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A relatively new optical company called Eyelation has developed a business model focused exclusively on meeting the needs of large employers who want safety eyewear delivered in a consistent and streamlined way to employees in multiple locations. According to Eyelations’s CEO Brad Kirschner, “This market has been dramatically underserved. These companies often had ad hoc programs that differed across locations. They needed 24/7 support that was the same for all employees on any shift.”

Eyelation’s solution is to install self-service interactive kiosks in its customers’ locations where employees can select their frames “virtually” and order anytime from a list of frames approved for each employee. The kiosk scans the employee’s prescription and takes a photo using Eyelation’s camera technology that allows for facial measurements. These are transmitted to an Eyelation staff optician to check seg heights, review the order and make any adjustments as needed.

“The kiosks are the face of the company but they represent only 5 percent of what we do; the other 95 percent of the services we provide occurs before and after an order is entered,” explained Kirschner, whose father, uncle and grandfather are ECPs. Eyelation developed software customized to manage costs, reports and employee benefits so that employees know exactly what they can select. “For example, if certain employees can only wear plastic frames for safety reasons, they will only see plastic frames in our system,” said Kirschner.

Today, the company operates over 400 kiosks in customer locations throughout North America, delivering thousands of eyeglasses each month, according to Kirschner. It uses third-party labs in the U.S. and Canada to produce the eyewear it sells. Operating without a sales force, Eyelation’s growth has been propelled by strategic partnerships with frame maker Honeywell Safety Products and distributors of safety products, who offer Eyelation’s programs to their customers seeking a safety eyewear solution.

Coming from a family optical business, Kirschner’s view is that SRx opportunities for smaller ECPs are becoming more limited because the hometown factories that once sent their employees to the local optical shops are now part of bigger organizations that want simplified solutions expandable to all locations

Kirschner wants to develop programs in the future that will build business for smaller ECPs using Eyelation’s growing consumer network. “Now that we have some scale, we have begun building a collaborative relationship with the ECP community,” he said. The company is beta testing a program that refers employees to local ECPs for their eye health and non-safety eyewear needs as a way to capture new customers.