From AI smart glasses to frames that help the hard of hearing, and from the expansion into audiology and more clinical business models to increased medical management, optometry seems poised for an exciting future of innovation and diversification.
Two important things happened in the optical sector during the past couple of months.
Firstly, Mr Francesco Milleri, chairman and CEO of the biggest optical companies on the planet, made what seemed at the time an ambitious statement.
In October, the head of EssilorLuxottica told Bloomberg’s Italian-language podcast Quello Che i Soldi Non Dicono, that he could foresee “in the near future hundreds of millions of smart glasses interconnected with each other, and with the people who wear them creating huge communities”.
He went further.
AI glasses – like the company’s Ray-Ban Meta or Oakley smart glasses – were “poised to become the central device in people’s lives, possibly replacing smartphones”. Given how prevalent those are in our society, it’s a future that’s difficult to imagine.
Then EssilorLuxottica reinforced Milleri’s thought-provoking words with persuasive figures.
The group’s revenue jumped by 11.7% in the third quarter to a record Euro 6.86 billion (AU$12.4 billion).
In a media release, Milleri said it was the group’s “best quarter ever”.
That was further backed by the market, with shares in EssilorLuxottica rising 14% soon after those results were announced, adding nearly AU$30 billion to the company’s value.
The company did not publicise the figures for its sales of AI-supported products but it did say this: “The exponential growth of wearables provided an extra-boost to the top line performance.”
Those wearables, now available in Australia, also include the Nuance Audio glasses, with cleverly placed microphones and speakers to help people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
But the company is not just investing in wearables and consumer technology.
At time of writing, EssilorLuxottica had just appointed its first in-practice audiologist and it plans to take on many more as it expands the service in Australia and New Zealand.
It is also rolling out advanced dry eye services, reflecting a wider commitment to advancing clinical optometry.
Shaping the future was the theme of the company’s eyewear immersion roadshow that toured Australia and New Zealand in September and October.
That future included dry eye treatment and management, with optometrists getting their hands on the low-level light therapy (LLLT) and intense pulsed light (IPL) devices built by Espansione, the Italian company acquired by EssilorLuxottica late last year.
Other recent acquisitions signal the group’s expansion beyond eyewear and further into eye health, including partnerships with high-end OCT manufacturer Heidelberg Engineering; Belgian firm Automation & Robotics, which designs and manufactures automated systems for optical lens quality control; and Optegra, which operates a network of more than 70 eye hospitals and diagnostic facilities across Europe.
It’s all about diversification
Others also see the potential in additional service and product streams, such as audiology, and advanced eyewear.
Specsavers may not have the optical AI wearables portfolio but, as the company’s ANZ clinical services director Dr Ben Ashby points out, it does have plans.
“We are actively exploring how we can make a great value offer for customers in this space,” he says.
What it does offer is audiology in more than 300 locations and, in another nod to future trends, it is flexing its clinical muscles with many stores now offering advanced treatment of dry eye as part of a growing focus on medical management, with more than 55,000 Specsavers patients now in some form of medical management already according to Dr Ashby.
By the time you read this, Specsavers will have more than 100 stores offering dry eye services, including LLLT and IPL treatments.
At the recent Specsavers Clinical Conference (SCC) in Melbourne, Dr Ashby said it had treated more than 2,000 patients with dry eye, and many more were to come.
“We are going as fast as we can on this one – 30% of patients want it and 15% are asking for it without an optometrist mentioning it first,” he told 1000 optometrists at the venue and online.
Dr Ashby says Specsavers had long wanted to provide a “structured treatment service for patients with dry eye”.
He says about 1.5 million Specsavers patients suffer from its symptoms, with 80% of those having evaporative dry eye that could benefit from IPL or LLLT.
“Our optometrists are already trained in diagnosis and management of dry eye and we are calling it out as an area of interest that could really make a difference for patients.”
To do that, Specsavers is rapidly expanding its offering of those advanced treatments.
“We’ve got a long and growing list of practices keen to launch the service and we’re working swiftly to train and support our teams to ensure a smooth and successful roll-out.”
Having spent the past two five-year plans dedicated to enhancing patient health outcomes through earlier detection, improved access to eye care and the launch of audiology, the company is working on what the next five will look like.
Judging by Dr Ashby’s presentation at SCC, that is likely to include an expansion of its dry eye services and a growing footprint in medical management, as well as audiology.
“We anticipate publicly launching the key ambitions of our five-year plan at the Specsavers Clinical Conference in September 2026, on the Gold Coast,” he says.
“I can’t give away anything yet, but the next five years at Specsavers will continue to focus on accessible and affordable eyecare that harnesses the latest technology to drive the best eye health outcomes possible.”
He says it is “always investigating more ways of improving eye health outcomes for patients”.
“Our optometrists look after the eyecare services for most patients in Australia and New Zealand, so we see it as our responsibility to take the lead in doing all we can to shift the trends and protect vision.”
It was always investigating and testing new technology and identifying better ways to provide care to patients.
Specsavers’ audiology offering is part of that. At time of writing, audiology was available in 325 of Specsavers’ 395 Australian practices and 49 of its 61 New Zealand stores.
“We have many plans in the audiology business,” says Dr Ashby.
Mr Tom Craw, the company’s managing director of audiology ANZ says the plan is to have the services in all Specsavers stores.
Bright future for independents
A greater focus on medical management. An expansion of advanced dry eye treatment and more clinical optometry. Independent optometrists and practices are noting that expansion as they continue shaping their own futures.
Many independents see that future as an even deeper dive into clinical offerings, often abandoning the traditional retail trade of frames and lenses.
At practices run by Ms Jennifer Rayner and Ms Liz Barrett, you won’t find a single pair on sale.
They have created successful standalone clinics that specialise in the diagnosis, treatment and management of dry eye disease.
So successful is Barrett’s business that she has eight clinics around Australia. In 2026, she plans to open others in Brisbane, Canberra, as well as internationally in Dublin and London.
That’s one future path for the industry, says Kiwi optometrist Mr Alex Petty.
Like Rayner, Holland and Barrett, the optometrist and owner of Bay Eye Care in Tauranga, New Zealand, doesn’t sell frames.
He doesn’t need to because he’s building a successful, sustainable business by offering clinical optometry.
“We’re not centred around selling items, but providing service,” he says.
That service involves more “specialty elements and medical-based optometry, doing things that perhaps a standard optometry practice wouldn’t have the technology or expertise or desire to do because it takes more time and effort, in helping some of those trickier eyes”.
“I went down this route because I’d been working in a clinic that did a lot of optical care that didn’t involve selling glasses, that included a lot of specialty contact lens work, a lot of ocular disease and dry eye management, a lot of orthokeratology and using tools for myopia management.”
He’s not against frames and eyewear.
“There’s definitely a role for frames and lenses, and that will still be a massive underpinning of what’s important in an optometry consult for a patient,” he says.
“Glasses are amazing; what they can do, they’re very versatile.”
Since Insight profiled Petty and his ‘alternate optometry universe’ earlier in the year, he has had a lot of feedback from professionals in Australia and New Zealand.
“It’s still something that people struggle to get their heads around,” he says.
“That sort of surprised me, that there’s still this very preconceived notion of what an optometry practice should be, what’s involved.”
But he believes his practice not only represents one realistic future for the industry, it’s what most optometrists should be doing.
“No one goes to optometry school to sell something; they go to be health professionals, to offer care to help their patients.
“I think if you ask any optometrist, sort of hand on heart, would you like a scenario where you didn’t have to sell something to be a profitable practice, they would absolutely say yes.”
Petty is too cautious to pronounce this as the future of optometry.
“But I think a good portion of the industry will be going down that clinical care model.”
He says there will always be a place for a good “dispensing-type” practice, but Australia might follow the model in Canada, where dispensing is very separate from the clinical side of the business.
Like Petty, Mr Philip Rose is also a little cautious.
The general manager of national independent optometry network Eyecare Plus has seen the reports on what constitutes the future of optometry, and he’s not entirely convinced.
Smart glasses, hearing and vision aided by AI frames and lenses . . . yes, he’s noted their arrival and rise in the industry. And independent practices are already selling these as part of their normal business.
But he’s not as excited as others about their influence on the future of the sector.
“The growth in audiology and AI-driven wearables is interesting and will present some additional retail opportunities,” he says.
“But it’s not central to the optometry profession, which will always be the clinical eyecare our independent optometrists are committed to.
“While embracing technology and new opportunities, we can’t lose sight of the fact our central mission is clinical optometric care.”
Neither is Rose too swayed by Petty’s particular business model and the complete separation of retail and clinical aspects of an optometry practice.
“Optometry is no longer one-size-fits-all,” he says.
“We’re seeing ongoing growth in niche areas such as paediatric care, myopia management, orthokeratology, and dry eye clinics.
“Practitioners are focusing on areas where they can make the greatest difference for patients and are establishing clear niche markets.
“We can see growing opportunities in niche clinical services, but given retail represents up to 80% of revenue and is critical to funding eyecare, we should be very careful about making changes to a system that is currently serving patients well.”
That did not diminish the importance of clinical optometry to independent practices.
Corporate counterparts might be pushing further into that area and expanding their influence, but Rose believes they can maintain their ground with the extra time they are able to devote to patients.
“I think independents are already ahead right now, because they’ve already established themselves in a lot of these specialties where corporates are just entering now.
“Advances in diagnostic technology are expanding what optometrists can do, making it possible to manage more eye disease cases that were traditionally referred to ophthalmologists.
“This allows patients to receive earlier intervention and more accessible care.
“It’s an exciting new frontier for optometry.”
The future for independent optometry, the key to staying ahead in an increasingly competitive and congested market came down to one word: quality.
“Quality is clinical care,” he says, “quality is product that is being sold.”
“And maybe the ratio of retail to clinical will reduce over time, but I still think that quality will sell the independent space.”
Far from daunted by the challenge, Rose sees a “renaissance” of independent optometry, driven by the rise of young professionals and practice owners and the retirement of the industry’s thin grey line.
“There’s a lot of practices that are coming on to the market because there’s a lot of owners heading into retirement,” he says.
Many of those were being bought by young optometrists keen to make their mark, develop their clinical offerings and own a business.
“We’re seeing it in our group.
“I’m enjoying the young people coming in, buying our practices and much more open to marketing, more brand aware.”
As Rose, Petty, Dr Ashby and others point out, optometry’s future appears to be made of many paths.
That future is not set; the only certainty appears to be that it will be a bright one – for patient and practitioner.
