Business 101

Optical E-commerce

Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

Optical e-commerce is ramping up and rolling out. Currently, there are three dawning providers of e-commerce to ECPs, each with its own take on e-commerce.

PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL TOUCH

MoodyEyes.com, launched by D. Penn Moody, OD, and Jack Gill, provides a variety of products and services for an initiation fee and nominal hosting fee.

Offerings include a portal page to the website to welcome referred patients, Rx pads with Internet instructions and practice ID number, a direct marketing campaign to the ECP's patient base, a link from the practice website to the portal page, and more.

"This is Internet sales with personal, professional service," Moody says. "There's no discounted name-brand product. There are limited lens choices and power ranges. If an Rx is a PAL or multifocal, the consumer is referred to their provider for proper fitting. Our key goals are to provide a product that makes it easy for ECPs to enter the Internet market and make it a fun shopping experience for consumers."

CONVENIENT PURCHASING

MyOnlineOptical.com, an Essilor-driven e-commerce solution, links to an ECP's website, then ECPs pick and choose what to sell and set their own prices.

A set-up fee and annual fee are required; the annual fee may be waived if the practice meets certain minimum requirements. Essilor provides marketing and product service and support.

"Price was the cornerstone in Internet eyewear retailing, but the trend now is for consumers to shop online because it's convenient," says Matthieu Tagnon, Essilor of America's director of ebusiness. "There is also a trend for retailers to use social media to get out their message, get consumer feedback, and grow business."

Among the e-commerce websites for ECPs are (from top) MyOnlineOptical.com, MoodyEyes.com, and Zip Eyewear.com. Each has its own philosophy on optical e-commerce

EXPERTISE AND SERVICE

ZipEyewear.com relies on ECP expertise and service as the cornerstone of its Site-to-Store platform. Launched this summer, the site connects consumers to ECP businesses for fitting, measurements, and dispensing. Consumers purchase a frame online and obtain a voucher, which is brought to a participating provider referred by the website.

Orders can be changed or upgraded on site, and ECPs are in charge of the transaction. ZipEyewear requires a 10 percent fee per transaction; 90 percent is reimbursed to the ECP upon order finalization. Additional services and upgrades don't affect the fee paid to ZipEyewear.

"This is a solution that provides Internet customers with the expertise and service of the optical community," says Michael Nason, president of ZipEyewear.com. "Setting up your own e-commerce storefront is time consuming and expensive; we make it simple. This synthesis of brick-and-mortar and online retail is the future of the industry. This is an Internet platform for ECPs to generate new local customers without giving up any professional control of their trade." EB