Asda is to invest £2.5m into overhauling its network of in-store opticians.
The investment into physical locations, staff training and development was announced at Asda Opticians’ annual conference last week, alongside two senior appointments to lead the continued development of the service offer.
Over the next year, Asda will refit 18 of its 156 ‘Optical Units’. It will also upgrade diagnostic equipment across its estate, including the rollout of new optical coherence tomography (OCT) and new pre-test technology.
It will also improve the training and development opportunities available to clinical store teams, with the aim of refreshing their “knowledge and strengthen[ing] their confidence when dealing with customers and new products”. The supermarket will also double the intake of optician apprentices.
To lead the development, Asda has promoted regional manager for Asda’s healthcare business in the north, Joe Huntford, to the new role of head of optical services.
Prior to joining Asda three years ago, Huntford was national service operations manager for One Stop for nearly two years. He also spent over 12 years in retail and store management at Sainsbury’s.
Joining Huntford is Peena Govind, who has been appointed superintendent optometrist after 18 months as deputy superintendent. Govind will oversee professional standards and clinical excellence across the estate, following her 20 years in the sector.
It is the first major investment announced into Asda stores since it spent £12m upgrading a number of its supermarkets across Yorkshire.
Asda operates the second-largest optical business in the UK. While other supermarkets are pulling back on their company-run in-store services offerings, Asda executive chairman Allan Leighton sees the offer as a key point of difference – alongside its in-store pharmacies – in his bid to draw Asda shoppers back into stores.
More than 30 suppliers attended the Asda Opticians annual conference last week.
“This year’s event was about looking ahead – celebrating the strengths of our optical community, while setting clear ambitions for the future,” Huntford said.
“Asda Opticians has a clear strategy to continue growing, and through our continued investment in our facilities and colleague development, our focus remains on delivering accessible, high-quality, great-value eyecare for every patient who walks through our doors.”
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