Company: WRBY
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001504776-25-000010
Chunk: 156

Company: Warby Parker Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 156
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 innovate, despite strong and defensible fundamentals. The process of buying eyewear has lacked an engaging customer experience and has historically been defined by:

•Underinvested Shopping Experience. The legacy customer journey largely entails going in person to an optical retailer, browsing frames stored behind locked cases, and feeling overwhelmed by the assortment. Customers rely heavily on a dominant physical footprint with little to no digital counterparts.

•Confusing, Unstandardized, and Opaque Pricing. Beyond selection of frames, the purchase decision involves complex, multi-step decision-making with an emphasis on upselling lens alternatives and coating options. We believe there is also little connection between pricing and quality.

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•Unappealing Value Proposition. Glasses have historically only been offered at a premium price point, leaving millions of customers without access to stylish, affordable eyewear. There is often a significant markup at 10x to 20x from manufacture to sale, as products are often burdened by various licensing, wholesale, and retail fees that support the legacy supply chain. Upon checkout, customers often find their vision insurance (if they have it) only covers a portion of their purchase.

•Limited Ongoing Customer Engagement. The eyewear industry has been built to maximize individual transactions versus optimize the customer journey. In addition, a concentrated number of companies license the vast majority of premium eyewear brands sold and often wholesale their products through retailers, so they lack direct connection to their end customers.

The legacy optical industry is highly concentrated amongst a few industry players that have created an illusion of choice for consumers. While there are approximately 45,000 optical retail stores in the U.S. as of December 2024, consumers are often unaware that power is consolidated among a handful of companies, whose influence spans the full eyewear value chain from design, to manufacturing, distribution, retailing, and insurance.

Eyewear is unique as it’s both a style choice (“I want it”) and a medical necessity (“I need it”). The legacy purchase experience, however, has primarily emphasized eyewear’s medical attributes. At Warby Parker, we believe customers should be able to purchase high-quality eyewear online or in an engaging retail store environment with helpful, friendly associates committed to delivering a fun experience, all at a unified and transparent price.

Sustainable Growth Driven by Customer Focus and Innovation

As we aspire towards continued ambitious, sustainable growth, we plan to leverage distinct growth strategies, which include: 

•Strengthening Engagement with Our Existing Customers. As we further expand our products and services, we see a