E-commerce has steadily become the norm for shoppers in the digital age, and the eyewear market has seen a significant boost in patronage during this continued pivot.
As the demand and volume for eyewear products increase, statistics show eyewear users hitting 1.6 billion by 2029.
While this popularity bodes well for brands looking to establish themselves in the scene, it also means facing plenty of competition.
Websites are a must-have for any reputable retailer looking to cut through the noise of its peers and establish a loyal consumer base.
After all, 75% of online customers judge the credibility of a business based on its website. If you’re building your own online address, ensure your site has these essential features.
User-friendly Navigation
As much as you want to customize your site’s design for brand recognition, navigation is the most crucial aspect to consider.
Since people are looking for products and want to check them out smoothly, they are more likely to remember the experience of navigating your site than whatever branding you put.
If your site is cluttered, overcomplicated, and inefficient, you will have a higher bounce rate and fewer transactions.
Forbes reports that the average time spent on a website is only 54 seconds, so the goal should be to keep users around long enough to get a conversion.
When it comes to eyewear, you can see how Glasses.com organizes glasses frames on their homepage in an easy way to view and sort, even if you’re unfamiliar with their products or collections.
There are also distinct and easy-to-read buttons to let visitors sift through different categories, colors, prices, types, and even promos; for instance, at the bottom of the page, you can click on the “Armani Sunglasses” button to instantly retrieve more specific results from the brand.
This is more likely to engage a consumer who wants to filter out irrelevant options, especially since eyewear brands tend to have overwhelming variations that don’t always speak to every demographic.
You want your users to navigate their way to a sale in a way that feels natural and doesn’t require high proficiency in technology to manage.
In-store Integration
Although e-commerce isn’t going anywhere, The Vision Council’s survey revealed that a whopping 85% of shoppers still purchase prescription eyeglasses in person.
77% of sunglass purchases are also done in brick-and-mortar stores. As such, you don’t want your website to be completely devoid of in-store integration.
Lots of shoppers like to browse online before making their purchases in-store. This is particularly true if there are branches nearby or they want to pick up the product after checking it out digitally.
Walmart does a solid job of offering its eyewear products and other goods online, with stocks matching those available in nearby branches.
On the official website, users can input an address to find nearby centers and choose pickup, delivery, or shipping once they check out.
This same principle applies to your own eyewear brand if you’re catering to local consumers.
Virtual Try-on
Since eyewear is an accessory, whether prescription or non-prescription, many people want to see how the product will look before committing to a specific model.
With the advancement of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), it’s easier to integrate a virtual try-on system into your website.
By providing the very accessible tech to analyze the face and project the product onto it with as much accuracy as possible, you can offer a higher level of comfort and minimize return rates.
Shoppers want to see if products fit while maintaining the convenience of the online experience, which is likely why 63% of shopping journeys begin online.
One of the most popular retailers using this feature is Amazon, which lets users project an approximation of the product’s fit on their features.
Of course, this works more accurately with the brands they’ve partnered with, but the rapid development of AR has made it easier than ever to implement these filters for your own needs.
Personalized offers and emails
Much of a business’s success comes from leveraging big data analytics. This lets you precisely know what your target market is looking for, what new consumers and loyal ones are likely to respond to, and how to streamline your marketing to eliminate inefficient tactics.
Eyewear websites can naturally integrate this by providing personalized offers and emails based on subscriptions and opt-in cookies, which gives you permission to get necessary data from users visiting your website.
Utilizing these resources can make the customer journey feel more valuable to your consumers every time they visit.
This can also incentivize multiple transactions over time and help you expand your audience with key insights.
