4 ms·

No, their business model is based on pretending like they are saving you money when they are just ripping off the customer for marginally less with fancy brandi

No, their business model is based on pretending like they are saving you money when they are just ripping off the customer for marginally less with fancy branding like dollar shave club. Look at Zenni Optical and tell me I'm wrong.

09bjb 9y ago
Not sure why this is getting tons of downvotes. Warby Parker's profitability per retail square foot is one of the highest in all of retail mostly because there's such a distance between what their frames cost to make and what they sell them for. Limited choice (Trader Joe's style) and a good sense for the products their target market wants seem to be their secret sauces to pulling off crazy margins on said products.
- swyx 9y ago
  >profitability per retail square foot is one of the highest are these numbers public? source?
  - walterbell 9y ago
    https://www.fastcompany.com/3041334/warby-parker-sees-the-future-of-retail https://www.fastcompany.com/3041334/warby-parker-sees-the-fu... "...the company is still averaging about $3,000 per square foot of retail space, a figure that’s in the same breath as Tiffany’s estimated $3,043 ... stores are not profit centers as much as marketing collateral, giant advertisements for Warby Parker’s website. “They’re synergistic,” he says, noting that 85% of Warby retail buyers have already browsed online."
    - swyx 9y ago
      amazing.
- rtpg 9y ago
  Don't they make most of their money online? If Google opened up a retail shop I'm sure their profit per square foot will be quite high....
el_benhameen 9y ago
Their episode of How I Built This was pretty interesting. They talk about how they initially tried even lower prices but found that below $99, people started to question the quality of the product. That could be marketing in and of itself, I suppose. http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=506455305:506610651 http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=506455305:506610651
- semi-extrinsic 9y ago
  On a similar note, where I live the cheapest Ibuprofen you can buy is $10 for a 20 pack, and it's all name-brand stuff. The generic companies who sell stuff at $2 per pack in other countries tried entering the market and failed, because people didn't trust the quality.
  - janekm 9y ago
    Generics in UK supermarkets is <$0.5 a box...

09bjb 9y ago

Not sure why this is getting tons of downvotes. Warby Parker's profitability per retail square foot is one of the highest in all of retail mostly because there's such a distance between what their frames cost to make and what they sell them for. Limited choice (Trader Joe's style) and a good sense for the products their target market wants seem to be their secret sauces to pulling off crazy margins on said products.

swyx 9y ago
>profitability per retail square foot is one of the highest are these numbers public? source?
- walterbell 9y ago
  https://www.fastcompany.com/3041334/warby-parker-sees-the-future-of-retail https://www.fastcompany.com/3041334/warby-parker-sees-the-fu... "...the company is still averaging about $3,000 per square foot of retail space, a figure that’s in the same breath as Tiffany’s estimated $3,043 ... stores are not profit centers as much as marketing collateral, giant advertisements for Warby Parker’s website. “They’re synergistic,” he says, noting that 85% of Warby retail buyers have already browsed online."
  - swyx 9y ago
    amazing.
rtpg 9y ago
Don't they make most of their money online? If Google opened up a retail shop I'm sure their profit per square foot will be quite high....

el_benhameen 9y ago

Their episode of How I Built This was pretty interesting. They talk about how they initially tried even lower prices but found that below $99, people started to question the quality of the product. That could be marketing in and of itself, I suppose. http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=506455305:506610651 http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=506455305:506610651

semi-extrinsic 9y ago
On a similar note, where I live the cheapest Ibuprofen you can buy is $10 for a 20 pack, and it's all name-brand stuff. The generic companies who sell stuff at $2 per pack in other countries tried entering the market and failed, because people didn't trust the quality.
- janekm 9y ago
  Generics in UK supermarkets is <$0.5 a box...