Pentax 2007 Annual Report Download - page 19

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Eye City store in the mall in the Tokyo metropolitan area
China ●Shanghai
3 stores
●Kyushu district
16 stores
●Tokai-Chubu district
14 stores
●Kanto district 66 stores
●Hokkaido-Tohoku district
10 stores
●Koshinetsu-Hokuriku district
7 stores
●Kansai-Chugoku-Shikoku district 40 stores
Contact Lenses and Eye CityHealth Care Division
Vision Care Division
Hoya’s Eye City chain of contact lens specialty stores boasts the
largest sales volume of any such enterprise in the Japanese domestic
market. As of March 2007, the business had grown to include 153
stores in a Japan-wide network. Eye City locations can be found in all
major commercial areas, from the metropolis to the suburb. Following
the opening in 2005 of the first overseas Eye City store in Shanghai,
China, Hoya is now pushing forward with expansion aimed at reaching
the globe.
Eye City strives to work in partnership with each one of its
individual clients, looking after the health their eyes. With safety
uppermost, Hoya constantly strives to further improve its levels of
service and provide an even broader product lineup.
Contact lenses are specially controlled medical devices worn on
the prescription of an ophthalmologist. Because they are in the eyes
for long periods of time, users need to be given sufficient information
on their use, and they need to know how to take appropriate care of
them. Eye City stocks safe, top-quality products, and its specialist
staff members are thoroughly familiar with correct usage requirements
as well as the latest information about every item in the range. This
allows staff to offer each client highly appropriate pre-purchase advice
and after-sales service. If by any chance a customer were to have a
problem with his or her lenses, or perhaps damage a lens, highly
experienced staff are always on hand to provide the assistance and
advice the customer needs as a contact lens wearer. Eye City is
working to further raise standards of customer service through the
introduction of advanced information management systems, so that no
matter which store a client visits, he or she will receive the same high
standard of attention. The high-quality, client-oriented services offered
by Eye City have been well received by its customers, and the
business has now served a total of more than 5 million clients.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, Hoya
experienced changes in the market environment as a result of such
matters as the April 2006 revision to the fee standards for medical
examinations. However, thanks to sound management, strategic
marketing, and the trust afforded by clients as a result of its high
service standards, Eye City was able to further boost its
competitiveness in the market. Both sales and profit once again
increased in comparison with the previous year.
The opening of a store in Shanghai was the springboard for the
future development of the Asian market, and there are currently three
stores open in total. All three stores are separately located and they
differ in style, and Hoya is currently assessing which business model
is the most appropriate. There is not as yet a great deal of publicly
available information in China on the appropriate use of contact
lenses, so Hoya would like to concentrate on promoting the
high-quality Eye City brand with an emphasis on complete eye
examination and lens fitting services.
At present, Eye City sells only certain Hoya products—high
functionality contact lenses, such as toric and bifocal lenses. From
now on, however, Hoya intends to work to broaden the lineup of Hoya
products handled by Eye City, by striving to develop and manufacture
new lenses offering greater added value, such as those made with
new materials.
Marketing contact lenses by appealing to
the client’s point of view
Contact Lenses and Eye City
Japan