Outsmarting eCommerce giants: your strategy to compete and succeed

Discover the most effective strategy for competing with eCommerce giants like Clearly and 1800 — and keeping your patients coming back.

Key takeaways

• The big players like Clearly and 1800 spend millions to be the top Google result and top of mind when consumers need to buy
• Patients are loyal, but predictably pursue convenience over loyalty
• Clinics have the advantage of knowing what a patient will need and when; Otto helps you use that advantage
• Otto enables clinics to be the "path of least resistance" for patients
• Clinics using Otto enjoy a 38% increase in contact lens sales on average

Understanding the dominance of eCommerce giants

In today's digital age, eCommerce giants like Clearly and 1800 have established their dominance in the eyecare world — becoming household names, ranking higher on search engines, and spending millions on advertisements to ensure patients choose them for ordering and reordering contact lenses. Their extensive resources and strategic marketing have made it challenging for independent providers to compete.

These giants have captured the attention and trust of patients, making it difficult for smaller webstores to gain visibility. Patients often turn to these well-known platforms first, as they appear prominently in search results. Simply putting up your own webstore is not enough to effectively compete.

Convenience is king

While providers can educate patients about the eye health risks of buying from these platforms, cost and convenience often drive consumer behaviour. If buying from their eyecare provider is more expensive or too burdensome, patients are more likely to go elsewhere. They'd prefer not to wait for business hours, talk to someone on the phone, or give payment details to a person — so they pursue the option that doesn't require that of them. Time and again, patients take the path of least resistance. They want to see their price, order, and pay on their own time.

Why putting up a webstore isn't enough

Building your own webstore is a natural response to staying relevant and offering round-the-clock service — and it's a step in the right direction. However, online stores demand immense resources to build, maintain, promote, and nurture. It's simply not the case that "if you build it, they will come." Ultimately, it relies on patients taking the initiative to decide they're ready to order, find your webstore, and navigate to checkout without interruption. The vast budgets and technical resources of pure-play incumbents give them specific advantages.

The challenges of competing with the giants

eCommerce giants spend millions on ads, engraining their names in consumers' memories so they're top of mind when it's time to buy. They invest heavily so that when a patient Googles "Acuvue Oasys" or "buy contacts online," they're the top result. And in-house UX experts ensure visitors get through these sites with as little friction as possible.

What's more, there's a common perception that eCommerce giants are always cheaper. In reality, most eyecare practices are competitively priced — and when patients buy directly from their provider, they can avoid shipping fees and take advantage of manufacturer rebates, resulting in overall savings. The main challenge is visibility: unless the patient is inside the clinic, they're unaware of the cost advantages available to them.

Targeted, timely outreach to prevent leakage

To keep patients coming back, it's crucial to engage with them proactively at their time of need. A proprietary survey of over 400 contact lens patients concluded that a simple refill reminder makes patients 35% more likely to repurchase from their provider rather than go elsewhere. Otto delivers targeted, timely refill reminders — intelligently scheduled for just when patients begin to run out — preempting the moment they might otherwise turn to Google or think "Clearly."

This automated, proactive engagement takes the onus off staff to educate patients about your webstore. Patients simply get the message right when they need it, and a personalized checkout flow makes it easier for them to order than ever before — even compared to the eCommerce giants.

Building loyalty through personalized experiences

Otto doesn't just help you send refill reminders. It includes personalized links that let patients reorder their prescriptions with fewer clicks than ever before. And since you retain full control over the prescription, concerns about eye health risks are eliminated. Meanwhile, your branding is on full display throughout the entire patient journey — so there's no confusion that they're buying from you, their trusted provider.

Competing with eCommerce giants requires a strategic approach. Simply putting up a webstore isn't enough — meet patients at their moment of need, and make ordering effortless.