EXCLUSIVE: Zenni focuses digital innovation on the customer
Zenni Optical keeps an eye on shoppers as it develops leading-edge and artificial intelligence-based solutions.
Chain Store Age sat down with Dr. Steven Lee, director of digital innovation at direct-to-consumer retailer online eyewear retailer Zenni Optical, during the recent eTail Boston 2024 conference to discuss how advanced technology is impacting the retail landscape.
What approach does Zenni take to digital innovation?
One of the critical pieces is figuring out any challenges customers are facing when it comes to purchasing online and if there are any improvements that they would like. We do a lot of user testing surveys with individuals that not only purchase from our site, but consumers that have not purchased from us as well.
Zenni then balances that with our technological capabilities and figures out what we can accomplish can in a certain amount of time that will deliver the most impact for consumers.
Are there any specific innovations that you're especially proud of?
One solution I'm particularly proud is a visual search mechanism that allows customers to take photos of a pair of glasses, even a pair being worn by somebody else, and have a module on the site help them find that model.
If the model isn’t something that we offer specifically, we can usually find something that's very close to that. It makes shopping for eyewear much easier, because it's very tough to figure out how to describe a frame and lenses.
Another feature that I'm very proud of is our ability to utilize artificial intelligence it in a number of different ways. One is data analysis. We have a large number of orders - we ship one in every five pairs of glasses that are sold online.
With that amount of data, there is a lot of analysis that needs to be done. Utilizing AI, you can pinpoint and break apart the different data modules and structures to really figure out trends and also insights that normally might take a long time.
An additional mechanism is a tool that allows individuals to take a photo of their prescription from their doctor, using a web camera or cell phone camera, and it instantly links into our website. This makes it easy for customers to upload and make an order.
[READ MORE: Zenni introduces optical character recognition]
How have sales been impacted by these technologies?
Zenni doesn't discuss specific sales numbers, but I can say the uptick has been extremely good since implementing these solutions and we've been very happy with the progress there.
Where do you see retail digital innovation heading in the next six to 12 months?
I think retail is going much more toward customization, meaning a customer visits a website and the item they are looking for is curated for them, reducing the need for an individual to search for an item.
Once you're on an AI-customized site, it will understand your wants, needs, and what works well for you, creating a more seamless shopping flow, even simpler than the traditional brick-and-mortar flow.
I see something like this customization model where there is a lot of data collection that is performed in a positive and safe way which helps shoppers have a more seamless flow of e-commerce. Zenni is working on a lot of the technologies needed to make user purchase flows as easy as possible.
