The world of ecommerce is large and growing.  Amazon and other big companies dominate many corners of ecommerce, but each year, new success stories are written as innovative companies create delightful online shopping experiences for customers.

Through years of working with consumer tech companies on the east and west coasts, I saw many companies build successful brands in a variety of verticals (apparel, games, photos, and more). But, I always had a desire to help build an important consumer tech company back home in Indiana.  When I met Randy and Angie Stocklin and heard their vision for creating a prescription eyewear brand, I knew it was time to come home and get to work.

felix + iris, a prescription glasses brand launching today, is Greenwood-based One Click Ventures’ newest eyewear ecommerce store. Committed to building consumer eyewear brands that customers love, One Click is adding felix + iris to its existing portfolio that includes Readers.com and SunglassWarehouse.com.

Prescription eyewear is a $20 billion industry in North America alone. However, most people still don’t buy their glasses online, despite the popularity of online eyewear companies such as Warby Parker. For example, among people ages 45+, approximately 70% shop online, but only about 3% go online to purchase glasses. A major reason these customers don’t buy online is because they don’t think they can find the right fit– glasses that look great, feel comfortable on their face, and meet their vision needs.

felix + iris is dedicated to solving the “fit problem” online by offering personalized fit for each customer.

Delivering on this promise starts with our proprietary technology, which was built by our in-house engineering team.  This built-from-scratch approach ensures we can offer our customers a better experience than what is offered through other pre-packaged solutions.

The felix + iris shopping experience begins with our Fit Profile, a short quiz that gathers information on each customer’s style and optical preferences. Then, our flexible algorithm selects the glasses tailored for each individual, creating a personal store with frame recommendations.

By learning from customers over time, we will collect millions of data points that show us which questions have the most impact on a customer’s “right fit,” and we will adjust our algorithm, shopping experience, and product mix accordingly. Similar to Netflix and Pandora, our recommendations will get “smarter” over time as we gather more input from customers.

Our long-term purpose for felix + iris is to ensure that all glasses wearers, regardless of age or vision, can experience the convenience and affordability of buying glasses online.  And, just as importantly, we want to write yet another central Indiana success story!

Raising the profile of Indiana startup companies through stories like this is made possible by Tailwind, a TechPoint initiative powered by the Indiana Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.