How I...
Sell Sports Sunwear Online
By Erinn Morgan

Times are changing. Consumers are decreasing their trips to the mall while more are ordering goods and services online from the comfort of home. In fact, the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce recently announced that U.S. retail e-commerce sales for 2003 were estimated at $54.9 billion, an increase of 26.3 percent from 2002.

While overall retail sales are also growing--total sales in 2003 increased 5.4 percent from 2002--e-commerce sales are growing faster. Online sales in 2003 accounted for 1.6 percent of total sales while e-commerce sales in 2002 accounted for 1.3 percent of total sales.

A Website such as ocutique.com or in-spex.com expands a dispensary's sales opportunities to the global market

A number of optical retailers are cashing in on this trend by selling sports eyewear online. "You've got to get with the times," says Jim Hamilton, manager and optician at Ocutique, a dispensary that is part of The Syracuse Eye Center, an ophthalmology practice in Syracuse, N.Y.

"More people are spending less time out there shopping and more time in their comfort zone ordering online. We had a great Christmas this year on our site," he says.

The dispensary's site, www.ocutique.com, features a variety of sunglass lines, including some of the most popular sports eyewear brands.

One benefit of an e-commerce site is its reach beyond the local customer. "We cover the Syracuse area with our optical dispensary and the rest of the world with the Website," says Hamilton.

Today, there is much competition on the Web for purveyors of sports eyewear. Those optical retailers in the business agree that to be successful in this realm one must be focused and offer a specialized service or niche product.

Here, we profile three sites that have been up and running for a few years. Each offers a unique experience, which is how they have survived in today's price-driven and competitive market.

PRESCRIPTION POINT

More than 36 years ago Jim Albright's father started Albright Opticians in Lancaster, Pa. Nearly four years ago, the younger Albright launched www.IN-SPEX.com, a Website to sell sports sunwear and, more importantly, prescription sports eyewear.

"My partner Trisha and I are both triathletes, and we were at the Great Floridian Triathlon and saw a bunch of people competing without sunglasses," says Albright. "After the race, we started talking to them about why they weren't wearing glasses. They would say, 'I wear a prescription so I just wing it because contacts are hard to deal with while swimming.' After that we sat down and said, 'We are both triathletes and opticians. Why don't we start a business where we sell prescription sports eyewear?'"

Inspired by their realization for a need in the marketplace, the two hired a Website designer and placed ads in magazines. The site's business took off. "In all honesty, it was very smooth," he says. "We find that sports-oriented people go online, and that is our market."

Monthly advertisements continue to run in VeloNews and Triathlete magazine, helping to grow the business. "We also hit many of the big sports events in April, May, and June so we hit the beginning of the season," he says. "We have a big banner with the Website name. We have brochures printed about the company. And we talk to a lot of people about the Website. Now that we are four years old, we are starting to see more and more repeat business."

Through their efforts, more than 75 percent of www.IN-SPEX.com's sales are prescription sports sunwear. The rest are plano sports sunwear. Still, Albright likes to keep things simple. "We are not a huge company. It is me and my partner and the guys who work the lab," he says. Thus, Albright still handles the orders himself. "Every morning, I see what we can and cannot do. I E-mail everybody back and say, 'You can expect it in so many days.'"

	Clicks over bricks--eyeglasses.com was launched with a now-closed optical shop

Part of their personal touch is aimed at making customers feel comfortable. They still talk to 50 percent or more of those who have prescriptions to ease their concerns about ordering an Rx online. "We explain what we will be doing. We ensure them that they will be able to see," Albright says, noting that the site has a 30-day full refund offer in place.

The IN-SPEX "try before you buy" program helps customers feel comfortable ordering online. "We send them one or two frames to try out," says Albright. "They can wear them, then if they like them, they can order them."

LOW MARGIN, HIGH VOLUME

At www.Ocutique.com, Hamilton says that he has found it necessary to sell sunglasses at low margins to make a profit. "You can't work anywhere near the margins you do in brick-and-mortar, but you work on volume--you just have to expect lower margins and more volume."

With a Website, it is important to keep a small inventory. "You keep a small inventory and order things as you need them," Hamilton says. "We have an inventory of top sellers. If it is an oddball product, we order it and it can take up to two days. Still, we always try to ship out within 48 to 72 hours."

Like many e-tailers, one thing he has to watch out for is credit card fraud. Because there are a lot of stolen credit cards out there, and there are certain areas that are notorious for bad credit card numbers, the site tries to keep everything within domestic shipping.

"We got burned in the beginning--but it was one of our learning curves. We thought a Southeast Asian country's entire Olympic team was going to be wearing Reebok glasses, but we finally got a call from someone in California that it was their stolen credit card. We bit the bullet on that one," he says.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEY

When www.eyeglasses.com first began selling eyewear on the Web it was affiliated with Try It On optical shop in Norwalk, Conn. Owner and founder Mark Agnew then decided to phase out the brick-and-mortar dispensary and move full steam ahead with the Website.

After five years in business, this e-tailer's strategy of customer service and top brands remains firmly in place. "We are not a site that discounts eyewear," says Agnew. "Our motto is 'Our vision is service.' We focus on customer service and we do that through the Website and our customer service team."