Optically Pty. Ltd.

Optically, an online optical lab based in Canada

Optically Pty. Ltd. operates an online store for prescription eyewear that presents itself as a Canadian optical lab selling directly to the public. The company states that customers buy straight from the lab rather than through high-street retailers, which it presents as the reason its prices are lower. Its catalogue covers prescription glasses and prescription sunglasses, with frames glazed to the customer's own prescription.

The site describes a selection of more than 3,500 optical frames, a figure it also presents as the largest online eyewear collection in Canada. Frames are described as handpicked, and the range is organised by gender, frame shape, material, colour and rim style.

How the catalogue is organised

The store separates its offer into several collections, each with its own characteristics:

• Prescription glasses starting from $30, with prices that include prescription lenses and coatings.
• Popular glasses, a collection of more than 40 models that the site says customers buy most, supplied with free prescription lenses.
• Rimless glasses, with more than 200 styles in stainless steel and titanium.
• Titanium glasses, marketed under the Featherlight name as ultra-light yet strong and durable.
• Designer glasses, a collection of more than 1,500 frames.
• Prescription sunglasses, with more than 250 models.

Beyond these collections, the catalogue can be browsed by frame shape (round, rectangular, square, aviator, cat eye, oval, oversized, browbar), by material (acetate, metal, titanium, wood), by rim style (full rimmed, semi rimmed, rimless) and by colour, including transparent, black, brown, tortoiseshell, grey, gunmetal, gold, pink and blue. Sunglasses are additionally sorted by style, material, colour and lens type, with polarised, tinted, transition and mirrored options.

Designer brands and authenticity

Optically presents itself as an authorised dealer of designer eyewear and states that the brands it sells carry a 100% authenticity guarantee. The brands named on the site include Carolina Herrera, Carrera, Carrera Ducati, Fossil, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade New York, Marc Jacobs, Seventh Street and Tommy Hilfiger. Other names mentioned in the brand presentation are Police, Guess, Gucci and Benetton. The designer section lists individual models with their regular and discounted prices and the number of frames in stock for each.

Lenses and reglazing

Prices shown on the website are described as including the frame and standard single vision lenses for distance or reading use. The lab also grinds multifocal lenses, which the site notes are also known as varifocal or progressive lenses, for combined distance and computer or reading use. The lens section is organised by use: computer and blue light lenses, progressive lenses, bifocal lenses, distance lenses and reading glasses. A separate reglaze service allows customers to have new lenses fitted into frames.

Ordering, dispatch and returns

The store advertises a 72-hour dispatch window and order status updates by email. It also promotes free and easy returns alongside a 90-day "love it or return it" guarantee, and states a lowest price guarantee. When this profile was written, the site displayed a 25% discount on new frames with the code SAVE25, applied to numerous listed models, and a banner describing the business as ranked "Excellent" by customers.

Product examples from the catalogue

Listed items illustrate the price structure. In the designer range, a Carrera 308 PJP frame was shown reduced from $334 to $250, a Boss 1234 F 284 from $474 to $356 and a Carrera 291 YZ4 from $344 to $258. In the rimless collection, an Optically F6595 2 was listed at $99 down from $132 and a Nillie 9013 at $157 down from $209. Titanium Featherlight models such as the Optically F5075 appeared at $49 from $65. Prescription sunglasses included Nillie and Mandon models at $109 from $145. The site also listed stock levels per designer model, ranging from a few units to more than two hundred frames for one reference.