LARGO, Fla.—Ocuco and Healthy Eyes Advantage (HEA) have formed a partnership to provide independent eyecare professionals (IECPs) with tailored e-commerce solutions. The collaboration provides exclusive preferred pricing on Ocuco’s e-commerce solutions to the 10,000-plus HEA members across the U.S., the companies said in a statement. “Ocuco is delighted to team up with HEA to provide their members with a best-in-class e-commerce solution that enables their members to serve their patients online 24/7, empowering independent eyecare professionals to maintain market share and diversify their business while also protecting themselves from pure-play e-commerce providers,” remarked Dermot Walsh, Ocuco’s chief revenue officer.

HEA chairman and CEO Jim McGrann commented, “IECPs increasingly cite e-tail competition as a key threat to practice success. This collaboration enables HEA members to meet this challenge head-on with e-commerce solutions that allow them to ‘meet their patients where they are’ while increasing capture and revenue. We are delighted to partner with Ocuco, whose unparalleled eyecare and optical software experience will place HEA members on the leading edge of digital solutions.”
 
Under the arrangement, HEA members may choose from three Ocuco packages representing a range of service options. Each package includes eCommConnect, Ocuco's most recent eCommerce product, which was created in response to the recent pandemic to provide an eCommerce solution for ECPs who needed to quickly transition to selling online while their businesses were closed.
 
The eCommConnect solution can attach to any website, allowing eyecare professionals to sell their products online—everything from contact lenses and sunglasses to prescription spectacles. To enhance the patient journey, select packages include value-add features like virtual try-on (VTO) and personal shopper. These solutions result in a 40 percent increase in conversion rates and average order values (AOV), according to HEA.
 
“Purchasing behaviors have dramatically shifted over the last number of years,” observed Walsh. “We, as consumers, like to educate ourselves before we make a purchase. Providing your customers with the capability to browse, virtually try-on, and purchase online results in a better experience, a happier customer, and a more successful practice. Consumers are enjoying these shopping efficiencies in other industries, so why not optical?”
 
Additional information is available to HEA members by calling (800) 959-2020, option 3.