Nov 10 2009
GlassesShop.com (GS) is planning to commission professional research companies to launch a survey every two years, targeting one million glasses wearers in North America. In this year's survey, approximately 150,000 copies were received. Compared to the figures last year, the ratio shows that people who believe the sales of glasses can be e-commercialized and those with experience of eyeglasses shopping online have greatly increased.
The questionnaire includes eight major topics, namely:
1. Do you trust online purchases?
2. Where do you prefer to buy glasses -- retail shops or online stores?
3. Have you ever bought glasses online?
4. The glasses you wear now are from a retail shop or online one?
5. What do you think is the biggest advantage to buying glasses online?
6. Are you willing to try, if you have never bought glasses online?
7. What is your main concern about making an online purchase?
8. Do you know any popular glasses selling websites?
Although no candidate answers were given for the question "What do you think is the biggest advantage to buying glasses online?," up to 53.5% of people stated low pricing as the answer, compared to the previous years' figure of 65%. In addition, nearly 10% of people said they would have more choices of frame styles, whilst 26.5% of them thought online purchasing is convenient and that the delivery is good as well. Meanwhile, 4% of people showed interest in the virtual glasses online system. Some answers were new, such as some online glasses stores are more accurate with reliable customer service.
Some also said that they'd like to have direct dealings with a Chinese outlet since a lot of glasses are designed and made in China. Some websites are also built in China.
Up to 76% of people surveyed expressed a willingness to have a try online, compared to only 45% two years ago. Over 44% of those surveyed were still concerned with the appropriateness and comfort of their own faces. It's much higher than the 77% figure two years ago. More than half of the people also showed concern at the accuracy being based solely on a prescription: a figure slightly higher than the previous year.
Other answers included doubts about the quality assurance, after-sale services, integrity, payment security and freight, etc.
Sanji Northern, Marketing Director of GlassesShop.com, considered the survey as inspiring. He noted that with the development of the Internet and information technology, the industry is in a gradual transformation from the traditional pattern to online transactions. The glasses industry seems like a pioneer. It's undergoing an innovation in production, distribution, services and brand operations.
He also said, "There's no reason why we can't do a better job in this excellent situation. GS would never change its original goal, which is to push the reformation of the eyeglasses industry and benefit consumers. In addition, we have been committing ourselves to removing the doubts of buying glasses online".
Eventually, he added, that GS would try its best to solve the difficulty of online after-sale services in the near future: an area that has been widely criticized in the past.
Source: http://www.glassesshop.com/