Warby Parker launched eight years ago to disrupt the eyeglass market, with its fashionable and reasonably priced eyewear, and recently raised $75 million to fund its continued growth. But how are things looking for the e-commerce innovator? New data from Slice Intelligence shows Warby Parker’s revenue grew 19.5 percent year-over-year in 2017 -- lower than the e-commerce average of 23 percent -- while new buyers grew 12.4 percent.
Warby Parker attracts millennials and high-income buyers
As buyers who make over $150,000 make up the second largest buyer population
Copyright © Rakuten Intelligence 2019. April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2018. n=3,637,739
Warby Parker pricing successfully drives ‘I’ll take two’ behavior
Warby Parker buyers are completing more than one (1.4) order per year on average, and buying an average of 1.5 units per order. This brand loyalty resonates highest with buyers between the ages of 25-34 (millennials, of course), but one of the more surprising demographic breakouts comes from the income brackets. Buyers who earn more than $149,000 a year make up 18 percent of Warby Parker buyers, showing that Warby Parker has become a chic brand, not just an inexpensive alternative. People who earn between $25,000 - $49,000 are Warby’s largest income bracket breakout, making up 23.9 percent of buyers.
Cities with stores outperform population size
Looking at Warby Parker’s penetration by market, it appears that the presence of their stores has an impact. Washington DC is only the 21st largest market in the U.S., but has three Warby Parker stores, making it Warby Parker's fourth largest market. Similarly, Boston is the 22nd largest market in the U.S., but, with four stores, is Warby Parker’s fifth largest market.
"Warby Parker’s strength in markets where it has multiple stores seems to validate its store development strategy," said Ken Cassar, principle analyst, Slice Intelligence. "Of course, it's also possible that Warby Parker is putting stores where they’ve experienced the strongest interest."
Warby Parker’s biggest markets aren’t all the biggest cities
Proving population size isn't everything
Copyright © Rakuten Intelligence 2019. April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2018. n=75,021
About this data
With a panel of over 5.5 million online shoppers, Slice Intelligence gives the most detailed, and accurate digital commerce data available, and is reported daily.
Slice Intelligence is the only service to measure digital commerce directly from the consumer, across all retailers, at the item level, and over time. Our retailer-independent methodology precisely measures commerce as it happens. By extracting detailed information from hundreds of millions of aggregated and anonymized e-receipts, Slice can map the entire Purchase Graph, connecting each and every consumer to all their purchases.
Slice gets its data from e-receipts – not a browser, app or software installed by the end-user – so its measurement reflects comprehensive shopping behavior across multiple devices, over time, which are key in an increasingly omnichannel retail world. Slice Intelligence is the exclusive e-commerce data provider for NPD’s Checkout Tracking e-commerce service.
