SAN ANTONIO—Customers of Visionworks, one of the country’s largest optical retailers, can now shop directly from the company’s new e-commerce website, which debuted this week. The national retailer said it is bringing its large assortment of eyewear and eyecare expertise to consumers who can browse, try on and purchase prescription eyeglasses, fashion frames and sunglasses and have them delivered directly to their door.

“We are proud to offer our customers a convenient, customizable buying experience,” said Jim Eisen, president and CEO of HVHC, Inc., and president of Visionworks. “Today’s consumer is constantly on the go, so we’re proud to make our products even more easily accessible by providing the ability to buy online, pick up in-store or select delivery to any destination nationwide. Plus with over 700 locations throughout the U.S., customers can easily drop in for a professional fit—it’s exciting to offer a complete multi-channel experience for our customers.”

Customers can choose from over 2,000 frames online, and based on their prescription and personal preferences, Visionworks also offers a wide selection of lenses to fit a customer’s lifestyle, including progressives. Visionworks said it is custom-crafting glasses at one of its state-of-the-art U.S. manufacturing labs.

Sue Hopeman, EVP, chief merchandising officer, Visionworks, told VMail, “We’ve been working on the site for about a year and a half. Our goal was to be able to provide our customers with a full service, end-to-end shopping experience when they want, where they want and how they want. This included creating a convenient, customizable buying experience in our stores and online.”

In response to a query from VMail about how the company anticipated the service and fulfillment requirements of the site, Hopeman said, “As we were building the site, we simultaneously began training our stores and internal personnel on the transition to becoming an omni channel retailer. We built, staffed and trained an e-commerce call center from the ground up that would be able to communicate with customers via phone, email or chat. Additionally, we built a fulfillment center to support online sales at our current San Antonio distribution center.

Hopeman also noted, “One final decision was to enable the site to be ADA compliant, in line with our values of inclusion as a company.”

Visionworks’s exclusive brands include Chelsea Morgan, Salsa, Robert Mitchel, Alberto Romani, Indi and Raycers. National brands such as Guess, Nike, bebe, Vera Bradley, Anne Klein, Candies, Converse, Diane von Furstenberg, Gant, Harley Davidson, Kate Spade, Nine West and Perry Ellis are also carried. Visionworks is a wholly owned subsidiary of HVHC, Inc.