A Vision for International Retail with FramesDirect.com

Published: 08/30/2017

For eyewear retailer FramesDirect.com, it’s important that customers can see everything clearly – in more ways than one. Transparency is critical in international retail, so FramesDirect intentionally focuses on what global consumers need.

From the website’s virtual try-on interface to the company’s presentation of taxes and shipping-related costs, customers won’t receive an unwelcome surprise at any point in the retail process.

Bill Finch, FramesDirect’s Interactive Creative Director, Senior User Experience Designer, and Front-End Developer, was kind enough to speak with us about his company’s global strategy and tech integration.

As he explains in the video below, the company is building an overseas presence while tricking out its website with special features. This includes one allowing potential customers to visualize how eyewear will look on their faces.

Designed with the international retail customer in mind

According to Finch, the company designed its user interface to alert customers to country-specific VAT and duties throughout the shopping and purchasing process. It’s a great feature since only some consumers fully understand what to expect during a transaction.

It’s not enough for customers outside the U.S. to see lower retail prices on eyewear than they’d expect to pay at home. They also need to clearly see shipping and other ancillary costs to understand whether they’re really getting a better deal.

With a lower appetite for risk due to longer wait times and potentially higher prices, cross-border shoppers need support to ensure they are making the right purchase.

Other features that deliver

Of course, the entire customer experience must also be top notch – not just checkout. This is where the special features Finch referred to come in.

Visualization software allows customers to maneuver a 3-D image to see how specs will look on their faces. It also measures a customer’s pupillary distance, an important metric for proper fit and function. Soon, FramesDirect hopes to add personalization capabilities to learn more about individual customers and their preferences over time. All good tactics for succeeding in international markets

Thanks to Bill for his insights and for taking time to speak with us!


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