Important PDP Components

According to eMarketer, 83% of people said that product images were the most influential to their purchase decision. This begs the question, why? Prior to eCommerce, purchases were widely made in-person and the confidence to see and feel what you were purchasing was important. Today, purchases are more commonly purchased online and the confidence to purchase comes from understanding what it is that you are purchasing. This is achieved in the eyes of the customer by product images, product descriptions, and reviews. 

Optimizing PDPs for Eyeglasses and Sunglasses eCommerce Sites

There are a number of critical components specific to eyewear that are needed for an effective PDP. Here are some of those foundational elements and some best practices for each:

1. Purchase Button
   • You want a clear “Add to Cart”, “Add to Bag”, “Add Lenses” or “Add Lenses and Purchase” button that looks clickable and has a color that stands out from the page. We recommend ensuring this sits above-the-fold even on mobile devices. This refers to a customer/shopper not having to scroll below the original layout the page defaults to in order to see more information.  
2. Product Images
   • We recommend large, high-definition product images from several angles with the ability to Zoom in to details. For eyewear, we highly recommend a frontal image with the temples expended, a frontal image with the temples folded, a 360-degree product imagery usually comprised of 24 or 36 images, a 45-degree angle with a slightly downward angle, and several other shots that focus on the frames details around the logo, endpieces and temple tips.  We also recommend at least one image of the frame on a person/model.
   • Knowing that product visuals are critical to eCommerce success drove Ditto to launch a new offering called Digital Product Imagery. This is a series of high-definition product images rendered from a detailed, comprehensive pair of digital glasses (i.e. 3D virtual replicas of physical glasses made with 3D software). This approach replaces traditional product photography for eCommerce and is more cost effective and flexible. These digital glasses can also be shown on models which can be more scalable than traditional on-model photo shoots.
3. Virtual Try-On
   • Since eyewear is highly considered, highly fashionable, and fit sensitive, customers really want to see the frames on their face before they purchase online. This feature is becoming table stakes for eyewear eCommerce sites.
   • Ditto’s hyper-realistic virtual try-on technology for eCommerce helps show customers how the glasses fit and look before they buy.
4. Brand Name
   • If you sell designer frames, the brand name will be much more important than the Product Name. We recommend creating an information hierarchy that highlights the Brand.
5. Product Name
   • If you sell private label frames, we recommend product names that sound like human names. This helps make them more memorable.
6. Price
   • For optical sites, we recommend you either show a “full package” price inclusive of lenses or mention “Lenses starting at $XXX”.  Customers will want to know their total price before Adding to Cart even if some of them end up upgrading lenses in the checkout flow.
   • For expensive products, we also recommend adding a payment plan option.
   • For optical sites, customers might be wondering if they can use their vision insurance. Answering this question, even if the answer is that it is only eligible for an out-of-network reimbursement, will help conversions. The best practice is to allow customers to enter their insurance and see how of a discount they will get on a given pair.
7. Product Description
   • We recommend product descriptions that describe the shape and style of the product as well as include key phrases to optimize SEO. It should also include what is included in the purchase such as a case and cleaning cloth.
8. Frame Size
   • Most eyewear customers don’t really understand frame sizing, not to mention the sizing is not consistent across frame manufacturers. We highly recommended describing frame size in customer friendly language like Narrow, Medium, Wide, etc. You can have subtext with the frame size and informational pop-up explaining frame sizing (e.g. Fit Guide) but don’t assume your customers will understand this. 
   • You can also use Ditto’s Frame Recommendations to add “For You” flags to each product which indicates that a given frame fits the customer.
9. Color Options
   • Frames colors are challenging because there are dozens of types of Tortoise, Blues, Reds, etc and many that are a combination of several colors or gradients. As such, we recommend showing small thumbnails of each color variant vs just a color dot representing alternative colorways.  Admittedly this can be challenging if there are a lot of color options per SKU. 
10. Reviews
    • We recommend showing product reviews but only showing them on the PDP if there are a few submissions. According to Spiegel Research Center, reviews can increase by 270%. Even a few reviews can be a powerful vote of confidence. They also don’t need to be perfect and perfect reviews are often seen as skeptical.
11. Add to Favorites
    • Since glasses are highly considered, we recommend an Add to Favorites Heart icon and a separate Favorites page where customers can compare their favorites side-by-side. This is also a great opportunity for your understand your customers better so you know how to market to them.
12. Social Sharing
    • We recommend adding the option for a customer to share an image of themselves in a given pair of glasses so they can get trusted style advice from friends and family. Try-on technologies like Ditto can help customers show images of the product on their face so their friends and weigh in.
13. Alternative Product Recommendations
    • Lower on the PDP, it’s important to show alternative product options. This prevents a customer from leaving the site if they aren’t interested in purchasing the product they are currently viewing.  
    • We recommend showing Recommendations based on similar frames or a more personalized option showing recommendations based on each customer’s prescription, face shape, face size, style preferences, past purchases and more.  Ditto’s Frame Recommendations can help you provide these personalized frame recommendations. 
14. Chat
    • We also like when sites have the ability to chat with a sales associate. This can help address any concerns about the the product.

Eyewear PDP Page Examples

We wanted to showcase a collection of PDP pages and talk through what they get right and what they could improve.

Here is an example of a desktop PDP below: 

Pros:

• You’ll notice when you land on the page, you have everything you need easily visible to evaluate the product: a carousel of product images, a chat function, the ability to add to cart, and a fit guide to understanding if these frames will work for you. Additional features that take this to the next level include showcasing thumbnails of the different frame colors offered, providing a flexible payment option, and listing product reviews/ratings.

Cons:

• The ability to add a premium case or sleeve is best suited for after the Add to Cart button. This adds some unnecessary clutter to the page. 

Here is another example of a desktop PDP below: 

Pros:

• This site has their product front and center when you land on their PDP. They have sharp, large photography and product features listed (TR90 injection, glare reduction, and extra durability). The other product images can easily be navigated to and the ability to add to cart is large and colored in green to stand out and drive the eye there. They also show other colors of the same style so one can jump to those frames easily from this page.

Cons:

• I think there is an opportunity to make better use of the space on the PDP by addressing how the product photography is showcased. I think a carousel of product images and one center image would allow for them to still showcase the product and use the remaining freed up space to highlight other important information (product reviews as an example). I would also recommend pulling out the frame sizing information out of the “Quality & Details” section and showing this more prominently.

Here is an example of a mobile PDP below: 

Pros:

• This page does an excellent job packing a lot into a small space. Customers can easily see the product and its multiple images with a swipe left to right option. The pricing and ability to pay in installments are very clearly placed. This SKU in particular comes in different colors and those are easily browsable from the dropdown. Lastly, the customer can favorite the product and share it via social media very easily. 

Cons:

• Some areas for improvement include bringing up the sizing information of the frame. With no fit guide or other option to understand if the frames will work or not for a given customer, they should have easy access to the size of the sunglasses. Additionally, the add to cart button falls below the fold, so we’d recommend bringing this up to allow for a more seamless purchasing of the frames.

Here is an example of a mobile PDP below: 

Pros:

• They offer prominent product photography that helps you understand what the frame looks like. Additionally, the chat function is placed very clearly so that if somebody has a question about the item they can engage with an expert quickly and easily. 

Cons:

• Overall, this site fails to make the majority of the critical decision making information readily available “above the fold”. Above the fold in this case refers to a customer/shopper not having to scroll below the original layout the page defaults to in order to see more information. This includes the price, a call to action to “Add To Cart”, a carousel of the different product images so you can see the details of the frame, product description information that tells the shopper about the item, and the sizing information so one can consider if the frame is going to fit. 

Conclusion

If you’re looking to optimize your eyewear eCommerce site, one key area of focus should be your PDP page. It has the ability to dramatically alter your conversion rates which can be the difference between a site that is barely breaking even or one that is thriving.

Once you get the foundational elements in place like the product imagery, frame data, descriptions, etc. consider whether most of your traffic is coming from mobile or desktop and test several layouts. Once you optimize your PDP,  you should start to see great improvements in your conversion rates. 

If you’d like to get a quick audit of your PDP page, I’d be happy to review. Just email sales@luna.io with a link to your page and I’ll send you my thoughts.