Many practices that order eyecare products online are familiar with its benefits like online order status, faster turnaround time, and error checking. But when it comes to online ophthalmic product ordering, there are a few common mistakes that can detract from these great benefits.
Help yourself in your pursuit of increased eyecare practice efficiency and ordering effectiveness by avoiding these 3 online ordering mistakes.
Avoid These 3 Mistakes in Your Eyecare Practice
Not Connecting to All of Your Labs Online
One of the biggest benefits of online ordering is the ability to order to all of your ophthalmic product suppliers in one convenient location. If the online system you use only connects you to one or two of your suppliers, it's really not providing the maximum benefit an online service can provide. Ideally, you want an online ordering solution that connects you with all of your current suppliers and hundreds of more potential suppliers.
Downloading Software to Place an Order Online
When it comes to an online ordering solution, the solution itself should be just that, online. Meaning, you shouldn't have to download optical software to place an order. If your practice doesn't have a high-speed internet connection, downloading this software could be very time-consuming. In addition, if someone who isn't very tech-savvy tries to install the software incorrectly, you could be looking at bigger problems than you had before. By using an online web portal, you won't have to download any software and can access the ordering engine with the internet browser that came with your computer.
Using an Online Service that Isn't Available 24/7
Many online ordering services provide you the benefits of online order status and error checking, but is the 'online' solution they provide truly available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Oftentimes these online services aren't connected to the internet 24/7 so it's impossible to send an order or check the status of an order at your convenience. With a web portal, you're able to check and place orders from wherever you are. This means if you're attending any upcoming events, you can check in on your orders while you're out of the office. Now, that's having complete control over your ordering.
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Editor's note: This post was originally published Jan. 24, 2012. It has been updated for richness and relevance of content on July 26, 2021.