World's Largest Online Contact Lens Store Triples Sales from Smartphone Users

Customer service: job one

Whether for health or convenience, when you need a set of replacement contact lenses, you want them right away. Historically, purchasing contact lenses has been an arduous process involving doctor visits, running around town to pick them up, or lengthy wait times for delivery. 1-800 CONTACTS was founded with the mission of creating a superb online customer experience for each person seeking a new pair of lenses. With 24/7 call support, speedy email reply times, and easily accessible live chat agents, 1-800 CONTACTS is one of the most responsive and service-oriented online businesses in the marketplace.

Over several years, the company established a strong business foundation built on traditional web, phone, chat, and email channels. Through the easy-to-remember, toll-free phone number "1-800 CONTACTS" and website, www.1800CONTACTS.com, the company ships approximately 98% of its orders within one business day of receipt and verification of prescriptions. In 2011 alone, the company shipped several million phone and web orders. However, the company wanted to provide its world-class service to customers anywhere and on any device.

"Many of our customers were accessing our traditional site via their mobile devices, so to serve them in their preferred way, we began working on a mobile site," says Joshua Stanley, Associate Director of Mobile Marketing for 1-800 CONTACTS. "We saw that a mobile site would allow us to provide easier ordering solutions to customers who have grown up with and are inseparable from their mobile devices."

57% increase in traffic to the mobile-optimized site

According to a new study from Nielsen, smartphones are used by 50.4% of U.S. consumers. So, in an effort to serve customers better, 1-800 CONTACTS took just four months to build a fully-functional mobile site: mobile.1800CONTACTS.com. After offering the mobile site, the number of mobile devices accessing it grew by 57%.

A mobile-ready site was imperative for enabling easier, faster ordering options for customers on the go. Convenient options include click-to-call for one-click calling for ordering on mobile devices; touchable content for selecting products simply by tapping on them; larger text, truncated longer product names, and the addition of useful drop-down menus that limit the need for extensive typing on smaller screens. Less text, and smaller, faster-loading images were also incorporated into the new site. As a next step, 1-800 CONTACTS plans to implement location-based services that will allow customers, to easily find and schedule an eye exam with a local eye doctor.