Author: author Joseph M. Dixon
The online eyewear industry has grown exponentially in recent years. Global eyewear sales are projected to reach $215 billion by 2033, with the retail store segment expected to experience the fastest growth. As more consumers embrace the convenience of shopping for glasses and contact lenses online, standing out in this competitive market can be daunting for smaller or new optical sites.
Taking cues from established industry giants can provide a strategic advantage. With WordPress hosting over 60,000 plugins, it offers an incredible array of tools to enhance and streamline website management. The key is to select plugins that automate tasks, improve user experiences, and provide actionable insights without overcomplicating operations. To help you decide among the different options, we highlight three essential WordPress plugins that can give new optical sites a competitive edge, as inspired by features used by successful major retailers.
Tawk.To Live Chat by Tawkto
Customer support is a cornerstone of online retail success, making live chat functionality a critical game-changer for optical sites. In fact, a 2023 global survey revealed up to 44% of respondents value the assistance of chatbots in locating product information prior to making a purchase. Lifestyle eyeglasses provider Payne Glasses was quick to apply this lesson to their website, implementing iAdvize Copilot™ for shoppers in 2024. This allowed the retailer to achieve a conversion rate of 23%, which was 10 times higher than their previous rate, in their fully automated conversations.
New optical sites can use Tawk.To Live Chat to emulate Payne Glasses’ success by integrating a customizable and AI-powered chatbot that answers common questions, assists with product information, and ensures a seamless shopping experience. This service is free for small businesses and costs only $29 for medium-sized operations, ensuring that new optical sites can increase conversions without the need for an extensive customer service team.
Eyewear Prescription Form Plugin by Common Ninja
Eyeglasses are more than just a fashion statement — they are essential tools for correcting vision. This makes it vital for optical retailers to provide personalized eyewear tailored to each customer’s specific vision needs with every order. Major retailer Glasses.com allows customers to manually input their prescription and Pupillary Distance online, ensuring website visitors get the necessary lenses for any model from its extensive selection of glasses frames. Whether it’s the AN7208 Näkki from Arnette or the AX3116 from Armani Exchange, the retailer seamlessly applies the requested prescription to each order, minimizing the chances of errors while maintaining a highly personalized experience.
The Eyewear Prescription Form Plugin by Common Ninja similarly allows users to input their prescription details directly into product pages, simplifying the process for both customers and store owners. 2023 data shows that US retailers faced an estimated $816 billion revenue loss due to consumers returning 16.5% of purchased merchandise. Hence, reducing the likelihood of errors and avoiding costly returns or remakes can be especially invaluable for smaller optical sites with limited cash flow and who are still in the stage of building consumer trust.
Eyewear Virtual Try-on Popup for WooCommerce
Virtual reality (VR) is revolutionizing online shopping, and eyewear is no exception. This is made especially clear by international retailer Sunglass Hut, which has been at the forefront of VR adoption in the eyewear industry. The optical store offers digital sunglasses for Ready Player Me metaverse avatars in their brick-and-mortar branches, blending physical and digital retail experiences.
Simultaneously, Sunglass Hut also offers a Virtual Try-On feature on its online website, allowing customers to use their device’s camera and visualize how different sunglasses will look and fit before making a purchase.
Perfect Corp reports that virtual try-on technology can boost sales conversion by up to 2.5 times, and Forbes has cited a study that discusses how virtual try-on tech can also reduce returns by 20%. For new optical sites, the Eyewear Virtual Try-on Popup plugin brings this cutting-edge functionality to your WordPress store. It enhances the online shopping experience, reduces the likelihood of returns, and boosts customer confidence in their purchase decisions — allowing smaller sites without brick-and-mortar branches to compete with larger multichannel players by offering a more engaging online shopping experience.
With these tools in your arsenal, your optical site will be well-equipped to thrive in the booming online eyewear industry. Follow in the footsteps of industry giants and carve out a unique identity with your WordPress online store.