2018: What Changed for Retail?

As the year comes to a close, the moment lends itself  to reflecting on what has gone by, before we spring forward to new adventures. For me it’s been a big year, both personally and professionally!

Here’s a few highlights I wanted to share with you.

Event of the year: EssilorLuxottica

For those of you who don’t follow the optical sector, here’s a catch-up:

Essilor is a pioneer with 150 years of history, and the world leader in prescription lenses. Our DNA is innovation, operational excellence, an international mindset, and entrepreneurial spirit. With €200+ million per year in R&D spending, we’re unparalleled in advanced lens technology: technology that has made problems such as lens glare, fog, rain, dust and scratches a thing of the past, that has given rise to innovations such as the intelligent photochromic lenses that automatically adapt to changing light conditions, as well as providing solutions for all types of corrective vision needs.

Luxottica’s expertise is the craftsmanship of iconic eyewear frames and sunglasses. Not only do its house brands include Ray-Ban, Oakley and Persol, Luxottica produces eyewear under license for a whole host of designer labels: Burberry, Chanel, Prada, Valentino & Versace, to name but a few. And on top of that, its owned distribution channels range from traditional and omnichannel retailers like Lenscrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical and Target Optical, to pure players like Glasses.com.

In October of this year, the merger of the two giants was approved, and EssilorLuxottica was born.

Now, as two vertically-integrated businesses with such complementary expertise, the synergies are prodigious.

What does this mean for us?

Let’s take a step back and look at the market:

Of the world’s 7.2 billion people, 2 in 3 need vision correction. 100% need vision protection - whether from the sun’s rays (compounded by factors like climate change, and the needs of an aging population) or from the blue light emitted by the screens of increasingly omnipresent devices.

Simultaneously, the changing lifestyles of consumers around the world mean that the demand for strong brands is bigger than ever. Retailers of these brands will have to move smart, fast and better to meet their customers’ expectations for impeccable experience and hyper-personalization. And to do this, the role of digitalization - in providing personalization and an overall enriched customer experience - is bigger than ever.

Essilor joining forces with Luxottica means we can address those needs, together, by providing better service to our customers, and ever better products. Our common mission: “Help people see more, be more and live life to its fullest”. I think that’s pretty inspiring!

Personally, as I continue to meet and get to know many wonderful new people, new companies (including start-ups!) and explore new ways to do business with purpose, I’m most excited about the possibilities that will open in terms of distribution: I started VisionHub because I wanted to create a new way to buy glasses on-line and off-line that could provide both ease of access and excellent customer service, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we will be able to leverage the combined expertises of EssilorLuxottica to push that value even further.

Now, excited as I am about ESS LUX, that’s not all that’s happened this year!

Off to see the world! VisionHub in Kenya, Indonesia and North America

It’s also been a year of acceleration for VisionHub, the white-label, turn-key kiosk solution for retail:

From the field :

• We joined forces with Total in Kenya to improved road safety through the programme Good Vision on the Road.
• We entered the hotel sector with the Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta.
• We teamed up with Acrelec in North America to extend our offering, with a VisionHub kiosk at the showroom in Pittsburgh.
• We reinforced our partnership with FittingBox by proposing a more and more enhanced customer experience.
• I can’t go without mentioning our colleagues from Essilor Shared Services Philippines who warmly welcomed us last week.

And last but not least, the end of this year is bringing some new partnership discussions to fruition (I look forward to telling you more in 2019!)

Also, from the heart:

Our team continued to grow - notably with Lou joining us as Business Development Director for the APAC region and Linnea in Marketing & Communications - as well reinforcements in Lead Gen. And I can’t go without saying a huge thank-you and congratulations to the whole team, old and new - it’s our hard work and team spirit that has brought us here today!

A few snapshots of the VisionHub team and partners

What’s in sight for 2019?

From CES to the NRF, there are a few major events coming up at the beginning of the year, and I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Without playing the “Predict the trends” game, I will say that I will be keeping a very close eye on developments in telemedicine (I think 2019 promises to be a breakthrough year!), artificial intelligence in the retail sector, and in photochromic lenses (a strong trend in market demand, in 2019 and beyond).

So, over to you: what have been the 2018 highlights for you? And will I be seeing you at CES or NRF in January? Let me know below!