Investing in good web design can help improve aspects of your blog and online business. In a previous post, we highlighted how web design elements like a user-friendly approach can help improve your website quality, ultimately improving your search rankings. A user-friendly web design aligns with what users expect and need, addressing their expectations for quality and helpful content, whether it’s a product or service you sell.
Thankfully, there’s a wealth of examples on the Internet from which you can learn and borrow. Online eyewear retailers, for example, have been instrumental in boosting sales alongside brick-and-mortar shops. As a result, researchers expect the global eyewear market to grow by $98.28 million (£78.91 million) from 2024 to 2028. Online retail for eyewear has been credited with boosting the global market, alongside increased interest in luxury frames and contact lenses and millennials seeking fashionable eyewear.
Even if you aren’t in the eyewear market, there’s lots of innovation in how online eyewear retailers appeal to customers online. Below, we’ll look at four web design features you can adopt from eyewear retailer websites:
Augmented reality
One of the key innovations in the eyewear industry is the use of augmented reality (AR) in online retail. These can be seen on specific brand websites and mobile applications. Online eyewear retailer Sunglass Hut offers a virtual try-on feature for customers to “try on” sunglasses before buying them. This helps customers decide on various designs and colorways without spending and risking buyer regret. The virtual try-on works by using customers’ cameras and virtually augmenting renders of sunglasses and eyeglasses onto their faces.
Since different eyewear brands offer a range of silhouettes, aesthetics, and colors, this feature helps determine whether or not certain eyewear styles fit your face and look. For your blog or online business, adopting AR can provide extra layers of immersion and engagement to your website, such as embedding 360-degree videos and creating more dynamic displays for information and your products and services.
Web Design Personalization
Another key feature of eyewear retail websites is personalized recommendations. As consumers continue to interact with a brand’s website or app, the website can collect data on specific models, brands, features, and colors that the customer looks at most. Using an AI algorithm, customers can then be presented with tailored recommendations for similar products or aesthetics. Personalization can also be achieved by directly asking customers questions about their preferred style or the type of their face shape and then providing recommendations based on this information.
Providing a personalized website experience for your online business or blog can extend site visit time and boost conversion rates. By providing a unique experience to your site visitors, you can cultivate loyalty and other positive feelings toward the brand you’re building as you align with the varied interests of individual visitors.
User-friendly navigation
Eyewear retailers are also constantly focused on providing the most user-friendly experience for customers. This is especially crucial nowadays, considering the amount and range of eyewear models, designs, and features available. Choosing the right eyewear fit and design can be overwhelming for customers, especially when purchasing online. As such, eyewear retailers design websites to help customers make decisions more easily.
Ensuring user-friendly navigation also ensures that your website is as easily accessible as possible to customers regardless of their background and needs. Recently, web designers have focused on creating neurodiverse-friendly websites to celebrate and recognize human neurological differences. This contributes to a more compassionate and inclusive digital environment, whether through optimal color contrast in text or clear and visually informative graphics.
Offline engagement
Finally, a crucial aspect of online eyewear retail is bringing customer engagement from the screen to beyond. Eyewear retailers do this by allowing customers to seek product-related services at their physical stores. Morrow, an auto-focal eyewear company, goes beyond traditional touchpoints like packaging, brand, and web design by developing this customer journey. After an online self-assessment, Morrow provides home visits from a Morrow professional for eye tests, allowing customers to try on different styles and colorways of the brand’s eyewear.
For your online business and blog, this extension of on-screen engagement can manifest in various ways. You can create accessible links to your social media channels so customers know how and where to reach you beyond your website or blog, as well as a link to any offline activities you may have coming up, including pop-up and brick-and-mortar stores, to complement the online experience.
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