It's been an exciting year here at Frames Data: we passed 50 years of service in the optical industry; our new product, My Frame Gallery, added new features and new users; software integrations were completed; and of course thousands of new frames were added!
As we celebrate the end of 2018 and welcome the new year, let's look back at the blog posts, videos and tutorials that were most popular among our readers.
We've launched a new iframe version of My Frame Gallery, available to all My Frame Gallery users!
What's an iframe? It's a small snippet of html that tells a webpage to grab code from somewhere else and display it inline on the page.
For My Frame Gallery, that means that you can embed the gallery directly into an existing page on your site. The iframe version eliminates the header and footer elements of the standard Gallery, so it can sit seamlessly inside your website's existing format.
Continue reading to learn more...
Getting started with My Frame Gallery for your optical retail? Use this round up of posts and resources as your guide.
Clicking on the links above will take you directly to that section of this post.
My Frame Gallery can help you re-engage with your existing patient base and encourage a repeat visit — especially if you make a little bit of effort towards getting patients to visit your gallery.
After you've done the basics of adding a button to your website and a link to your social media pages, your next step is to start including My Frame Gallery in your customer emails.
Check out our quick—under a minute!—video summary of My Frame Gallery in this blog post, outlining the product's features as well as the benefits it can bring to your practice.
You may also want to explore our My Frame Gallery YouTube playlist for more videos or our My Frame Gallery blog channel.
Create a memorable experience that will engage patients and create loyal customers
My Frame Gallery by Frames Data now includes an optional Wish List feature, adding a whole new dimension to the patient experience. It allows patients to communicate which frames on your Gallery they are interested in trying on, before they even set foot in your dispensary.
You can then have those frames ready to try-on in advance of an appointment, or get a sense of what your patients are looking for and suggest alternatives.
As Frames Data passes 50 years of continuous publication, we thought it'd be fun to take a look back through our five decades of Big Book covers. Watch the video and browse the gallery of covers, organized by year!
Whether you know us as Frames Data or Frame Facts (wink wink to some of our longtime customers), we're sure you'll enjoy this evolution of eyewear as depicted by Frames Data Quarterly/Big Book covers.
Click here to read more and see the rest of our Big Books!
Now it's easy to create an online frame gallery for your practice
Studies of consumer behavior show that shoppers frequently prefer to research products online, and then complete their purchase in a brick and mortar retail environment.
Could adding frames to your practice's website help you attract patients who are researching their next eyewear purchase?
Click here to watch this two-part My Frame Gallery tutorial series and to read more...
We sat down with Livermore Optometry Group's Dr. Steven Faith to talk about their approach to online retail, and how they discovered that online browsing was actually driving their in-store sales. According to Dr. Faith:
"We found that 60% of our patients requested a "House Brand" style of frame that did not have a particular premium name brand associated with it and was not more than $40 to $60 over their vision plan benefits. 20% were looking for the "inexpensive", "spare", or "after contacts glasses" and 20% were looking for a premium brand and cost was a secondary concern.
After working with OD Lean [a consulting group, now defunct], we determined that our patients wanted their in-office experience to last no more than 60 minutes. If we went over that 60 minutes they were spending $39 less for every 10 minutes they were there."
Everybody loves a contest!
In April, we had a Log In & Win contest — we randomly selected 30 subscribers who had searched for and viewed frames on Frames Data Online during the month. Each of those subscribers won a Frames Data goodie bag.
5 reasons to re-think your online strategy and build a Frame Gallery
Consumers have moved much of their shopping activity online. In fact, most purchases start with an online search, even when the purchase itself is made in-store.
Webrooming, or browsing online before buying in-store, has become a pretty common consumer behavior. It's no surprise that people are using the web to research products, but still want the ability to see the real thing in person in-store.
Thanks for reading! We look forward to bringing you even more content focused on helping you run the best, most efficient frame dispensary possible in 2019.