The research behind Lume, shared to improve your practice

We build software for opticians. To build it well, we have to understand your customers: what they want, what puts them off, what wins them back. That understanding is really the product. The software is just where it ends up.

But the experience you give your customers goes well beyond any software, ours included. So we want to help with the rest of it too. In July, we surveyed 200 Canadians who wear prescription glasses or contacts about how they buy eyewear. We’re publishing everything we learned, one insight at a time, so you can put it to work in your practice this week, and get more out of Lume along the way.

Who we heard from

Every respondent is a verified eyewear wearer living in Canada, and every one of them was paid for their time, because free surveys get you friends, family, and people with an axe to grind. They span nine provinces, every age group from 18 to 65+, and every kind of buyer: chain customers, independent-store loyalists, big-box bargain hunters, online converts, and the online-curious who haven’t jumped yet. And at 200 people, the sample is past the point where patterns are just noise. When 4 in 10 of them tell you the same thing, that’s a signal.

What we asked

We walked them through the whole journey: where they bought their last pair, what it cost out of pocket, how long they waited for it, what frustrated them, what went wrong afterwards, and what would earn their loyalty next time. Then we read every answer. All of them, including 1,182 written comments. Far more candour in there than we expected, too. One respondent told us their optometrist “acts differently” the moment you ask for a copy of your prescription. Another said they can’t use the store mirrors at all, because at -9 in both eyes, trying on frames without lenses means shopping blind. We were pleasantly surprised with the insights shared by our respondents, and we can’t wait to share those with you.

Who answered

70% wear glasses only, 26% wear glasses and contacts. Just over half bought prescription eyewear within the last year, and 18% haven’t bought in over two years, which matters, because those lapsed wearers had a lot to say about why. They bought everywhere: chains (31%), optometrists’ offices (20%), independents (20%), online (14%), big-box stores (14%).

• Optical chains31%
• Optometrists20%
• Independents20%
• Online14%
• Big-box14%

Where they bought their last pair (% of respondents)

×

Keep this in mind while you read

Respondents came from nine provinces, but not evenly: Ontario leads at 47%, followed by Alberta (19%) and British Columbia (18%), with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Québec around 4-5% each and the Atlantic provinces rounding out the rest.

• Ontario47%
• Alberta19%
• British Columbia18%
• Saskatchewan5%
• Manitoba5%
• Québec5%
• Atlantic2%

Respondents by province

×

Québec deserves better than 5%, and we’re fixing that properly: a dedicated Québec survey is already in the works, and it will get its own post.

One more thing before you dig in. This series isn’t about geography, and we won’t be making province-by-province claims from this data. It’s about how customers behave: how they choose a store, what makes them quietly walk away, what would bring them back. Those patterns repeated everywhere we had enough respondents to compare, because buying glasses in Moncton involves the same decisions as buying them in Mississauga. And while the sample leans young, with three-quarters under 45, we’d call that a feature. These are the buyers with the most purchases ahead of them, and the ones most tempted to make those purchases somewhere other than your store.

What surprised us

Four in ten got their eye exam at one place and bought their glasses at another, and their reasons are more fixable than you’d think. Nearly two-thirds admitted they can’t actually tell whether frames suit them while standing in a store. And 92% said they want reminders when they’re due, from an industry that mostly doesn’t send them.

What’s coming

We can’t wait to share all the insights with you. Every insight will get a dedicated post: We will share the insight from the data, the problem it points to, what you can do about it in your practice, and where Lume can help you (if it can).