Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for optical stores.
A checklist built from how optical stores work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Eye test and prescription record
- Frame catalogue by model, colour and size
- Lens orders and lab jobs
- Fitting and collection
- Contact lens fitting and reorders
- Remakes, repairs and warranty
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For optometrists
- For dispensers
- For the workshop
- For the store owner
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Jobs at the lab and past their due date
- Frame stock by brand, colour and eye size
- Remakes by cause and by lab
- Pairs ready to collect with balance due
- Contact lens wearers due a reorder
- Customers due for an eye test
- Sales by brand and by lens type
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Card payments
- Accounting export
- Barcode scanner and label printer
- Lab ordering portal export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it built for optical stores or general retail?
- Can it hold a prescription with prism and addition?
- How does it help when a pair comes back wrong?
- Can frames be tracked by colour and eye size?
- Does it handle contact lens wearers?
- Will it talk to the machines in our eye-test room?
- Can several branches share customers?
- Who owns the customer and prescription records?
- What does it cost?
- Do we need this for a small store?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Prescription figures are copied by hand
- A frame waits for its lens
- Frame counts drift away from the tray
- Remakes and adjustments have no history
- Lens supply for wearers runs out unseen
Prefer to talk it through? See the optical stores page.