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Click here to download a PDF of ECPs Rethink E-Commerce

A few years ago, to mention online sales of eyewear would likely light a fire in an optician’s eye or rouse the ire of an independent optometrist or dampen the mood of a regional or national optical retailer of some size. All would decry the devaluation of eyewear and the absence of eye-care via disruptive online eyewear retailers.

There is still much concern throughout the market about the implications of the rise of dispensing prescription eyewear online and the challenge to traditional brick-and-mortar locations.

But this year, the mood has decidedly changed.

Vision Monday has learned, as ECPs become aware of new tools facilitating participation in the e-commerce realm, and as they see other independent health care professionals and boutique retailers start to employ more modernized websites, social/digital media campaigns and the like, what started as a smaller movement last year (See VM’s Add to Cart? under Cover Topics on VisionMonday.com ) is now more of a groundswell.

More independent ECPs are open to and are actively getting involved in offering an e-commerce solution for customers and patients. And some of the optical industry’s largest retail vision care players are also amping up their participation in Brick and Click.

Thomas Zeller, is an ABO-certified optical team lead, Medical Management Insurance Group/Barnet Dulaney Perkins, in Phoenix, Ariz. He said, “Currently, we do not participate in e-commerce for any aspect of our operation. We are in the process of creating our own “Optical Shop” online that will provide most of our optical services to our patients. It is within our mission to offer the latest and greatest in technology, and that includes keeping up with the abilities of our competition, even our online competition. Our project is set to go live by the end of 2015.”

Said Zeller, “We do not believe that there is any obstacle in e-commerce. Everything can be purchased through an app on your phone, a website on your tablet or computer, or in a store. We do not want to be any different. If anything, e-commerce should help improve our business and keep us up-to-date.”


According to David H. Hettler, OD, Drs. May & Hettler, Alexandria, Va., “We used Essilor’s MyOnline optical to expand the product assortment available to our patients with minimal cost to us. When patients do not find a frame that they like on our boards, we can point them to a much larger assortment.”

He acknowledged, “There is always the fear that sending a patient to the web will cause them to start searching sites other than ours. On the other hand, if this provides incremental sales, then this is occurring with much lower expense. We have admittedly done poorly in this area due to our fear of losing sales. On the other hand, we already lost those sales, so we plan to return online. We had the link deep in our website, while we need to put it on the home page to improve success.”

Robert Levy, OD, owner of Drs. Eyecare Center in Burlington, N.J. has seen the most success in his online shop with contact lenses, since this 22-year-old practice activated it over a year ago (see sidebar, page 52). For Levy, like many ODs experimenting with e-commerce, convenience and competition validate moving forward with an e-commerce platform. “It’s important, moving forward, for eyecare professionals to keep up with the times. Everything is changing, everything is online and you need to make a presence, be out there. Eyeglasses are next.”

The means for facilitating an online e-commerce store for a brick-and-mortar practice or retailer are many. A number of “build your own” e-comm-enabled stores are available from general e-commerce companies like Shopkick ( www.shopkick.com) and SquareSpace ( www.squarespace.com) among others.

But most people that VM talked to acknowledged that optical/visioncare/Rx requirements is a complex process, and they have found success either contracting with specialists to “build their own” or engage with eyewear-familiar and friendly firms to help them choose the type of presence they want to have. That can mean choosing the product categories they want to feature and controlling the retail pricing to the consumer that works best for their business.

Donny Reeves, MD, of Reeves Eye Institute in Johnson City, Tenn. (see sidebar, page 54) has worked with Minnesota-based MyEyeStore to customize a shop to “extend the choice of the dispensary” in his primarily lasik/medically-oriented practice. “This provides the opportunity for us to offer more trendy pieces, along with other products like contact lenses, low vision services and vitamins, online.”

Visionworks, the national chain which is a division of HVHC, Inc., currently is exploring new ideas for the right approach to revisit its online e-commerce presence in the category, too, company president, Jim Eisen, told VM. “We definitely see that there are untapped opportunities and modern solutions that we could offer to patients. And having online options are an important way of reinforcing our fundamental market proposition—and offering increased value and connections to our patients who are looking to us for quality eyecare and great choices in eyewear.

Alberta, Canada-based FYidoctors, has been in the midst of a major process to overhaul its online e-commerce presence, in a way that’s in synch with its doctor-first, patient care philosophy, explained Alan Ulsifer, OD, CEO and president.

Stated Ulsifer, “At FYidoctors, we are currently selling both contact lenses and eyeglasses online. We have incorporated active prescription verification, imposed age and Rx restrictions, and have an active follow-up mechanism with patients for any questionable Rx choices. We have implemented our own virtual-try-on as well as a PD and seg height platform administered by an optician. We do not actively market our site but use it as an option for patients who, regardless of the advantages of custom service, want this choice.”

FYidoctors is currently one of Canada’s largest providers of ophthalmic products and services with over 450 optometrists servicing over 280 locations between its corporately owned locations and Vision Source Canada locations.

He said, “There are many barriers to entry. Most people simply see e-comm as ‘software,’ but it is much more than that. To do it properly and seamlessly requires supply chain management and integration into multiple systems including lab, warehouse and accounting platforms. Ongoing investment is required, and volume needs to justify the expense.”

Some online eyewear retail players are examining how they might also translate their online eyewear sales expertise and fulfillment, search engine optimization and creative merchandising ideas to other optical retailers.

Natasha Vora, founder and CEO of Iristocracy.com has long taken an approach that involves ECPs as partners for customers who come to the eyewear fashion and accessories site, but are looking for optical fitting and Rx/vision car expertise. Said Vora, “We’ve been steadfast in the principle that while we can generate a lot of excitement about eyewear fashion via our site and eyewear’s connection to other fashion accessory and style trends, we support the notion of the ECP as the lens and vision expert. We have long incentivized our customers to get their Rx filled by ECPs and offer an ECP locator on our site. And we have many interested doctors and independents now asking us how they can sign up.”

Most recently, however, Iristocracy has gone further and is now in beta with a limited number of optical locations in the U.S. for them to utilize Iristocracy’s unique Retail Try-On Kit program. The new program lets them access Iristocracy’s technology via a touchscreen computer in their stores and they can leverage their own staff’s optical expertise, make fit suggestions and encourage customers’ intense interest in sharing their frame choices with friends.

The Retail Try-On Kit allows customers to choose up to four frames from Iristocracy, have them shipped free of charge to a retail eyecare practice upon approval. Said Vora, “We share profits with the practice for their involvement in dispensing or servicing the frames that are purchased via the kiosk and they also can then take part in 100 percent of the lens fulfillment part of the equation.” (see sidebar, page 50).

Another online specialist, DITTO.com, has announced a partnership with America’s Best, one of the country’s largest optical retailers, to bring its proprietary try on technology and the concepts of its site to the physical location of American’s Best stores, in a test to begin this spring. Founder Kate Doerksen also explains that DITTO’s unique merchandising concepts, like its popular Quiz for helping consumers learn more about their eyewear style preferences and its new Endless Eyewear “rental” concept for eyewear (see sidebar, page 51) are proving out via customer reactions and sales since they were implemented recently.

The rise of interest in e-commerce among traditional optical retailers and ECPs is no doubt becoming more pronounced as digital and mobile technology becomes more ubiquitous.

Stay tuned.