Sightly Case Study: Merivale Vision Care

Merivale Vision Care, has been providing their community, of all ages, with professional vision care services since 1987. Being a large practice, always looking for ways to better serve their patients, it was a timely decision when Merivale Vision Care had taken the steps to implement their Sightly storefront just weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown. Once in lockdown, the practice moved swiftly in getting their new site up and running. The results have proven the effort to be worthwhile.

Read on to find out how this thriving practice has been using their Sightly storefront to secure business revenue during this challenging time.

"...set up was relatively quick and comprehensive and we were able to make money during our closure..."

MERIVALE VISION CARE

Location:
Ottawa, Ontario

Challenge:
Global pandemic resulting in business closure and threatening interruption of patient care.

Solution:
Implementation of a fully customizable, Sightly online storefront to facilitate patient delivery of eye care products and lens reorders.

Storefront:
https://merivalevisioncare.sightlyapps.com

IMPLEMENTING THE SIGHTLY PLATFORM SOLUTION

Sightly (S): What was your greatest concern that prompted your practice to launch an online storefront?
Merivale Vision Care (MVC): We launched our online store very quickly after closing down this March for COVID-19. We were in the process of setting up already, but we were happy to have the time to funnel into the setup and the resources to do so. For a large office, an online portal for purchasing contact lenses seemed like a no-brainer for quite a while.

S: How has using your patient-commerce platform helped you?
MVC: We were fortunate in that because we’d already taken the initial steps, set up was relatively quick and comprehensive and we were able to make money during our closure, unlike some of our other colleagues in Ontario. We were still able to monitor sales and work with the legal constraints of both our College and government guidelines.

S: What communication channels were most effective in announcing your new online store?
MVC: We used a combination of social media and email. We had a Constant Contact email list generated from our consenting patient list, and our social media channel reaches almost 3000+ subscribers.

S: How often are you directing patients to the storefront?
MVC: Patients are asked to go to the storefront after contact lens follow up appointments. We are not onboarding them as much as we are giving them their prescription and getting them to select the products themselves. We have seen a lot of success with this model, and with the contact lens distributors using free shipping to home.

S: Who is setting up your patient profiles; someone in your office or the patients themselves?
MVC: The patients themselves, for the most part, unless we are asked to by a patient who is not as tech savvy.

S: Which of Sightly’s functions or features are you finding most beneficial to your practice?
MVC: Constant contact and wear schedule reminders work really well.

S: Which of Sightly’s features are your patients finding most useful?
MVC: I think when rebates and yearly discounts are lined up, patients more often than not go for the larger quantity.

S: What new feature are you most looking forward to? (I.E. Virtual Chat, Fitting Box)
MVC: All of the above! Fitting Box is a good tool for sunwear sales. In Ontario we are barred from selling ophthalmic product online.

S: Did you assign a specific team member to be in charge of administrating the platform?
MVC: Yes. Nicole (myself) helped set it up and then monitored it until passing it off to our admin staff earlier this week as part of their work flow.

S: Did you partake in the free training offered to new subscribers? If so, was it helpful?
MVC: I had several calls with Kelly and I recommended my colleagues do the same! I found Kelly was informative and always there to answer questions.

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