Cover Story: Eyecare 2.0

Optical Evolves Online

June 16, 2008 3:00 AM

By Deirdre Carroll
Senior Editor

Marge Axelrad
Editorial Director

Optical e-Tailing

Optical retailers, both traditional and online-only, are taking heed. “Today, the Internet is central to how consumers shop, whether researching and ‘pre-shopping,’ making a purchase on-line or engaging in post-shopping behaviors such as posting ratings or reviews about a purchase or product on Web sites, group discussion boards, blogs, etc.,” added Patricia Sharp, director of Web marketing for Luxottica Retail.

"We believe purchasing and online engagement with consumers will continue to grow rapidly across all industries and categories,” Sharp added. “More businesses will become ‘multi-channel retailers,’ incorporating the Web channel into their business strategies to make it easy for customers to shop where they want, when they want and how they want. Likewise, each of our retail brands continues to explore and evaluate what is right for that retail brand and our customers as it relates to providing eyecare and eyewear information, selling products online and engaging customers in a retail brand experience.”

Jobson Research has not yet been able to quantify online eyewear retail sales, which can include frames, sunglasses, Rx lens and eyeglass purchases. However, in the 2007 Internet Influence Report conducted by The Vision Council and Jobson Research in June 2007, 52 percent of respondents/ consumers had used the Internet to examine possible brands and types of eyeglasses prior to purchasing their last pair. Some 28 percent said they used it to examine possible eyewear retailers and nearly 33 percent said they used the Internet to compare and benchmark prices for specific brands or eyewear retailers. Of those who responded, almost 5 percent purchased their eyewear directly over the Internet and 67 percent of them did so from an online-only eyewear retailer, like EyeBuyDirect.com.

In some cases, online-only sites are “price” driven. For others, the information and interactive content move them in another direction.

EyeBuyDirect.com is a prescription eyeglass Web site launched in 2005 by Roy Hessel, founder and CEO. EyeBuyDirect.com offers visitors Frame Personality quizzes, trend reports and color forecasting, instructions on measuring for an accurate fit and the EyeTry “Wall of Frames,” an online social shopping section that not only allows visitors to virtually try on frames but to post their photo, or e-mail it to friends, in order to receive instant feedback prior to their final selection.