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Ease of ordering is of paramount importance for Nassau Vision Group, a major stock lens supplier and wholesale lab operator. That’s why the company’s website offers eyecare professionals multiple ways to place orders.

“We have a shopping cart that lets customers pick one item at a time,” said marketing manager Hans Beltran. “They can also use a lens grid for multiple piece orders or a barcode gun, which lets them scan in barcode tops or a barcode sheet. That’s quick and easy.” Beltran said Nassau will put more emphasis on the site’s barcode capabilities as it updates the site in 2011.
Beltran believes a B2B optical site should enable eyecare professionals to accomplish 85 percent of the tasks that normally would be performed by human interaction. Toward that end, Nassau is exploring ways to minimize the amount of human interaction in processing orders. The company is planning additional customer-friendly enhancements such as more flexible shipping options.

“We’re looking to add better pricing and product updates,” said Beltran, adding that Nassau is going to increase the feedback from its computer system back to the site in order to provide more “clarity” about out-of-stock items. Nassau will also provide customer-specific pricing instead of just a standard list price, he said.

Many of the site’s current features have become popular with customers, such as direct shipping of contacts lenses to patients and a lens availability reference. Being able to place orders anytime is a convenient feature that suits most customers’ schedules.

“Most of our online ECPs open an order in the morning,” Beltran said. “They fill the cart with patient orders and shelf orders for stock lenses and contact lenses throughout the day, and close the order at around 6 p.m.”

The high volume of orders processed through the site helps Nassau’s business run more efficiently by reducing the phone load and spikes, especially near the end of the work day, according to Beltran. ■ ■

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