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Essilor Academy Canada is Motivating Concrete Action

Essilor Academy Canada has now assembled all of Essilor Canada’s training functions under a single banner, putting an outstanding team dedicated to knowledge sharing at the service of eye care professionals.

This initiative is based on Essilor Canada’s solid training experience, and is designed to meet the needs of eyecare professionals dealing with a marketplace in flux due to new visual needs and new consumer shopping behaviour.

“We are convinced that continuing education is essential to the growth and success of our business partners and to the evolution of our industry. That is why we have chosen to increase our investment in this area,” explains Pierre Bertrand, President of Essilor Canada. “Eyecare professionals are responding enthusiastically. Since January, more than 500 of them have benefited from one or more Essilor Academy Canada training courses, a number we expect to reach around 1,000 by the end of the year.”

All the training courses, whether exclusive to Varilux Xperience partners or aimed at eyecare professionals generally, combine theory with the acquisition of practical skills and know-how. Topics include sales, team management, business development, engineering the customer journey, basic optics, innovation and technology, age groups, and so on. Courses are offered in a variety of formats, from 30-minute webinars with real-time or offline participation, in-office training sessions to large-scale events, such as the Roadshow, Alive Summit and Vision Summit. Many of the courses are accredited by professional associations, and the webinars are in the process of acquiring accreditation.

Essilor Academy Canada’s training team is the largest in the industry, and many of its members are experienced opticians from different provinces. They aspire to work with eye care professionals across Canada in the co-creation of learning, knowledge, expertise and solutions.

“Beyond the sharing of knowledge,” explains Martin Lespérance, Director of Training and Development,” our goal is to get eyecare professionals motivated and passionate about learning so they can maximize the application of new skills in their daily practice and see results quickly.”

The upcoming Essilor Academy Canada training events, the Roadshow and Alive Summit, will be held September 8, in Toronto, September 22, in Montreal, and October 27, in Calgary.

Click HERE for full press release.

 

FYiDoctors Rebranding as Visique in Quebec

FYiDoctors president and chief CEO Alan Ulsifer confirmed in an interview with VMail that the Quebec locations of FYiDoctors will be rebranded and will operate under a new  “Visique” banner. Included with the rebranding is a new tagline, “See Life Clearly” or “voir la vie,” and a new bilingual website launching at http://visique.com/.

Frédéric Marchand, V-P Operations at FYiDoctors, said in a statement on LinkedIn:

“Today is a historic day for the optical industry in Quebec. I am incredibly thrilled to announce that FYidoctors, the country’s largest and fastest growing eye care provider, has brought together over 75 leading optometrists in the province under one unified banner now known as Visique. Now welcoming patients at more than 45 locations, our 100+ years of experience as Marchand Giguere combined with the comprehensive resources of the optometrist-owned and operated FYidoctors will ensure that we deliver fully customized, best in class eye care to every patient who walks through our doors. At Visique, we know that how you see things impacts how you see the world.”

Visit VisionMonday to learn more.

C’mon, Eh! Canadian Sunglass Wear Lags Behind!

June 27th is Sunglass Day. Well at least it is in the USA. But not in Canada, pity.

The Q1 VisionWatch Canada report (Jan 1- March 31, 2017) on Canadian consumers’ eyewear use and purchasing habits was recently released.  While almost all of the VisionWatch Canada metrics are settling into specific and predictable patterns, what caught our eye (pun intended), are the comparative measures of sunglass usage in Canada relative the other economically well-developed countries.

According to VisionWatch Canada (published by The Vision Council) reports, 87% of US consumers wear plano sunglasses, versus only 62% in Canada, a significant difference. It is not a seasonal aberration. The 62% penetration level has held fairly steady through each of the four seasons, since the VisionWatch Canada data started tracking data in 2014.

While it might be easy to dismiss the difference between US and Canada as being rooted in our geographic destiny, other northern nations like UK and Germany (not exactly sunny places!) outperform Canada significantly as well, tallying 84% and 78% penetration respectively*.  France has the highest level of sunglass wear at 89%.

There is some good news in the data.  When Canadians purchase sunwear, we are much more prone to purchase higher priced product compared with Americans.  Penetration of sunglasses over $50 per pair is 40% in Canada, compared with only 26% in USA.

The trend of Canadians purchasing higher priced product holds throughout the study, as evidenced by a much higher percent purchase of glasses with AR coatings (66% in Canada versus 30% in USA).  The industry can presumably take some credit for strong advocacy of AR coatings, but… what about sunglasses? By the measures indicated in the VisionWatch data, the Canadian eye care industry has an upside opportunity in sunglass sales and increasing protection from harmful UV radiation.

Maybe a “Three O Association collaboration” to declare Sunglasses day in Canada can help!  If that sounds like a challenge, it is!

Click here to view the Canadian vs American Q1 2017 Market Overview

* source: VisionWatch Europe data 2015.

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