The reach of a global eyewear company with the agility to produce frames exclusively for the Australian independent optometry market is what helps set Safilo apart, as DAVID PEARSON explains.
For David Pearson, who oversees Safilo’s Asia Pacific operations from Sydney, being a locally-based subsidiary of a global company is advantageous for two major reasons. It enables access to the most-recognisable brands from overseas, but with the benefit of being nimble enough to respond to market opportunities and facilitate the development of promotional programs and trade activations with local relevance.
For independent Australian optical practices who stock brands from Safilo – one of the world’s largest designers, producers and distributors of eyewear for labels like Carrera, Kate Spade, BOSS, Carolina Herrera and Under Armour, plus many more – it means they can select brands for their demographic while differentiating their businesses in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
“We reap the benefit of access to huge global brands and our own proprietary brands are equally strong. All the digital assets and marketing materials are created centrally to a very high standard and we can then share these with customers – that’s a strong aspect of being part of a global company,” Pearson says.
“We have Safilo’s global support, but there is still a lot of flexibility and responsibility at the local level. For example, in the last two years, we’ve released five or six different Australian-only Carrera models – being able to have the full support of the company, but also the freedom to make what’s right for that market, is invaluable.”
In his opinion, Australian independent practices have always been leaders in clinical eyecare. But a new wave of owners is upping the ante in the retail space, acknowledging this contributes to the practice identity and can help perpetuate the clinical side of the business.
“Clinical eyecare has been a hallmark of Australian independents, which you don’t see in other markets in Asia that I’ve worked in,” Pearson says.
“But the market here is changing. There’s a lot of younger optometrists coming through owning these practices, and there’s more emphasis on improving how they retail eyewear. We invested over $300,000 in store customisations last year for independent practices. Another way we are supporting them is to make our digital assets accessible and easy for those stores to use. They can digitally promote their business online easily without having to generate new content which people think is easy, but when you’re running a small business, it’s tough.”
A strong portfolio of brands
An exciting new collection from a brand combining celebrity design style, high quality and affordable prices will soon be landing in independent practices in Australia, Pearson advises.
The launch of Privé Revaux fills a nice gap in Safilo’s broad portfolio in Australia that consists of a combination of both proprietary and licensed brands. It covers the full eyewear spectrum, from entry level to timeless classic, as well as fashion-forward and luxury frames, with a high number of stand-out performers across these categories.
“Carrera has been a phenomenal success for us and continues to go from strength-to-strength in Australia. The optical collections in Carrera are really appealing to a broad range of consumers. I think we’re one of the top 10 markets in the world for the brand,” Pearson says.
Carolina Herrera has been another strong performer since its launch in Australia in 2022. Pearson says the brand is relatively well known in the market – and with the release of a new fragrance in May and further plans for continued momentum for the brand franchise, there’s a lot more talk about going forward.
“We also now hold the distribution for Smith Optics, which is one of our own brands, including their ski helmets and goggles, and soon we will announce an Rx prescription program, partnering with a local lab,” he says.
There’s more to come still; Safilo has a large consumer advertising campaign starting in the second half of the year, which Pearson says will be the first time in a while that one of the major companies has invested in consumer advertising.
‘We’re invested in Australia’
Safilo’s strong start to the year follows a period of significant growth and change for the company at the local level.
Financially, Australia contributed to a strong 2022 for Safilo’s Asia Pacific region, which posted revenue of €58 million (AU$96 million), up 9.8% on 2021.
The global company’s Australian base used to have its operations and commercial offices in separate locations in Sydney but moved to a new combined head office and warehouse in Peakhurst in October 2021. This facility is now also home to the group’s Asia Pacific headquarters, which was previously in Singapore. It is significantly better positioned for growth and expansion, featuring 30-40% more warehousing space than previously. It’s also creating a better experience for Safilo’s customers, predominantly independent optical practices.
“It has allowed us to invest in additional software, which makes our operations much more responsive and ensures we can really support our customers with their day-to-day business needs,” Pearson says.
“We have greater control and clarity on where stock is and how long it’s going to take to get to our customers. We’re really excited about how it sets us up for the future, and especially the Australian market that we want to invest in.”
In addition to streamlining its operations, Safilo is expanding its local workforce. It is bringing on more sales reps, while not losing its sense of family, with Pearson’s own teenagers lending a hand with picking and packing during the school holidays.
“We’re certainly growing in the independent market and we’re really investing there,” he says.
“We’ve added additional people to our sales teams – I think we probably have one of the largest sales teams in the industry now focused on independent practices. We’re always trying to work with local buying groups – we’re a preferred supplier for ProVision and Eyecare Plus – and we’re trying to work as broadly across the market with a real focus on optical customers.”
Specifically, Safilo has expanded its sales team in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. Each appointee has industry experience; but more importantly, they’ve all come from independent practices.
“They understand what it means to manage inventory, cash flow, and so on, so they can help our customers,” Pearson says. “We’re not adding sales reps to present more frames; we want knowledgeable people on the ground to help independent practice owners with their frame selection, marketing and in-store merchandising. That’s what we know we need to invest in.”
Pearson says how to best work with suppliers is an important issue for the industry, and believes the days of reps visiting practices to present trays of frames are over. Safilo is advocating a different approach.
“Our reps prefer to spend 20 minutes every time they visit a practice, discussing with the owner who their customers are, what they’re looking for in terms of style, what the trends in the market are, and then, as the expert on Safilo brands, the rep can recommend the products they think are the most suitable for that store and the best brands for their portfolio,” he says.
“Customers who work with us in that way spend a lot less time choosing frames and a lot more time talking with our reps about how they [Safilo reps] can help with their store look and presentation, train new staff, provide digital marketing and brand assets – that’s the stuff that really helps the practice. The focus of our highly trained reps is to help the customer succeed, not to push stock in.”
Investing in the Australian market by helping practice owners promote their range of Safilo frames didn’t come without a cost. As Pearson explains, the Australian Border Force (ABF) decision last year to revoke the acetate eyewear tariff meant the company had to decide to either wear the cost or pass it on.
“That additional cost on businesses like ours, and all the other distributors who bring in eyewear, either gets passed on or absorbed by suppliers,” Pearson says.
“It’s a difficult situation, and I respect the distributors in the market, there’s a lot of great Australian businesses that it would have hurt much more than us. We chose to wear it, and work on our global pricing to make sure that we are competitive globally, on all our brands. At the end of the day, it meant we had less money to invest in the Australian market.”
Pearson is hopeful a new free trade agreement is brokered with Europe soon, as Safilo continues to grow and expand its Australian operations.
“We’re proud to be locating our warehouse, our operations and our people in Australia. Our warehouse manager started with us as a casual when he was 18-years-old; now he’s managing our warehouse, which is shipping 200,000 units a year,” he says.
“We remain invested in the local market and are committed to contributing to the health of independent optical practices.”
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