Best practices from the Dr. Contact Lens network

Do you know what your competitors are doing?

Written by Jennifer | Jun 22, 2020 8:27:39 PM

Ever wonder why your patients order from other websites when you offered the exact same price in office?

Perception and convenience are the two factors that keep your patients engaged with other online retailers. Here are some things that online competitors do to snag that sale before you have a chance:

  • They email your patients every 5-10 days when they are due to re-order.
  • Once a patient googles "contact lenses" they are targeted by online retailers with millions of marketing dollars to spend.
  • They dazzle them with free shipping offers, promo codes and easy access to ordering on demand. 
  • Companies target them simply by you pulling a vision benefit - asking them for the buy before they even walk through your door.
  • They have auto-ship & subscription options to offer alternatives to the year supply.
  • They have expert marketers creating emails enticing them to order. 

So who is out there?

If the 2020 pandemic wasn't enough to have you thinking about alternative options, perhaps this fact will: from 2014-2020 there have been  6 new companies selling and marketing contact lenses online. Here they are: 1800contacts, hubble, waldo, warby parker's scout & warby parker online store, sightbox, simple contacts, coastal contacts, glasses USA, EZcontacts, opticontacts, lens.com, lens.me, Contact lens king, Contact lens direct, walmart, walgreens, aveo contacts, america's best, lensdirect, lenscrafters, eyeconic, AClens & more...

Guess who their customer is? YOUR PATIENTS

Really, if you aren't thinking ahead, you are just putting a finger on top of the change oil signal on your dashboard hoping your car will keep running. Keep that patient loyalty by offering them a lifeline to your contact lens business. 

So, is it possible to compete as a small business when all these companies have an endless budget to steal the sale from you? YES!

Offer them the one thing no other online retailer can't - convenience. Your patients will never have to enter data or wait for verification to order from Dr. Contact lens. This means they login, swipe and order. They don't have to search for their prescription or call and bother you for it - they have access to their portal and can order on demand anytime. And shipping? Ya, that's free too. When you offer free shipping - you are giving your patients no reason to consider your competitors sites. Sites like amazon.com have dominated the market buy offering these two exact features to their customers. 

What about marketing? We don't have millions to spend!

When you are registered with Dr. Contact Lens, we give you the tools to send beautifully designed emails to re-engage patients who are due to re-order, haven't ordered from you yet, or are overdue to see you. Our email templates are designed by a marketing team to drive action - so you don't have to be a graphic designer or have millions to compete. These are your patients, if you don't market to them...someone else will. 

Closing thoughts...

There are more online retailers everyday. The leaking bucket of sales is increasing as time goes on and your patients have more options. Don't delay - start your online sales today to get ahead of the curve. Offer them the best option, and keep the revenue in your practice thriving. Check out more at drcontactlens.com/doctors

 

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