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Chains Get into the Internet Game

Eyecare Business March 1, 2000
CHAIN LINK
Chains Get into the Internet Game
By Erinn Morgan

With e-commerce expected to reach over $80 billion in yearly sales by 2003 (by some estimates) and a cash register-ringing '99 holiday season of over $7 billion in sales, it is no wonder that the optical industry is finally starting to sit up and take notice of the Internet. Still slow on the uptake, many suppliers, independents, and chains merely have launched informational Web sites about their companies and products. 

A TANGLED WEB
To sort some of it out, here is a roundup of some of the top optical chain retailers' Web sites, along with a description of what they have to offer:

Consolidated Vision (America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses and Texas State Optical): www.twopair.com has a simple, clean design (almost Wal-Mart-esque) offering info on contact lenses, eyeglasses (two pair plus eye exam for $59.99), and store locations. One of the best features is that visitors can schedule an eye exam directly through the site.

LensCrafters: www.lenscrafters.com contains a product catalog including hundreds of sunglasses as well as kid's and adult frames. The clean, modernistic, and easy-to-navigate site also has information about caring for eyes and about the Gift of Sight program. The highlight is the Personal Eyewear Consultant which offers frame suggestions when certain information is entered into the site by the visitor.

Pearle: www.pearlevision.com is a very progressive site that's user friendly and sections include "products" (which doesn't actually show any products, but has descriptions of styling for lines like Kenneth Cole or of the benefits of a product like polarized progressives), a store locator, and a discount section for coupons and special deals. The real draw is the Personal Frame Selector, which shows customers which frame are right for their face shape and hair color, and the Interactive Frame Selector, which actually allows viewers to try on frames by downloading a photo of themselves which they scan in or load in from a digital camera.

Sterling Optical: www.sterlingoptical.com is a very slick, high-tech site featuring the "Virtual Mirror" where visitors can scan in their picture and try on all sorts of frames. The site also notes that soon visitors to the store can have their image taken there and then loaded onto the site to try on frames from home. Other aspects of the site are the "Eyewear Showroom" (which features hundreds of products but none of the frames had photos at presstime, just descriptions), "Online Eye Screening," and sections on contact lenses (a tagline says "It's never been easier to buy contacts online," but there seems to be no way to purchase them), laser surgery, and franchise information.

Knighton Optical: www.knightonoptical.com is a simple yet well-designed site that offers education and information as well as coupons to be printed out and discount offers to be redeemed. The company has launched a separate site (www.sunnsee.com) to sell sunwear that can also be accessed through the main site.

D.O.C. Optics: www.docoptics.com is a progressive site that is educational and e-commerce driven. Customers can view and purchase sunwear, contact lenses, and accessories.

Optical chain retailers have been particularly wary of e-commerce, but a few are starting to get in step.

The more progressive are launching sections on their sites where visitors can download photos of themselves to try on frames and shop from home. A few are also selling sunwear, accessories, and contact lenses online. Still, many remain on the sidelines waiting to take action in this fast-paced environment. Even chains not currently on the Web (ShopKo, Cohen's Fashion Optical, US Vision, and Sight Resources) are in the planning stages of building a Web presence.

"Right now, everyone is focusing on being largely informational and convenience-oriented for optical customers," says Greg Segall, CEO of Consolidated Vision Group, which has a site (www.twopair.com) through its America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses locations on which visitors can book eye exams. "We should anticipate a rolling expansion of Web activities. For example, we will permit contact reordering in the future online."

True, contact lenses have proven themselves to be viably sold on Net and this area is growing. "But for all other categories (such as frames) it's still going to be very, very difficult because the sizes and shapes of faces are so different" says Segall. "Measurement of PDs cannot be done. I don't want to say never but it's definitely further away."

E-Tailing

Many say, however, that other items such as sunwear, readers, accessories, and solutions will be an easy online sell. And, realizing this, some chains are moving slowly into these areas.

"We will be doing something with e-commerce but it's not up yet," says Knighton Optical PR and Advertising Director Wendee Butters at presstime (the company planned to launch sometime in February). "We are working on starting with sunglasses. "We are also looking at the possibility of selling to existing customers who already have their prescription accessible to them on the site," says Butters.

Erinn Morgan is the fashion and retail editor of Eyecare Business.  For commentary on this article and thoughts on other issues affecting chains, contact her at Eyecare Business, 535 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 104-A, Norwalk, CT 06854-1722 or e-mail erinnmo@aol.com.

     

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