If you have perfect vision and don’t need corrective lenses, you should consider yourself lucky. A majority of the population, at least 61%, is reported to need corrective eye wear. This can be an expensive and often unaffordable need for many people. In order to help combat this issue, four friends at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania got together to create a new way to purchase glasses. The brand they created is Warby Parker. If you are like me, you haven’t heard very much about this brand, but now that I am familiar with their product this will definitely be where I go if I ever need to purchase glasses for myself.
Warby Parker is still a relatively young company. It has only been around since 2010, but they have managed to become very successful in that short amount of time. A lot of this success has been through the use of social media and can be contributed to the word of mouth advertising that is generated based on the social mission designed by Warby Parker. In order to ensure that their company was socially responsible, the guys behind Warby Parker decided to incorporate a buy one, give one campaign into their business model. For every pair of glasses that is purchased, the company will give a pair of glasses to someone in who is in need. According to their website, at least 15% of the world’s population is not able to purchase glasses on their own. The use of this program helps to improve the lives of those that are less fortunate by giving them the gift of better sight. When customers know that when they buy a pair of glasses they also giving a pair of glasses to someone in need, this makes them feel good about their purchase.
“By circumventing traditional channels, designing glasses in-house, and engaging with customers directly, we’re able to provide higher-quality, better-looking prescription eyewear at a fraction of the going price.”
Not only does purchasing Warby Parker glasses make you feel good about helping others, it makes you feel good about helping yourself and your wallet. The average price of a pair of Warby Parker glasses is $95. They are able to charge this low price due to the way that Warby Parker designs their own glasses and utilizes non-traditional channels for sourcing their products. They are able to offer low prices because they cut out all the middle men that other companies use. This allows them to deliver a high quality product at a much lower price than you would get if you were to purchases your glasses at one of their competitors.
But, the social responsibility and low price aren’t even the best part about Warby Parker! The best part is that you never even have to leave your house to buy them! You can select up to 5 pairs of glasses and they will be mailed to you (for free!!) so that you can try them on in the comfort of your home. Once you have decided which pair, or pairs, looks best you just mail the others back. If only buying everything could be that simple! With service like this, I don’t see the success of Warby Parker dying down any time soon.
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