and almost ran out of inventory because it was so popular,” he said. “In 60 to 90 days it will be open to anyone who wants in.”
Persons explained how the program works for independent practices.
“They sign up, put a credit card on file and we ship them the frames,” he said. “There’s no cost to have those frames on the shelf. As long as they use them and are continually purchasing, we don’t charge them anything. If they ship them back, we just charge them for the ones they keep and we pay the shipping. It’s almost like selling them on consignment.
“With AI, we will create curated selections based on different areas and demographics,” Persons continued. “We believe technology should be free.”
He noted that the frames they provide the practices are not marked with a Zenni logo.
“Zenni is charging almost at cost for lab and frame, and an optometrist can charge whatever they want,” Persons said. “This reduces walkouts who think they can’t afford anything. These are more of generic brands, but the majority of people don’t care about a logo, our research shows.
“Our products are equivalent quality, but it’s so much cheaper because there’s no middleman,” he continued. “People who are coming to us can’t afford a pair of glasses or a second pair. Zenni gets most of its business from this.”
He said Zenni Business will allow independent practitioners to operate at a larger scale and compete with retailers.
“One goal in mind is to help the world see better and look better without high margins,” Persons said.
In the next phase, Zenni Business will introduce e-commerce sites for optometrists free of charge, he said.
Reference:
- Zenni Optical announces Zenni Business customers. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zenni-optical-announces-zenni-business-customers-302077914.html. Published March 5, 2024. Accessed March 19, 2024.
Editor’s note: This article was updated March 20, 2024, to clarify the company’s business model.
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