Don't reject getting glasses online. Are glasses bought online good? No. Then why shouldn't we reject it? Because, in terms of professional skills, 90% of physical optical stores (and not just optical stores, many ophthalmic hospitals as well) are completely useless. By contrast, getting glasses online even seems highly cost-effective.

Why are glasses cheaper when bought online? Because the costs of storefronts, staff, and after-sales service are removed. All that needs to be considered are the purchase of lenses and post-production processing. And the cost of the lenses themselves is very low.

Why are glasses cheaper to buy online? Let's first talk about where they are usually expensive.

Is the eyewear industry a highly profitable one? As far as the actual situation is concerned, this statement is only half right.

First, strict optometry and considerate after-sales service are definitely worth the seemingly "exorbitant" price. That is to say, the money spent on glasses is not only for the frames and lenses but, more importantly, for the service and after-sales support. So, in this sense, the statement is wrong.

Second, as far as the current state of the industry is concerned, "strict optometry and considerate after-sales service" can be described as "rare." Even for benchmark brands in the industry, most of their stores can't implement such standards. There are still plenty of stores where optometry is done sloppily and staff don't know how to adjust frames.

However, there are still truly capable people in branded stores. Some experienced store managers or regional managers have very high skills. As for small street-side stores, the situation is dreadful. Under such circumstances, even if many stores offer 40% or 50% discounts, compared to their skills, I still think it's "profiteering," so the statement is right.

Are there any highly skilled small stores? Yes. But where are they? It's almost impossible to find them!

Single examples have no reference value.

Those who can proficiently and accurately complete the entire optometry process and examine visual functions probably need to have the skills of a second-level optometrist. Are there many second-level optometrists? Very few. In large branded stores, they are usually at the store manager level.

But have you ever seen a store manager personally conduct optometry for customers? These people have mostly gone into management. So even if a store has professional optometrists, you can hardly guarantee that they will operate on you personally.

When it comes to price, if it is separated from optometry and after-sales service, it cannot be said that the more expensive, the better. That is, there has to be a reason for the high price – it should be due to precise and considerate service.

For example, hospitals don't offer discounts on glasses because they don't need to worry about customer flow. And in principle, hospitals are not allowed to carry out eyewear fitting services. The optometry departments in hospitals are outsourced, and it's still very rare to see a complete and accurate optometry process. This is an example of high price but poor quality.

Why are glasses cheaper to buy online?

Online eyewear fitting, in essence, means that you directly report the processing data, and the processing master on the other side assembles according to your data. This is a job that doesn't require much technical expertise (unfortunately, the owners of most street-side stores may not even know the concept of "stress"). So it's reasonable for it to be cheap.

If you have accurate optometry data in hand, then you can definitely give online eyewear fitting a try.

Where does online eyewear fitting fall short?

First, there are no frame parameters at all. Special lenses (progressive, myopia control) and high-customization lenses can't be fitted. Unless you first decide which frame to buy and then ask the store to send you all the parameters of the frame. If it's ordinary single-vision lenses, it basically has little impact, and online fitting is a better option.

Second, the after-sales service is basically non-existent. If the frame is uncomfortable to wear, you have to adjust it yourself. Adjusting the frame is a skill that comes with practice. Unlike optometry, it can't be learned from books.

But then again, can the two disadvantages of online eyewear fitting be avoided when getting glasses offline? As I said before, 90% of the stores can't avoid them!

For example, when it comes to Zeiss optometry, my advice is that if you want to get Zeiss glasses, go directly to the Zeiss direct store and use the IT2 scanner. Although the required data can be measured, the accuracy of manual measurement is also uncertain.

What's more, for most small-store operators, if you ask them to measure the front inclination angle, vertex distance, adjust the pantoscopic angle, temple width, or base curve, they won't be able to do it. Some of them can't even measure the pupil height (it's understandable that they can't adjust the nose pads. Adjusting S-shaped nose pads requires a very high level of skill. For example, most people don't know how to open the buckle on the upper bend, which is exactly where the high plasticity of the S-shaped nose pads lies).

In this case, is it possible to fit high-customization lenses? Is it even possible to fit ordinary lenses properly? And is it possible to enjoy precise and considerate after-sales service?

The substrates of lenses are all resin. The differences in quality are mainly reflected in two aspects.

First, it is reflected in the design (optical parameters). On a macroscopic level, there are spherical and aspherical lenses; on a smaller scale, Zeiss's free-form lenses have a high level of UV protection (which is also the reason why Zeiss lenses have a greener base color).

Second, it is reflected in the coating, such as Essilor's Crizal Rock and Zeiss's Platinum coating. But no matter how good the lenses are, they all need proper optometry to give full play to their advantages. Top-of-the-line lenses with poor optometry are not as good as ordinary lenses with proper optometry.

There are two reasons for the current state of the industry.

First, optometry used to be a specialized major, and some people didn't even study it at all, relying solely on experience to start working. The average quality of employees is very low.

Second, employees have not yet developed the concept that glasses are a medical product. They still regard it as an ornament or a one-time deal.

Without a conceptual foundation, how can we talk about development?

The manufacturing level of lenses is indeed getting higher and higher, but the level of the eyewear fitting industry is still very low.

If you want to get a good pair of glasses, my advice is not to choose complex multifunctional lenses. Just choose single-vision lenses. They are very useful, and the online prices are even cheaper. You can also avoid those unprofessional optometrists offline. So why not do it?

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