HiDX Safety Eyewear
A custom WordPress and WooCommerce trade platform that replaced a rented Shopify store: prices stay private until a business is approved, the range filters the way buyers shop, and optical retailers and safety distributors each get their own path, in English and French.
Hover a screen to scroll the page
Overview
HiDX makes prescription-ready safety frames built to ANSI Z87.1 and sells only to the trade: optical retailers who glaze and fit the frames, and industrial safety distributors who supply sites and fleets across the United States and Canada.
The company was selling through a Shopify theme made for retail. I audited the store, set out the problems and what they were costing the business in a written proposal, then rebuilt HiDX as a trade platform it owns: a custom WordPress theme on WooCommerce, with trade applications, approval, private pricing, quote requests and invoice terms designed around how retailers and distributors actually buy.
- Client
- HiDX Safety Eyewear
- Industry
- Safety eyewear
- Location
- United States and Canada
- Year
- 2026
- Services
- Website audit and proposal
- UX and UI design
- Custom WordPress theme
- WooCommerce trade platform
- English and French site
- Performance and accessibility
Built for every screen
The same site, laid out for each screen. Drag the edge of the window or pick a device. Hover the screen to scroll the whole page.
On real devices
The challenge
HiDX sells only to businesses, but its store was built for retail shoppers. Pages said "Log in to see price" while the store's public product feed listed almost every price. The range was filed under codes A001 to A010, retailers and distributors had nowhere to find the terms they buy on, the sign-up link left the brand's own domain, and the whole store was rented month by month.
Prices in plain sight
Shopify's public product feed returned the price of 46 of the store's 48 products to anyone who asked, while the pages told visitors to log in to see them.
Sorted by code, not by need
Collections were named A001 to A010, with no way to filter by lens colour, sealed frames or prescription-ready styles.
No room for two kinds of buyer
Optical retailers and safety distributors buy differently, but there was nowhere to show minimum orders, case packs, counter displays or invoice terms.
An off-brand front door
The "Become a Retailer" link sent eyecare professionals to hidxeyewear.myshopify.com, and the brand appeared as both "Hidxeyewear" and "Hidx Eyewear".
A store on rent
The shop lived on Shopify's servers under a monthly plan, with proper wholesale features sold as extra apps or reserved for the Plus plan.
Design boxed in
Shopify themes are made for quick retail setup, so a custom trade experience meant fighting the theme or paying a developer every time.
Give HiDX a trade platform it owns, keep prices private until a business is approved, and help every buyer find the right frame by fit, feature or reference.
Before and after
The old Shopify store, and the new HiDX trade platform. Drag the line to compare.
Site structure
A public side for browsing and research, a clear path for each kind of buyer, and everything else inside the trade account.
- Industrial Series
- Sport & Wrap Series
- Executive Series
- Accessories & Retail Support
- Prescription safety glasses
- Product pages
- Become a retailer
- Volume pricing
- Counter displays
- Retailer login
- Become a distributor
- Bulk ordering
- Net terms and accounts
- Minimum order
- Distributor login
- ANSI Z87.1 compliance
- Spec sheets
- Fit guide
- FAQs
- Trade catalogue
- Bulk order screen
- Reorder past styles
- Quote requests
- Orders and invoices
What I did
The Eyewear menu opens into one panel: every series with its models and sizes, a shop-by-need column (prescription-ready, two sizes, vented side shields, optical look, find by fit) and the trade catalogue, so nobody has to click through page after page to find a frame.
Every product shows trade pricing for approved accounts instead of a price, and the store's public data feed carries no prices either. Approved retailers see suggested retail prices in USD or CAD, and distributors receive wholesale prices by quote.
The range filters by series, frame colour, side shields, frame style, lens width and size, and every card shows the measurements and colourways up front. Search finds a frame by model code, reference, SKU or colour.
All 15 frame sizes sit on one chart of lens width against temple length. Buyers filter by what the wearer needs, or type the size printed inside the frame they wear now and see the closest HiDX fits.
Each frame lists lens, bridge and temple sizes, frame type, side shields and prescription readiness, every colourway with its order reference and SKU, glazing and compliance notes, and a spec sheet to download.
Retailers and distributors each apply through their own form on HiDX's own domain, with the questions that matter to them. Applicants set a password from the email they receive, follow the application from their account and see trade pricing across the site once the team approves them.
Approved accounts order every model, colourway and size from one screen, reorder past styles and send quote requests. Accepted quotes are paid online, or on net 30 invoice terms where agreed, in USD or CAD, and invoices print from the order history.
English and French
The site runs in English and Canadian French. Switch the language to compare.
Brand
Built on the yellow and black of the existing logo: one safety yellow for actions and highlights, near-black ink for type, cool greys that let the product photography lead, and Geist Mono for every model code, reference and measurement.
Aa
Geist
Aa
Geist Mono
The pages
Pick a page, then scroll inside the window to explore it from top to bottom.
Results
Lighthouse performance
The largest image paints in 0.4 s on desktop, against 2.4 s on the old Shopify store.
prices exposed to the public
The old store's public feed listed prices for 46 of its 48 products. The new store shows none until an account is approved.
languages
English and Canadian French across the site, from the menu to the trade forms.
What it means for the client
- Wholesale prices stay private
Retail customers and competitors no longer see trade prices, on the pages or in the store's data.
- Buyers serve themselves
Applications, reorders, quote requests and invoices all live in one account, available any time.
- A platform HiDX owns
The site runs on HiDX's own hosting under its own domain, with no monthly platform fee for the store.
- Ready for both markets
US and Canadian addresses, USD and CAD orders, and English and French throughout.
Speed
A catalogue built on large product photography, with a frame carousel and an interactive fit chart, that still paints its largest image in 0.4 seconds. These are Lighthouse scores for the home page.
- First Contentful Paint
- 0.3 s
- Largest Contentful Paint
- 0.4 s
- Total Blocking Time
- 0 ms
- Cumulative Layout Shift
- 0
- Speed Index
- 1.0 s
Lighthouse 12.8.2, emulated desktop, initial page load
The stack
The tools behind the build, and what each one does on the site.
- Custom themeA theme written from scratch for HiDX, with no page builder: the mega menu, frame carousel, catalogue filters, fit chart, live search and trade forms are all part of it.
- WooCommerceProducts, colourways and SKUs, plus the orders and quotes behind each trade account, with prices shown only to approved buyers.
- WordPressPages, resources and downloads the team manages from one dashboard.
- PHPCustom code for trade applications and approval, private pricing and the live product search.
TranslatePressEnglish and Canadian French across the site, from the menu to the trade forms.
