Making These Merchandising Mistakes is Costing You Tens of Thousands of Dollars: An Optical Conversation with Kayla Ashlee

Making These Merchandising Mistakes is Costing You Tens of Thousands of Dollars: An Optical Conversation with Kayla Ashlee

May 25, 2026 · 1h 2m · Episode 394

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of merchandising and psychology on optical sales with guest Kayla Ashlee.

Most optometric practice owners have no idea how much money they're quietly losing in their optical simply because of merchandising, layout, and the conversations happening—or not happening—between staff and patients. Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry. My guest on today's show is Kayla Ashlee. Kayla joins me on the show to talk about the subtle but incredibly powerful levers that influence buying behavior inside the dispensary and why the difference between a thriving optical and an average one often has less to do with pricing and more to do with psychology, presentation, and process. In our conversation, we discuss the difference between optician-led versus patient-led frame selections, why many owners underestimate the power of suggestion in the optical, and how practices may be unintentionally leaving revenue on the table simply through the way eyeware is presented.. We also talk about practical merchandising strategies that can materially influence capture rate and optical performance without adding more patients to the schedule. Resources: MassGeneral cafeteria experiment "You will read this first" image Book a Triage call with Adam Download…

People in this episode

Host: Adam Cmejla

Guest: Kayla Ashlee

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MassGeneral, Spexy

Products: Practice Owner's Financial Toolkit, 20/20 Money Ultimate Financial Success Masterclass, How to Buy an Optometry Practice

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