Selection, Discounts + Lifestyle Shopping

EssilorLuxottica’s FramesDirect.com doesn’t rely on bells and whistles to grab your attention. Its sizable discounts—60% off prescription lenses and up to 50% off designer frames—greet the shopper on the homepage against a plain white background.

Additionally, this online purveyor of Rx eyewear confidently displays its “Excellent” review rating (culled from 28,000-plus reviews through Trustpilot) in the top corner of every page—in case shoppers wondered about how satisfied customers were after purchasing discounted products.

The offerings are expansive, featuring more than 100,000 products and 300 brands—including many EssilorLuxottica brands in addition to Adidas, Calvin Klein, Jimmy Choo, Maui Jim, Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour, and much more beyond the company’s brand portfolio.

What’s Your Activity?

FramesDirect.com’s vast catalog can be overwhelming for the casual online eyewear shopper. Although FramesDirect.com lacks the comprehensive lifestyle search filters of some previous subjects of this column, shoppers can still filter their selections by color, frame type, shape, and, most notable of all, type of sport.

As suggesting multiple pairs and glasses for specific tasks becomes more common, this shop-by-sport section has the potential to wake shoppers up to the idea of multiple pairs, enabling them to choose what would work best depending on the day’s activities.

The shop-by-sport section of Framesdirect.com opens with an expansive list of activities, from ATV-appropriate styles and ballistics-rated frames to eyewear ideal for racquetball, climbing, and kayaking, in addition to the usual gang—football, soccer, baseball, and so on. This virtual sports aisle even includes specs for computers and gaming. And once an activity is chosen, shoppers can further fine-tune their selection with those color, frame type, and shape filter options.

Stress-Free Purchasing

While FramesDirect.com doesn’t offer the virtual try-on feature that is commonly found when shopping for eyewear online, it does provide an extensive knowledge center with guides, videos, and FAQ that cover topics like adjusting frames, the ordering process, and prescription questions.

Additionally, there are nearly 150 links to articles spanning a broad range of topics, including general information such as how to choose the best frames for your face, polycarbonate versus plastic and glass, and types of hinges; brand-specific information with articles about Oakley Iridium lenses, care and repair for Gucci sunglasses, and Transitions lenses; and some topics shoppers may have never thought of, such as eyewear for weddings, whether sunglasses are allowed on airplanes, and information on World Optometry Day.

FramesDirect.com offers a one-year manufacturer’s warranty that covers any issues unrelated to rough handling, improper cleaning, exposure to heat, and so on. A 30-day lens guarantee ensures the lens comes with the correct prescription and without scratches, distortions, and defects. Plus, if a customer’s eyecare professional makes changes to their prescription within 30 days of receiving the order, they will make the new lenses for free. If the prescription changes within 31-90 days after receiving the order, FramesDirect.com offers new lenses at half the retail cost.

Buy One, Give One

Retailers, especially in the eyecare industry, are aware that consumers increasingly want to do good with their purchases, and FramesDirect.com makes a “Buy One, Give One” promise to donate a pair of glasses with every eyewear purchase. The shopper chooses not only the glasses but also where the donated glasses will go.