During a “fantastic year of great growth and success” the global Specsavers group has surpassed AU$4.66b in revenue, an increase of 7 per cent on 2016/17, according to the organisation’s published annual review.
Around the world, Specsavers now has 1,980 optical stores and hearing centres, 2,800 partners, and more than 32,500 employees. Its stores have ‘registered’ more than 36 million customers and have sold more than 20.5 million frames, 500 million contact lenses, and, via its audiology partners, 337,770 hearing aids.
ANZ ACHIEVEMENTS
Ten years after opening its first store in Melbourne, Specsavers now has 276 stores in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), with 740 partners and 5,750 employees. In 2017/18 its stores carried out 3.8 million eye tests and supplied nearly five million pairs of glasses and 18 million contact lenses. Over its ten year history, Specsavers ANZ revenue has now surpassed $1 billion.
In a statement, Nigel Parker, Managing Director of Specsavers ANZ and Northern Europe said, “over and above the incredible figures, we made some serious inroads into bridging the gap between optometry and ophthalmology as we continued our partnership with RANZCO (the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists), and worked towards our aim of transforming eye health for millions of people across the region by launching OCT (optical coherence tomography) in our stores, to detect glaucoma and other debilitating diseases.
“2017 also saw the exciting introduction of our audiology partnership model in the Southern Hemisphere. We got off to a fantastic start, enabling us to expand our offering of the highest-quality professional service and best possible value in hearing aid technology to our Australian customers,” said Mr. Parker.
In 2017/18 Specsavers launched an online presence for the purchase and home delivery of glasses in ANZ and held the inaugural Specsavers dispensing conference.
We got off to a fantastic start, enabling us to expand our offering of the highest-quality professional service and best possible value in hearing aid technology to our Australian customers
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS
Globally, in the past year, Specsavers has raised approximately $4.5 million for charities and good causes. In Australia and New Zealand these causes included the Perth Children’s Hospital, Guide Dogs South Australia/and Northern Territory; and The Fred Hollows Foundation through which the Lions Outback Vision Van is supported. Two outreach programs (Fiji and Vietnam) were conducted to screen individuals, assist with cataract surgeries, and train eye health professionals.
In 2018/19 ANZ plans to complete four outreach programmes; of a recycling initiative in collaboration with Lions Recycle for Sight Australia, which will arrange for spectacles to be processed and sent to people in need across the globe; undertake a research and development partnership with TerraCycle to explore options for recycling materials such as acetate for use in eye-test technology; and collaborate with Aboriginal artist Peter Datjin Burarrwanga to create a limited-edition frame, which will raise funds for The Fred Hollows Foundation. Specsavers ANZ will continue to donate paediatric glasses to Fiji’s Pacific Eye Institute and the Regional Eye Centre in the Solomon Islands; and continue to support The Fred Hollows Foundation with the Lions Outback Vision Van in Australia and the Mobile Eye Clinic in Fiji.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In 2017, Specsavers ANZ was recognised with two accolades for its CREATE (Coach, Relate, Enquire, Adapt, Teach and Engage) customer service program; the 2017 Platinum LearnX Impact Award and the Australian Institute of Training and Development Excellence Award. In 2018, the group received the 2018 Reader’s Digest Gold Quality Service Award in Australia and New Zealand, which recognises exceptional customer service delivered by store teams.
