As e-commerce cements its crucial role in boosting customer reach, sales, and business performance, businesses looking to leverage this distribution channel must pay attention to web design. More than just a creative process that involves the aesthetics and visual identity of a brand’s website, web design also considers functional aspects that can help target audiences—in this case, potential customers—engage with business offerings.
A Frontiers in Psychology study on e-commerce websites found that website quality has a high impact on customer satisfaction and online purchase intentions. Specifically, e-commerce businesses can retain existing and attract potential customers through factors like accurate product information, reliable systems, and active services for customer support, payment methods, and order delivery.
In prioritizing these factors in web design, business owners can learn from online eyewear retailers, which have been effectively deploying user-friendly design practices for growth and sustainability. Below, we take a look at how eyewear retailers perform in the e-commerce segment and which web design strategies they implement to boost engagement, sales, and overall customer satisfaction.
How eyewear e-commerce is performing
The global eyewear industry is massive, with a projected market value of US$151.37 billion in 2025 alone. While e-commerce sales only comprise a relatively smaller portion of total revenues than in-person eyewear purchases, data shows that this market segment has been steadily increasing throughout the years, thus serving as a significant growth driver. In 2024, the eyewear e-commerce market reported revenues amounting to nearly $30 billion, with key developments in regional markets like North America, Europe, and East Asia.
The impressive growth can also be observed in specific market players, starting with the integrated multinational eyewear company EssilorLuxottica. Revenue reports from 2024 indicate that its e-commerce channel grew at the same pace as the whole group, with the momentum in North America specifically facilitated by the release of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses online.
The same can be said for fellow eyewear giant Warby Parker, whose revenue grew to $188 million in the second quarter of 2024 due to its e-commerce sales rising by 4% and recording the highest increase for the distribution channel since 2021. While e-commerce was once a weak spot for major eyewear companies and retailers, their investments in their websites have generated valuable leads and contributed to market growth. Such progress encourages businesses in other industries to follow in their footsteps in terms of user-friendly web design practices, as outlined in the next section.
How online eyewear retailers leverage web design
Optimized product displays
A notable advantage of e-commerce is the ability to offer a wider range of products, compared to brick-and-mortar stores whose stocks are limited to their storage space. Thus, businesses looking to enter the e-commerce space must ensure that their websites display their products accurately to help potential customers discover their broad selection.
This is best demonstrated by Clearly, a leading retailer that specializes in selling glasses online in Canada, through its website which makes it easier for customers to find the right pair that suits their budget, vision needs, and style. Selections can be sorted by price and popularity and filtered through product search categories like brand, frame shape, frame material, and fit. Simply clicking the slider for each high-quality product image also enables customers to view available frame colors without having to leave the page, ultimately streamlining the shopping experience.
Advanced AI and AR features
In addition to providing the option to refine product filters, e-commerce businesses can learn from online eyewear retailers that facilitate informed purchasing decisions through emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR). For instance, American eyewear company Zenni Optical uses AI’s high-speed processing power to help customers find their desired frames based on an uploaded image.
While selling eyewear online can limit customers’ physical interactions with the product to assess its quality and guide their purchases, Zenni Optical addresses this need through its AR-powered virtual try-on feature. This 3D solution works by scanning the wearer’s face and displaying a realistic preview of how the frames would look on their face.
SEO-friendly navigation
In a competitive and saturated segment like e-commerce, online eyewear retailers must boost their visibility and ensure customers can easily find them through search engines. As such, businesses in e-commerce must also invest in search engine optimization (SEO), starting with including relevant keywords in their website navigation.
A popular example is the affordable glasses retailer Eyebuydirect, which allows users to navigate through categories like eyeglasses and sunglasses, which are further segmented into men’s, women’s, and kid’s options to utilize content hierarchies. The retailer also creates dedicated sections for frequently asked questions (FAQs) and blog posts, which can then be cross-linked to product pages to boost website traffic and overall SEO efforts.
Clean and simple layouts
Although the broad selections of eyewear online can be overwhelming, especially for first-time customers, e-commerce businesses can reduce the pain points during the shopping journey through clean and organized layouts. Take, for example, how Warby Parker keeps its web design visually driven through high-quality images but still simple and usable—mainly through specific calls to action (CTAs) and minimal clickable options instead of confusing drop-downs.
If you want to implement the same intuitive layout for your own e-commerce website, check out WP Maintenance’s list of best WordPress themes that highlight a user-friendly experience while also keeping certain assets like landing pages and widgets customizable to fit your offerings and target audience.
Options range from the classic and highly flexible Vantage theme, which supports popular WordPress plug-ins like WooCommerce, and the beautifully designed and responsive Sydney theme, which makes customization accessible through drag-and-drop interactions. Feel free to explore the WP Maintenance plug-in for more useful features and pre-made themes.
