The demand for eyeglasses and sun shades continues to develop at a fast charge. Presently, the worldwide marketplace for eyewear is estimated to extend in worth from $115.2 billion to $206.1 billion between 2022 and 2032. Analysts credit score a variety of components for fueling this development, similar to modern developments—together with the introduction of viable good glasses for on a regular basis use—and the rising prevalence of imaginative and prescient impairments throughout the globe, particularly now that 75% of the world’s adults require corrective aids.
In right this moment’s digital age, nonetheless, eyewear e-commerce is proving to be among the many most vital contributors to the growth of the trendy eyewear market. Rising client preferences for Web-based product analysis, in addition to the accessibility, comfort, and vary of choices supplied by on-line retailers, make this distribution channel more and more standard. But these aren’t the important thing causes behind the increase in eyewear e-commerce.
With extra retailers crowding the web retail house for this client good, one must transcend static internet pages and client experiences to face out. Because of this, many are adopting an method that’s defining the way forward for e-commerce—and shifting from a product- to a solution-centric technique. By including the next functionalities to their web sites, they’re now higher positioned to personalize the customer’s journey and meet buyer intent, leading to a increase within the eyewear e-commerce business:
Body discovery
Right this moment’s on-line eyewear retailers boast various product choices as customary. That features the sale of eyeglasses and sun shades that include numerous body types to go well with a variety of existence, starting from designer to sports activities eyewear in numerous shapes, sizes, and colorways. Although helpful, the variety of decisions these current can overwhelm the patron on the lookout for eyewear that greatest meets their wants and preferences. On-line retailers thus look to innovate by streamlining the method of body discovery.
The most well-liked possibility supplied right this moment is the digital try-on. This function leverages augmented actuality to impose digital eyewear over a consumer’s face, successfully permitting them to strive glasses frames on-line. As a result of it resolves a conventional con of on-line purchasing in comparison with buying eyewear in bodily shops—discovering the very best match—digital try-ons are actually supplied by on-line retailers throughout the globe. One current instance of that is Lenskart, an Indian eyewear e-commerce model that not too long ago partnered with Amazon Style to supply the function on its web site and cell app.
With developments in using different rising applied sciences like AI, different retailers take body discovery additional. Zenni Optical, for example, now gives an AI-powered picture search function that permits clients to take pictures of the eyewear they encounter in actual life and discover fashions in its catalog that greatest match its look. By going past merely providing frames and offering options to narrowing down a client’s listing of potential fashions for buy, these improvements make eyewear e-commerce extra interesting.
Prescription help
Although buying prescription eyewear on-line might be extra handy, it will get difficult for consumers with extra complicated prescriptions, making them extra prone to gravitate towards in-store purchases. Because of this, many eyewear e-commerce platforms work to offer the patron with extra help in understanding their prescriptions and guiding them towards the eyewear that may greatest go well with their imaginative and prescient correction wants.
On-line-only retailer Eyebuydirect, for instance, gives a variety of suggestions and guides that web site guests can simply discover on the footer of its homepage. These embrace data on understanding the important thing elements that go into corrective glasses—similar to pupillary distance and lens index— learn prescriptions, and the varied lens sorts and coatings they’ll use. Nevertheless, the prescription help obtainable by way of trendy eyewear e-commerce isn’t simply obtainable to customers with current prescriptions—it additionally caters to first-time consumers of prescription eyewear.
That is illustrated at Australian retailer OPSM’s web site, which boasts a devoted ‘Eye Care’ part that describes a listing of signs for numerous eye situations. It additionally has an ‘Eye Well being’ part the place guests can e-book a watch check on the closest OPSM department and get their first prescription. This function permits eyewear e-commerce platforms to not solely present corrective aids but in addition clear up the difficulty of navigating on-line purchases for first-time clients and people with complicated prescriptions.
Cost personalization
Another excuse why eyewear e-commerce is so interesting is its affordability. Since on-line retailers aren’t burdened with the price of operating a brick-and-mortar location, they’ll provide extra aggressive costs for eyeglasses and sun shades in comparison with conventional optical retailers. The UK-based Glasses Direct, for example, estimates that its clients can save as much as 49% when buying from its web site slightly than excessive road opticians. As with many on-line eyewear retailers, it additionally gives a variety of low cost codes, gives buy-one-get-one offers, and conducts seasonal gross sales to slash costs even additional.
Nevertheless, the one impediment that may stop purchases regardless of that affordability is the checkout web page. Although offering a number of fee choices could make eyewear choices extra accessible, it may also be overwhelming and complicated to the patron—similar to merely providing a “wall of eyewear” with out offering any options to additional personalize the customer’s journey. Retailers that supply not simply conventional fee choices (like bank card, Apple or Google Pay, and buy-now-pay-later by way of Klarna) but in addition newer ones like crypto may also lead customers to query their legitimacy and keep away from making purchases altogether.
That’s why much less is finally extra on the subject of e-commerce funds. By offering the precise fee choices on the proper time, retailers can acquire client belief and enhance gross sales. Lots of right this moment’s eyewear e-commerce platforms stroll this fantastic line by personalizing the fee choices they provide to their viewers. Primarily, they achieve this by leveraging the identical AI-powered applications that assist generate tailor-made product suggestions and utilizing them to determine the means by which their clients greatest want to make on-line purchases. That’s led to LensCrafters primarily highlighting PayPal checkout choices on its homepage. This technique has labored for the key eyewear retailer: in 2023 alone, it managed to extend its gross sales by over $100 million. By matching client intent and fee preferences on this method, this explicit answer has additional promoted the widespread use of the Web for eyewear purchases, resulting in a increase within the e-commerce house for this product.
