By Staff
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 8:00 AM
BENTONVILLE, Ark.—
Walmart and
Memomi, an AR optical tech company, announced they have entered into an agreement for Walmart to acquire Memomi. This reinforces Walmart’s commitment to frictionless and omnichannel optical care, the company said. Since 2019, Memomi has enabled digital measurements for all Walmart and
Sam’s Optical customers, across more than 2,800 Walmart Vision Centers and 550 Sam’s Clubs, and also powers the optical e-commerce experience on SamsClub.com. The announcement said, "Acquiring Memomi, an AR company, is the next step in Walmart’s journey of offering personalized, affordable access to optical care.
By Staff
Monday, June 27, 2022 2:35 PM
Not all business experiences are created equal: the risk in poor service from a plumber and a bartender just don’t match up. So it’s expected that people care more about, and will likely read more reviews of, certain business types than others. To explore this, BrightLocal, which provides services and tools to local marketers for their brands and clients, looked at eight key sectors where reviews play an important part, and asked how important a part reviews played in consumers’ decisions to use them.
A
study from earlier this year looked at how consumers consider online peer reviews for businesses. Most of the data is for restaurants and other local business but one chart included health care. The top business types for which reviews play an “important” or “very important” part in consumers’ decisions are:
• Service businesses and tradespersons: 84 percent said reviews are “important” or “very important” in their decision
• Care services: 83 percent
• Health care: 82 percent
As expected, businesses that are infrequently required, and come with a high level of risk, face public scrutiny far more than things like restaurants and bars, where a friend’s recommendation is sometimes all that’s needed. It’s heartening to see that care services come out on top in this, given what important, and likely difficult, decisions are involved in using services in this sector.
Health care and service, or service-area, businesses (SABs) stack up fairly evenly, which is definitely worthwhile knowing about: your potential customers care about reviews for your business as much as they do for their doctors.
It’s also interesting to see that 6 percent of consumers consider reviews for financial and legal services to be “not important.” According to BrightLocal, could it be that years of Google Business Profile spam and fake reviews in the legal sector has taken its toll on the public perception of this industry?
By Staff
Monday, June 27, 2022 12:21 AM
VAUGHAN, Ontario—
Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE/TSX: BLCO) announced Friday that it has expanded its board of directors to add two designees to the board from Carl C. Icahn and affiliated entities (
Icahn Group).
By Staff
Friday, June 24, 2022 12:21 AM
PALO ALTO, CALIF.—Analysis of 24-month interim data from the pivotal “Cypress” clinical trial is offering increased hope for controlling myopia progression among young children, according to an announcement Thursday.
By Staff
Friday, June 24, 2022 12:15 AM
SAN FRANCISCO—
Osaro, a global leader in the development and deployment of advanced robotics for e-commerce, has partnered with
Zenni, the online eyewear retailer, to automate the "last meter" of Zenni’s fulfillment center in Novato, California.
By Staff
Thursday, June 23, 2022 12:24 AM
ORLANDO—The
American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) has announced its inaugural BRIGHT IDEAS Pitch Competition. The competition is designed to provide recognition, mentoring, and monetary reward to new or early-stage entrepreneurs with an idea or innovation that will improve eyecare treatment or devices. The application deadline is Friday, July 8, 2022. The American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) is the 501(c)(3) philanthropic arm of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO). It was founded in 1947 for the “upholding, broadening, fostering, promoting and aiding of optometric education; the profession of optometry and its practitioners.”
By Staff
Thursday, June 23, 2022 12:18 AM
ROCHESTER, N.Y.—To meet growing demand from eyecare professionals and wearers for its portfolio of contact lenses,
CooperVision has begun construction on the expansion and renovation of its manufacturing, packaging and distribution facilities in Scottsville and West Henrietta, N.Y.
By Staff
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 12:21 AM
AUSTIN, Texas—
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last week that his office had secured a settlement over deceptive trade practices with the parent company of
Hubble Contacts.
By Staff
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 12:18 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—
CooperVision has appointed Nancy Keir, OD, PhD, FBCLA, FAAO, as senior director, life cycle management.
By Staff
Friday, June 10, 2022 12:18 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—
CooperVision, a leader in myopia management, has announced new data that the company said demonstrates how certified U.S. eyecare practices have embraced MiSight 1 day contact lenses for myopia control.
By Staff
Thursday, June 9, 2022 12:24 AM
VAUGHAN, Ontario—
Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE/TSX: BLCO), in its first financial report since returning to the ranks of independent public companies in May, reported Wednesday that its sales increased 1 percent (5 percent on an organic basis) to $889 million in its first quarter, which ended March 31. The eyecare company also reported net income of $20 million and adjusted EBITDA of $170 million for the first quarter. In the year-ago quarter B+L reported revenue of $881 million. The company noted that in the current quarter foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact on revenue of $29 million.
By Staff
Friday, June 3, 2022 12:24 AM
ORLANDO, Fla.—The
25th Transitions Academy opened here Thursday morning with more than 850 industry experts from 45 countries around the world attending the event this week at the J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes.
By Staff
Friday, June 3, 2022 12:18 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Vision Council announced the publication of Version 3.13 of the Standard for Data Communications.
By Staff
Thursday, June 2, 2022 12:24 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—
CooperVision has acquired
EnsEyes, the leading supplier of orthokeratology (ortho-k) and scleral contact lenses in Europe’s Nordic region.