How to effortlessly sell dry eye products and OTCs online

Discover how Otto's Eye Drop Ship program can revolutionize your practice by automating sales capture and streamlining order fulfillment for hundreds of dry eye and other eye care products.

Key takeaways

• Offer direct shipping on hundreds of dry eye products without any of the hassle, for product sold in-store or online
• No need to manage inventory; clinics can sell products they might not otherwise carry
• Clinics pay wholesale rates plus shipping and handling, charged to a credit card
• Clinics determine the product offering, sale price, and shipping fees charged to customers
• The program is available with all Otto subscriptions at no extra cost

Understanding the Eye Drop Ship program

The Eye Drop Ship program offered by Otto allows your practice to sell and drop-ship hundreds of dry eye and eye care products right to your patients' homes. This program provides a hassle-free solution for fulfilling orders for products from all your favourite brands, including I-MED, Labtician, Thea, Candor, and so many more, eliminating the need to stock, pick, pack, or ship products yourself.

Eye Drop Ship is one program with two trusted regional fulfillment partners: Dry Eye Rescue in the United States and Eye Drop Shop in Canada. They hold the inventory and handle picking, packing, and shipping behind the scenes — patients only ever see your practice, buying under your brand at the prices you set. Catalog and pricing details vary by region.

By utilizing the Eye Drop Ship program, you no longer need to tie up your cash in inventory and worry about minimum order quantities or inventory going stale, and it's easier than ever to offer direct shipping to your patients. This allows you to focus on providing excellent care to your patients and giving them new and simplified ways of purchasing a wide range of dry eye and other eye care products, so they don't go to your competitors instead.

Benefits of utilizing the program

From simplifying workflows, to adding new revenue and enhancing your patient experience, there are countless benefits to incorporating the Eye Drop Ship program into your practice. Here are some notable mentions:

• Hassle-free direct fulfillment: You can offer direct shipping on hundreds of products without the need to stock, pick, pack, or ship yourself. This saves your staff time and effort, allowing them to focus on providing quality care to your patients.
• No inventory management: There's no longer a need to tie up your cash in inventory, manage individual supplier accounts, worry about minimum order quantities or product going stale. You make it easy for patients to buy, and we handle the rest.
• Find new revenue: Sell and earn a profit on products that you might not otherwise carry in your clinic, opening up a potential new revenue stream for your practice.
• Convenient for patients: Patients looking to buy online can buy dry eye and eye care products alongside their contacts in one convenient place, with the option to ship to their home.
• Let patients buy from you: Give your patients the option to easily buy from you, rather than from the competition. This strengthens patient relationships and keeps sales within your business ecosystem. Shipments come in plain packaging and do not indicate Otto or Eye Drop Ship.
• Automated order capture and fulfillment: Offer timely refill reminders and subscription programs for hundreds of products, making it easier for patients to re-order and avoid running out of their essential supplies.
• Control over pricing and shipping: You maintain complete control over your product pricing and shipping policy, so you can tailor these aspects to best suit your practice and patient needs.
• Pay as you go: Simply pay your costs as orders are placed, securely via credit card right on the Otto platform. No need to set up credit accounts with dozens of suppliers.

How to incorporate Eye Drop Ship into your practice

Incorporating drop-shipping for dry eye and other eye care products into your practice is simple and can greatly benefit your business. Here are some steps to get started:

1. Sign up for Otto, if you haven't already.
2. Add products to your offering from brands like I-MED, Labtician, Candor, Thea, PRN, and more.
3. Sell products in-store or online through your website.
4. Opt to fulfill orders through Eye Drop Ship with a single click on the Otto platform, and we'll ship out the product on your behalf.
5. Easily capture recurring sales with timely refill reminders and subscription programs — included in your Otto subscription.
6. Repeat step 4.

Best practices for maximizing success

So you've decided to implement drop-shipping in your practice. A wise decision! Here are a few suggestions for how you can maximize your chances of success:

1. Offer the full suite of products. Without the need to carry inventory or manage accounts with each brand, we recommend including the full suite of available products in your online store, making your practice a one-stop-shop for your patients' eye care needs. Of course, you always have full freedom to select which products you do and don't offer.
2. Use Follow-Ups for easy patient ordering. Make it effortless for patients to order by sending them a Follow-Up with their personal order link. This lets patients know they can buy from you, and is a powerful way to win back patients who leave the office without making a purchase.
3. Capture recurring sales. Leverage Otto to automate the capture of refill orders for in-store and online patients with timely reorder reminders and subscription programs — securing ongoing sales with minimal effort.
4. Encourage bulk purchases with discounted pricing. To promote larger purchases, consider offering discounted pricing on multi-unit orders. This helps spread out shipping and handling fees — a win-win that encourages loyalty and repeat business.
5. Strategize shipping and handling fees. While it's practical to pass shipping and handling onto the customer, consider offering free or discounted shipping on larger orders as an additional incentive to buy through your practice.

By implementing these best practices, you can maximize your chances of success — bolstering your service offering while strengthening patient relationships through convenience, value, and a seamless purchasing experience.

How much does it all cost?

The Eye Drop Ship program is included at no extra charge in your Otto subscription. Sell products at the price you set, and when fulfilling an order, your costs are broken out as follows (exact amounts vary by region and fulfillment partner):

• Wholesale cost: The cost of the actual product, more or less the same as you'd pay buying wholesale from the manufacturer directly.
• Handling fee: A modest per-shipment fee covering inventory management, support, picking, packaging, and more — all the logistics you no longer need to worry about.
• Shipping (variable): A direct transfer to you of the amount it costs to ship product on your behalf, which varies by destination.
• Sales tax (variable): The local sales tax for the cost of goods and shipping and handling, covered through the patient's purchase total.

You maintain full control over the shipping and handling fees you charge your customer. We recommend passing these costs, in whole or in part, onto the customer to minimize out-of-pocket expense — perhaps waiving them over a certain purchase amount to incentivize larger purchases (e.g. free shipping on orders over $150).

Make it easy for patients to buy from you — and let us handle the picking, packing, and shipping.