SelectSpecs

SelectSpecs, British online optician with its own laboratory in Kent

SelectSpecs is a family-run optician that operates primarily as an online glasses retailer in the United Kingdom. It began in the optical sector and made the move to online sales in 2005; in 2012 it expanded its presence with a high street store. The company presents itself as a British business with its own on-site laboratory, equipped with current optical technology, where prescription glasses are assembled using materials that, according to its own description, are the same as those used by high street opticians.

Range of prescription glasses and lenses

The range is organised into several lines: cheap glasses from £6.00, an essential collection, designer and boutique collections, reading glasses, varifocals and bifocals, and a selection of new arrivals. The company offers free basic single-vision lenses with many of its products, which according to its own communication represents savings of up to 70% compared with traditional opticians and other online sellers. It also sells premium brand lenses such as Essilor, Hoya and Pentax.

The catalogue includes frames from more than 400 brands, including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford and Boss, for which the company identifies itself as an authorised reseller. The new arrivals shown on the site include models from Ted Baker London and Seventh Street with prices around £80-123.

Sunglasses, contact lenses and hearing aids

In addition to prescription glasses, SelectSpecs sells prescription, polarised and children's sunglasses, with specific sections for sports such as cycling, golf, running, shooting, tennis, cricket, fishing, mountaineering, watersports and skiing. In contact lenses it works with brands such as Alcon, Johnson & Johnson, Bausch & Lomb and CooperVision, and covers daily, weekly and monthly lenses, toric for astigmatism, multifocal and coloured, as well as care solutions.

The company has also added a line of hearing aids, with behind-the-ear and in-the-ear models, hearing glasses from the Nuance Audio brand, accessories such as batteries, tubes, domes and wax guards, and audiology consultation services. In the smart glasses section it distributes the Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta models.

Optical and after-sales services

Featured services include next-day express delivery, reglazing and lens replacement, virtual try-on of frames and the option to buy in the physical store. The site also offers appointments for an eye test at the store. The company maintains a free returns and exchanges policy and a warranty whose terms it publishes on its website.

Customer service and physical presence

Customer service operates Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, excluding UK public holidays, and allows orders to be placed by phone. The company's store and offices are in Westgate on Sea, in the county of Kent. The site states that the company has been operating online for more than twenty years, since 2005, and that it has accumulated more than 80,000 customer reviews.