A leading membership warehouse retailer operating one of North America’s largest membership club chains — with an in-club Optical Center in each location. Optical is a high-touch, appointment-and-walk-in service: members arrive for eye exams, fittings, eyewear pickup, and repairs. Because the optical center sits inside a full warehouse club, a member waiting for service is steps away from a floor full of merchandise.
Retail
How a Warehouse Club Gave Members Back 9,000+ Hours a Quarter by Turning Optical Waits Into Shopping
A leading membership warehouse retailer rolled Frontlion's in-person service platform out across the optical centers in its clubs nationwide, letting members check in by phone and shop the floor while they wait. In a recent quarter the platform engaged more than 90,000 members, converted 9,161 hours of waiting into shopping time, and held abandonment to 1.4%.
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+9K
Member wait hours converted to shopping
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77%
Positive service outcomes
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599
Members recovered after abandoning
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19%
Lift in member shopping time and basket value
What Leaders Say
Who They Are
Customer Snapshot
The Problem
The Challenge
In many clubs, members entered their information by hand or stood in a physical line with no view of how long they would wait. One optician described the peak-hour reality as being ready to hand people sticky notes with their place in line. That opaque line cost the retailer twice — it made a high-touch service feel disorganized, and it tied members to a spot on the floor when they could have been shopping the club.
- Members standing in a physical line — unable to browse the club floor while they waited
- No standardized check-in experience across clubs — varied location by location
- No automated recovery of members who left before being served
- No instrumented view of service outcomes, abandonment, or basket impact club-by-club
The Decision
Why Frontlion?
The retailer validated the platform in a controlled pilot before committing nationally, seeking a partner that could stand up a consistent optical experience in every club and measure the results. Three factors drove the decision: a single configurable experience deployable everywhere, in-wait service-specific recommendations, and full instrumentation to measure basket value, abandonment, recovery, and outcomes.
Shop While You Wait
Members check in by QR code, then shop the floor — returning when it's nearly their turn, often with full carts.
In-Wait Recommendations
278,442 service-specific, branded recommendations served per quarter while members wait on the club floor.
Automated Recovery
When a member leaves before being served, the platform drives automated follow-up to re-engage them — 599 recovered in a recent quarter.
Full Instrumentation
Every visit, outcome, abandonment, and basket impact captured club-by-club — leadership has a measured view across the network.
How It Works
The Solution
Frontlion deployed its in-person service platform across the retailer’s optical centers — giving every club the same modern member experience and giving the program team one instrumented operating model.
Deployment
How the Rollout Worked
11-Club Pilot (10 Weeks)
Proof Validated
National Rollout
Impact
Operational Challenges Solved & Results
In a recent quarter the platform engaged more than 90,000 members, converted 9,161 hours of waiting into shopping time, delivered 77% positive service outcomes at 1.4% abandonment, recovered 599 members who had abandoned, and served 278,442 in-wait recommendations. The pilot that led to the national rollout lifted member shopping time and basket value 19%.
9,161 hrs/quarter
Wait Hours Converted to Shopping
9,161 hours of dead waiting time converted to active shopping on the club floor in a recent quarter.
77%
Positive Service Outcomes
77% of service interactions ended in a positive outcome — 70% of sales-related visits completed a sale.
1.4%
Abandonment Rate
Abandonment held to just 1.4% — the lowest in the optical category.
599
Members Recovered
599 members who left before being served were re-engaged through automated follow-up.
19%
Pilot Basket Lift
Pilot lifted member shopping time and basket value 19% — $30.67 average basket increase — proving the model before national rollout.