HEYWEAR manages customer flow with Waitwhile

The Challenge

HEYWEAR set out to reinvent the prescription eyewear retail experience. Traditionally, getting a pair of prescription glasses can take some time. After a customer gets an eye exam and selects frames, specific lenses need to be cut and inserted – a process that usually happens offsite and takes anywhere from a few days to a week or more to complete. The result is an experience that feels staggered, cumbersome, and antiquated.

In comparison, the guest experience at HEYWEAR is refreshingly simple and fast. Guests can choose frames, get an eye exam, and walk out with new glasses in as little as 30 minutes, thanks to an onsite optical lab.

HEYWEAR set out to create an optical experience that feels custom and ultra-convenient. As a company that’s powered by state-of-the-art technology, they knew that they needed a digital customer flow management solution that would create a seamless guest experience.

The Solution

HEYWEAR is known for speed and affordability. Guests can book an exam/eyewear package for $149 and walk out with an updated Rx and new prescription eyewear within the hour. To execute on this promise, HEYWEAR uses Waitwhile to manage customer flow management across three separate channels: bookings, eye exams, and pickup.

Guests can easily schedule an appointment on their own online or with an associate in-studio. Because Waitwhile is fully customizable, HEYWEAR was able to keep their online booking portal fully on-brand so that their guest experience is consistent across all touchpoints. Guests can choose a service, see available times, and secure their booking in under a minute. They then receive automated email and SMS confirmations and reminders. Should a guest need to cancel or reschedule, they can do so on their own. Calendar management is fully automated by Waitwhile so The HEYWEAR team doesn’t need to stress.

Once a guest arrives for their appointment, HEYWEAR associates check them in (self check-in via kiosk or QR code is also available in Waitwhile). HEYWEAR uses their own proprietary software to manage exam room and optical lab operations, but uses Waitwhile to keep track of which guests are in which channel at any given time. Using the robust Waitwhile API, HEYWEAR was able to connect the two systems to ensure a fluid experience.

At traditional optical studios, guests pick out glasses after completing their eye exams. HEYWEAR flips this process so that their lab can start production on the guest’s glasses – with their new prescription lenses – during the eye exam. So, once checked-in, guests at HEYWEAR work with studio associates to select frame(s) before completing their eye exam. As the eye exam is wrapping, the optical lab gets to work.

HEYWEAR manages this multi-channel customer journey using Waitwhile’s queue management capabilities. Because Waitwhile can operate any number of virtual queues simultaneously, the hand-off from one step to the next is smooth and automated. Once a guest wraps their eye exam, they’re instantly added to the optical lab queue so that the lab doesn’t miss a beat.

Although HEYWEAR’s optical lab is quick – making prescription lenses in a matter of minutes – HEYWEAR wants to give guests as flexible of an experience as possible. Waitwhile allows guests to choose how they wait: they can opt to wait in-store or leave and come back, perhaps opting to grab a coffee or run an errand. Once the glasses are ready for pickup, guests receive a text via Waitwhile.

With Waitwhile, HEYWEAR is able to fully customize their booking flow to ensure a cohesive experience for their guests.

The Results

HEYWEAR strives to create a guest experience that is as low-touch as possible – with goals to stay paperless and make everything feel seamless. Using Waitwhile, HEYWEAR is able to elevate their brick-and-mortar retail experience with digital customer flow management.

Manager/Training and Development Lead Derek Kastner lauded how easy Waitwhile is to use and implement. The intuitive interface requires virtually no training for associates and is simple to use for guests and staff alike. “[Waitwhile] creates this easy experience that feels so low touch for both our employees and guests,” he said.

With customer flow management tasks automated by Waitwhile, HEYWEAR staff can have more impactful in-store interactions with guests and the brand is able to fully deliver on its promise for a speedy, convenient, and easy optical experience.