Warby Parker Case Study.

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Social Media, Trust and Prescription Glasses

Warby Parker’s social media pages have created a safe haven for their customers to come and share their stories. They have cut down on the “risk” of purchasing online and gained the trust of their consumers.

“to offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.”

Mission Statement Academy. (2019). Santa Clara University Mission Statement. https://mission-statement.com/warby-parker/

Warby Parker (WP) paved the way for those who require prescription eyewear. They not only cut costs but allowed customers to be able to choose their next pair of glasses in their own home.

Of course, like all new brands, there was some skepticism in the beginning. The concerns ranged from the quality of the eyewear due to the low prices and how important of a decision it was to merely pick a pair offline. This is where social media and the “Home Try-On Campaign” came into play. The company built a social media community by asking customers to post pictures of themselves wearing WP eye glasses and sharing their purchase. To date Warby Parker has mailed over 500,000 pairs of glasses (Mahoney & Tang, 2017).

Using Social Media to Provide Information that Consumers are Looking for.

• Provides expert advice on eye glasses.
• Launches informative YouTube videos and encourages customers to do the same (Tobin, 2013).
• Gives insight to challenges clients have had with traditional eyeglass markets in the past.
• Provides direct communication.
• Personal transactional communication.
• Brand loyalty.

For Warby Parker word of mouth marketing was huge. Friends, Family and strangers are not afraid to ask where such an item may have came from. “Omg those glasses are so cute! Where did you find them?” When the process is explained to them they might experience some dissonance. However, the free shipping and free returns along with in home try-ons limit the negative feelings. Therefore, they are not being promoted simply by self promotion but trusted sources, their clientele. Theses positive experiences shared with friends and among social media helped disrupt the traditional marketplace for prescription eye wear.

Warby Parker is also known for giving back to the community. They teamed up with a company named VisionSpring and were able to provide a person in need with a pair of glasses for every WP pair sold. 500,000 pairs of glasses have been provided to those in need so far. This makes consumers more aware of their purchasing habits and allows them to feel good about where they are buying from.

WP’s narrative is created by their current customers on social media rather than having a generic narrative created by WP themselves. Future customers will trust this far more than if Warby Parker were the only voice. Today many brands offer the “Try it out and send it back” method. I personally think it is genius and it truly does create trust among the brand. In the past I have dealt with a lot of terrible return situations and these brands let you know up front if you have a problem or simply don’t like the product just send it back at no cost to you.

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