Ann: Update to Govt Contract- Re-categorisation of Hearables, page-329

Both optometrists and pharmacies are great potential channels, in my view. They have most the customers already. Practically all of them have contemplated selling hearing aids, but the traditional hearing aid selling model is generally proving too big a step for them.

Having tried to market hearing aids at opticians, my experience is that they want the synergistic product but they don't want to learn any hearing aid dispensing skills. Clinically, glasses and hearing aids are surprisingly different and they demand a very different skills sets. The pharmacist skills are very different again. The optician and pharmacist have already invested in obtaining one professional degree qualification. They don't fancy having to invest in a second.

Audiology outlets within Specsavers optical stores are staffed by audiologists. Audiology outlets within Boots the chemist are a separate business (owned by Sonova). There is a segregation between the professions. Very few staff are both opticians and audiologists.

Optometrists and pharmacies need a truly off-the-peg hearing device, which demands minimal customer guidance and follow-up support. Low skill demand in the selling process; yet enough skill to provide the theatre of talking through, convey trust and justify the price. The product must encompass all the self-service featured within. This can bode well for a properly evolved Nuheara.

The optician or pharmacy outlet must be a recognised and respected brand, for customers to trust making the purchase at US$450. If a customer buys a Nuheara device at, say, Specsavers then they will think of it as a Specsavers product. The seller becomes the brand. The fact it says Nuheara on the box is meaningless. Small independent opticians are therefore less effective. Big brand national chains are probably better, in my view.

I believe opticians and pharmacies within big supermarkets, such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda in the UK, would love to stock an off-the-peg hearing device. Other nations have similar supermarket chains (my knowledge is limited to the UK). Such big retailers can shift plenty of units, but will of course drive a hard bargain on the transfer price. They would probably prefer to sell an IQboost type device at half its current retail price, I guess.