Eyewear sales typically are an important revenue stream to the optometric practice. While at an optometric practice appointment, the practice of frame selection and purchasing by a patient is physically browsing through frame inventory. At that time, the patient may review the available physical inventory, select, and try on frames. In this environment, the consumer is limited to an inventory selection of the physical inventory that an optometric practice has purchased and has on hand.
As the optometric practice moves their physical inventory to digital selection there is an opportunity to present hundreds of frame options without requiring physical retail space to display or capital expenditures to purchase the frames. The process enables significant data capture and uses deep trending information, comparison information, and statistics.
The present invention relates generally to inventory in an optometric practice.
A system, method, and computer program product are provided to offer digital inventory to an optometry practice's patients. The virtual inventory selections can be physically delivered to the practice before the patient visit. This model enhances the patient's selection and maintains the shopping value of physically trying on frames in the optometry office.
Coupled to the network 102 is a plurality of devices. For example, a server computer 104 and an end user computer 106 may be coupled to the network 102 for communication purposes. Such end user computer 106 may include a desktop computer, lap-top computer, and/or any other type of logic. Still yet, various other devices may be coupled to the network 102 including a personal mobile tablet 108, a mobile phone device 110, a television 112, etc.
As shown, a system 200 is provided including at least one central processor 201 which is connected to a communication bus 202. The system 200 also includes main memory 204 [e.g. random-access memory (RAM), etc.]. The system 200 also includes a graphics processor 206 and a display 208.
The system 200 may also include a secondary storage 210. The secondary storage 210 includes, for example, a hard disk drive and/or a removable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-known manner.
Computer programs, or computer control logic algorithms, may be stored in the main memory 204, the secondary storage 210, and/or any other memory, for that matter. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 200 to perform various functions (to be set forth below, for example). Memory 204, storage 210 and/or any other storage are possible examples of tangible computer-readable media.
As an option, the method 300 may be carried out in the context of the details of
As shown, one or more virtual inventory providers 301 provides access to digital eyewear inventory for the optometric practice 302. At least one optometric practice 304 provides digital inventory including their physical inventory carried plus any number of virtual inventory as options in advance of the scheduled appointment 305. The optometric patient 308 reviews eyewear in advance and selects favorites 309. The virtual inventory provider 301 fulfills the patients selected frames for shipment to the optometric provider or any other address 303. The selected inventory is received at the optometric practice or other address as temporary inventory 306. The patient attends the scheduled appointment, browses inventory, Try's on frames including both normal physical inventory and temporary virtual inventory and makes purchasing decisions 310. Unpurchased virtual inventory can be returned to virtual inventory 307. The virtual inventory provider receives the returned virtual inventory 311.