4 minute read
The Eyewear Specialist
BACK TO ‘00 s
by Fabio Avarello
Holiday time is over. It has been a peculiar summer, both in terms of weather and on a commercial level, with an approach influenced by uncertainty and prudence, at all levels.
September means a return to everyday working life, a ‘new beginning’, traditionally more important on a commercial level than in January, with the expected arrival of the new editions of trade fairs (starting with Date in Florence and Silmo in Paris). These events will be a very important opportunity to plan the last quarter, a period that has a significant specific weight, which is reflected on the entire year, both for purchases and for in-store sales. Trade fairs are also a unique opportunity to concentrate market insight in a few days, establishing new relationships and consolidating existing ones.
Certainly, there is no online event that can replace the added value of this osmotic exchange vis à vis. In a precise and limited space of time, it is necessary to put together ideas, analyse proposals, select target products, promote them in retail and ensure their sell out. There will be no success if these activities are not well planned and rationally analysed; only a rational approach, in this respect, can help in interpreting the most suitable style trends and, consequently, selecting the most appropriate products in terms of both quality and quantity.
Speaking of trends: in all categories of the fashion industry (from clothes to accessories such as shoes and bags), there will be a predominant ‘back to the 2000s’ effect. Even the eyewear sector will not be immune to this trend: wrap-around sunglasses in very curved bases, single-lensed spectacles for both a more sporty and a glamorous look (let’s not forget that 2024 will also be the year of the Paris Olympics, which will certainly exert a certain influence on style...).
The shapes and sizes of prescription frames will favour horizontal development (rectangular, elongated) over the vertical development seen in recent years; it will also be the year for new repropositions of glasant glasses, which in the recent past seemed to have almost disappeared from the horizon. In general, we will see this accentuated duality between the more flamboyant styles in the ‘sun’ part of the collections and more minimalist styles for the ‘prescription glasses’ segment. Our sector, too, is and will be increasingly affected by the ‘concentration’ strategies linked to the acquisition of major fashion brands by the Luxury giants. There is a constant succession of news about changes of manufacturers, distributors and licences passing from one company to another, with all the consequent problems - from stock management to the evaluation of the continuation of commercial relations with new interlocutors. Often, in these cases, it is a matter of field choices, where instinct should not prevail over ‘reason’.
It will not be easy. But all entrepreneurs have as their first mission to be optimistic. This positive attitude is, however, never sufficient on its own. It is necessary to prepare oneself properly, arriving and facing the coming months in a scientific and precise way. This is the approach of Category Management: opticians should increasingly deepen their knowledge and techniques in order to be better prepared to face an increasingly competitive market, in which efficiency has at least equal value to effectiveness.
FABIO AVARELLO
Product Manager, Creative Director and specialist consultant in the eyewear sector for both Retail and Wholesale, he works with major manufacturers as well as emerging companies, developing winning collections and trends. He supports sales and marketing teams to achieve their objectives, proactively suggesting tactical and strategic actions both in terms of marketing and through the application of category management rules, anticipating consumer and market needs. As a qualified optician and optometrist, he designed and strategically managed assortments for 10 years in large Italian optical retail companies.
