SCHIPHOL, the Netherlands—In a year that was the “most challenging in recent memory,” GrandVision NV (EURONEXT: GVNV) noted in its new annual report that even as it closed some “structurally underperforming stores” in the U.S. market, it continues to make progress with its For Eyes business as a result of its “business turnaround plans” and the closure of those underperforming locations. The international retailer did not break out fiscal 2020 results specifically for the For Eyes business in the report, but it noted, “We continued to achieve underlying operational improvements in the U.S.”

The company also said in the report that “Latin America and the U.S. markets were among the most impacted globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Across the company, turnaround plans consisted of consideration of “the staffing and efficiency of stores, headquarter operations, optimizing the commercial proposition and making necessary changes to local management teams."

Overall, GrandVision in its fiscal 2020 earnings announcement last week reported that full-year revenue dropped 12.2 percent at constant exchange rates to €3,481 million, with a comparable revenue decline of 14.1 percent, as VMAIL reported. And, as it has in the past, GrandVision noted in the annual report that it continues to support the transaction between EssilorLuxottica and HAL regarding the proposed acquisition by EssilorLuxottica of HAL Holding's 77 percent stake in GrandVision, which was announced July 2019. The companies are making progress on concluding the deal, as VMAIL reported in February.

“The past year has been the most challenging time in recent memory for our business, employees and in the communities which we serve,” chief executive officer Stephan Borchert said in his message to shareholders in the annual report. “Our performance varied significantly through the months after the outbreak in March, with a strong recovery in 3Q as restrictions were lifted.”

He also noted that the retailer was able to “partially mitigate the dramatic decline in customer traffic through higher conversion and intensified online activities.”

Among the highlights of its U.S. performance, GrandVision said it was able to expand utilization of its Customer 360 platform to the For Eyes group in 2020 along with nine other markets. The Customer 360 platform provides “holistic marketing and CRM solutions and enables personalized digital advertising activities.”

Also in 2020, GrandVision, working under the auspices of its GrandVision Eye Care Council (GVEC), established an innovative pilot that added tele-optometry as a service in 13 stores across the U.S. “We [also] are exploring artificial intelligence opportunities related to fundus imagery in Poland and Spain, and we have introduced an online eye test pilot through our Finnish and Polish retail brands’ e-commerce platforms,” the company noted.

Another addition in the U.S. is the GV Academy mobile app, which ensures that the right knowledge is at the fingertips of in-store employees. This app launched in 2019 and in 2020 it rolled out to more than 15 countries including the U.S.

The Customer 360 platform, which was successfully piloted in Latin America in 2019, was extended to the U.S., Denmark and Sweden in 2020 and will continue to be developed and rolled out to other countries, Grand Vision said. “It will be the foundation for us to use advanced technologies, such as machine learning artificial intelligence on our customer data sets, and to provide actionable insights for our digital marketing, store sales, e-commerce, CRM and customer service teams,” the company noted.

Another positive for GrandVision in 2020 was the overall result of its digital revenues. “We significantly increased our revenue from digital channels, either retail brand related e-commerce sites such as Apollo.de or pure play ones like Lenstore.com,” the annual report noted. “We expanded the e-commerce capabilities of our retail brand websites by rolling out the important prescription glasses e-commerce functionality across 15 retail brands in 11 countries. We also made good progress in subscription-based sales in both the optical and contact lens categories.”

Looking ahead, Borchert noted that GrandVision is now operating with a stronger strategic framework despite the restrictions of the pandemic.

“We are prepared to handle the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added. “The developments over the last year have undoubtedly caused structural disruption across the industry.

At GrandVision we regard this as an opportunity. Our strategic approach remains valid and we will continue to execute on our operational excellence and our key initiatives to further expand our position as a leading global optical retailer, and thus create shareholder value.”