Thanks to the Internet, shopping for a new pair of eyeglasses, shades, or contact lenses has become a lot more convenient. However, the latest findings from the Vision Council indicate that eyewear e-commerce may not be as widespread as we may think. Up to 86% of eyeglass purchases in the last quarter of 2024 occurred in person. Of those with an eye exam in the last three months who also purchased prescription eyewear, 78% purchased eyewear from their exam provider.
Meanwhile, 35% of recent contact lens purchases were made online, making it slightly more popular than other eyewear products like glasses and shades. Still, these numbers are down 5% from the quarter prior. This may be because many consumers (51%) are buying smaller supplies lasting three months or less.
To help boost their e-commerce efforts, eyewear brands and retailers nowadays are adopting innovative technologies to make their online storefronts stand out, more engaging, and convert into more sales. Aside from helping the business, these technologies also help customers make more informed purchasing decisions, ensuring that they purchase the right eyewear for their needs and preferences. In this post, we’ll look at the top eyewear e-commerce practices to look out for:
Virtual try-on
For eyewear, as well as other fashion products, one of the most popular technologies currently implemented in many e-commerce sites and apps is the virtual try-on feature. Using a device’s camera, users can take a picture, video, or use the camera as a “virtual mirror”, where they can see a realistic rendering of eyewear as if they were trying it out in-store.
Online eyewear retailer Glasses.com uses this feature to help customers’ decision-making. By letting them try on the glasses virtually, they ensure that customers can get the glasses style, colorway, and lens size they truly want. When browsing for men’s glasses on the website, for example, users can easily filter searches to include models supported by the virtual try-on feature. Glasses calls this feature a “Virtual Mirror”. Afterwards, users can easily save models like the Coach HC6199 or the Oakley TinCup™ to their favorites to purchase. From an eyewear business’ perspective, the virtual try-on feature is also beneficial as it reduces the likelihood of customer dissatisfaction or product returns.
Chatbot technology
Aside from virtual try-on, another technological development that can be seen in many online eyewear websites these days is the AI-powered chatbot. This feature helps customers by answering queries and providing suggestions. In some cases, a website’s chatbot may provide eyewear suggestions or recommendations based on what a user is looking at, such as a specific eyewear brand, style, or colorway.
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Even Amazon has hopped onto the AI chatbot bandwagon. Most recently, the e-commerce giant revealed it was developing its own consumer-focused AI chatbot built to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Code-named “Metis”, the chatbot joins Amazon’s series of other AI ventures, including “Amazon Q”, a generative AI-powered assistant for enterprise use, and “Rufus”, the company’s new AI shopping assistant. For many eyewear brands and businesses, shopping assistants like Rufus are designed to simulate having a shopping assistant with you in a physical store. Customers can ask specific product questions, and the chatbot would provide informative answers based on product listing details, customer reviews, and other frequently asked questions.
Content management system (CMS)
Finally, another crucial component of eyewear e-commerce sites is CMS. A content management system helps businesses create, manage, and modify content on the website without the need for technical knowledge. For eyewear businesses, this means ease and convenience when managing the online catalog.
In a previous post, we highlighted the importance of finding the best e-commerce hosting providers for your e-commerce site. Aside from ensuring that on-page content like images and videos are optimized and high-resolution when accessed on various devices, investing in mobile optimization, and optimizing database queries, it’s important to find a hosting provider that offers user-friendly CMS platforms to help you manage product listings and content.
