Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing Practices

The eyewear industry worldwide is regarded as an important contributor to the general Retail Trade Sector. The players within the retailing industry put a variety of optical merchandise on sale, which includes eyewear prescription such as eyeglasses, sunglasses considered as fashion eyewear, and contact lenses. The retail market of eyewear has been on a growth pace from low- toward mid-single-digit annual rate (on the average) during the recent past. The segment of optics is growing as well. Together with this growth is the corresponding growth in the segment of sunwear or sunglasses (Business Wire 2007).

The eyewear industry earns $16 billion annually. In the effort to derive capitalization in this industry, manufacturers and designers have been constantly introducing a lot stylish and fashionable eyeglasses as well as frames. Generally, many wearers of eyeglasses are keenly interested in more attractive and trendy glasses. For many people who wear glasses, vision centers inside the department stores and malls are providers of ideal means for the evaluation of the latest fashion and styles.

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In this kind of setup, consumers can choose among many kinds of eyeglasses and have the discretion of choosing the perfect pair for them.

However, it depends on the preferences of customers and perhaps even the opinion of other people on the style that will best fit them (Business Wire 2007). This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of relationship marketing strategies in the UK eyewear industry, employing an empirical approach. In the past thirty years the retailers’ large “big box” has made a commodity out of prescription eyewear.

The word commodity form the Latin word of “common” and is utilized to depict goods of the consumer which have similar elements of trade and are found in similar products and doest not differ from one item or another.

This so-called eyewear commoditization makes it complicated to generate the value of perceptions of the necessities in the ophthalmic world of today. By tradition, commodities are made available and sold by price and place of distribution. In order to achieve success in the optical dispensary, it is essentially important to be able to manage patient perception and create value in the process of purchasing (Icon Group Ltd 2000). Creating and managing the perception of people has to start in an examination room with the physician.

Most of the optometrists have the notion that a prescription of an eyewear is basically the funny numbers printed on the notepad and nothing could go beyond the truth. In order to make a distinction in the practice and in an optical dispensary, the physician should be able to build value in the quality and difference of care being delivered by means of their products and optical dispensaries. Statements of value such as unique brands, warranties, the latest in high-tech, and state of the art ophthalmic materials are all optical value statements (Icon Group Ltd 2000).