Optical shop software in Lahore

Where Lahore's opticians buy

The Walled City of Lahore Authority lists Ainak Market among the old city's specialist bazaars, selling sunglasses, eyeglass frames and lenses. Like the other trade bazaars inside the walls, it supplies shops across the city as well as walk-in customers looking for a cheaper frame.

An optician in Lahore usually sits between three parties. The customer comes for a test or with a nuskha from a doctor. The frames come from wholesalers, including those in the old city. And the lenses are cut and fitted by a lab, sometimes in the shop's back room, more often elsewhere in the city. The order goes out, waits a few days and comes back, and the customer is promised a date in between.

Most of the trouble happens in that gap. A nuskha copied wrongly onto the lab slip, a frame sent with the wrong order, a customer who calls three times asking if the glasses are ready, or a pair that was ready a week ago and never collected.

Opticians also live on repeat visits. Prescriptions change, contact lenses run out, and a customer whose last test was two years ago is a sale waiting to happen if someone reminds him.

Payment usually comes in two parts. The customer leaves an advance when the order is made and pays the balance when he collects the glasses, by cash, card or wallet. A shop with dozens of open orders needs to know, every evening, how much is held as advance and how much is still to come.

A Lahore optician's day on Nafaa

Eye tests. Book a test in a free slot with the optometrist on duty and take the fee. Today's queue, follow-ups and no-shows are on one list, and each doctor's days, hours, tests done and fees billed are kept on his record.

The order. After the test, make the glasses order: the nuskha, a frame from stock or the customer's own, lens type, index and coating, the lab, the pickup date and the advance.

Three slips. The customer gets his nuskha and an order slip showing the advance. The lab gets its own slip with the power and lens details but no prices.

Lab tracking. Each order moves from sent to lab, back from lab, ready and handed over. Labs are compared on turnaround and late orders, so you know which one to send urgent work to.

Repairs and call-backs. A broken hinge or a loose screw goes on the same order desk with the charge and date. A call-back list shows prescriptions close to their end, with a WhatsApp link to invite the customer for a new test.

Stock. Frames by brand, model, colour and size; contact lenses and solutions in batches, with the earliest expiry sold first.

Questions from Lahore opticians

Can a customer bring his own frame?

Yes. The order can use a frame from your stock or the customer's own, and the slip says which.

I send work to two different labs. Can I compare them?

Yes. Each order records its lab, and labs are compared on turnaround and late orders.

Can I sell sunglasses without a prescription?

Yes. Frames and sunglasses sell at the counter like any other product with a barcode.

A customer lost his nuskha. Can I find his last prescription?

Yes. Search by his name or phone and his earlier prescriptions are on his record, with the date and the optometrist who wrote them.

Can the advance be paid by wallet or card?

Yes. The advance and the balance can each be taken by cash, card, JazzCash or Easypaisa, and the order slip shows what has been paid and what is still due on collection.

What if the lab sends the wrong power back?

Check the glasses against the nuskha on the order before handing them over. If they are wrong, send the order back to the lab; its status shows it is out again, and the late-order count for that lab goes up.

Does it work without internet?

Yes. The counter keeps billing without internet and syncs later. See the optical page for the full list of screens.