DALLAS—Essilor of America reported that it has built more than 600 online optical stores for independent eyecare professionals to date through its e-commerce initiative, MyOnlineOptical. The company said the service has experienced a steady increase since its launch last spring, growing at a rate of approximately 100 ECPs per month.

Essilor pointed out that with U.S. retail e-commerce projected to grow at a rate of 11.5 percent in 2011, citing benchmark data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the company anticipates the growth rate of MyOnlineOptical to remain constant throughout 2011.

“Practices that experience the greatest success with MyOnlineOptical are simply those that actively market their new online stores,” said John Walborn, who leads the MyOnlineOptical team for Essilor. “These same practices report increased revenue in their brick-and-mortar stores due to the cross-channel impact. Some practices report double digit revenue growth from the increased foot traffic.”

Essilor’s MyOnlineOptical program enables ECPs to add a turnkey e-commerce engine that extends their reach beyond office walls and office hours to 24/7 accessibility. The program, Essilor said, lets ECPs maintain complete control, determining the product pricing and selection, and preserving the look and feel of their practice websites and provide patients with up to 100,000 eyeglass options that can keep them from walking out the door to a perceived more competitive offering. Essilor’s MyOnlineOptical online optical store, the company said, provides ECPs a new channel to communicate with their patients to drive interest in their product offering, including a second pair of eyeglasses, sunwear or a renewal order for contact lenses.

More information is at MyOnlineOptical.com. Comments or questions about the initiative can be directed to MyOnlineOptical@essilorusa.com.