The average American is expected to purchase nearly four pairs of eyeglasses by 2024. Warby Parker believes these frames can take up a lot of space.

But should they fill online shopping carts instead?

In early August, the omnichannel eyewear brand reported its highest quarterly increase in online sales since the start of fiscal 2021, up 4.4% from the second quarter of 2023. Thanks in part to higher spending on brand awareness, the rebound appears to have revived demand for Warby Parker’s online, try-on-at-home eyeglass frames offering.

Nevertheless, the brand remains true to its goal of ultimately opening 900 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide, of which it currently operates around 256.

Physical stores cost a lot more money and require a higher level of on-site control than digital retail, and Warby Parker’s lower-margin online division can obviously hold its own.

So what do the company’s visionaries see in bricks?

Industry reading: How Warby Parker is putting in the effort

The answer lies in Warby Parker’s role in the entire eyewear industry, which changed in 2010 with a unique offer: “We’ll send you up to five frames to try on for five days, free of charge, return shipping included.”

This “try-on at home” convenience alone disrupted the eyewear industry, and Warby Parker’s direct-to-consumer model allowed the company to sell fashionable prescription glasses for as little as $95. with profitAccording to CNBC, Warby Parker met its full-year revenue goal within three weeks of launch and added 20,000 waitlist customers.

One reason the startup was able to keep its costs low was because it didn’t have to spend a portion of its eyeglass sales on inventory costs. It also saves money by avoiding the typical costs of traditional eyeglass manufacturing: Warby Parker designs its own frames to avoid licensing fees and works directly with suppliers, meaning no middlemen.

Overall, each customer saves an average of $97, according to a report in Leaders magazine.

Fourteen years later, the model is still paying off. Despite investing in brick-and-mortar stores, Warby Parker continues to offer single-lens prescription glasses for as little as $95. However, the company also sells frames for nearly $200 with additional features such as anti-fatigue and blue-light filtering lens treatments.

These higher-priced options help increase the average order value. In the second quarter of 2024, Warby Parker’s nearly 2.4 million active shoppers spent an average of $302 per person, an 8.8% increase over the same quarter in 2023.

That’s above the national average: According to Statista, U.S. consumers are expected to spend a total of $103 on eyeglasses in 2024.

Why Warby Parker’s bifocal approach makes sense

Yet Warby Parker remains a small fish in the eyewear market, with sales representing 1% of a $66 billion industry led by Luxottica, Vision Source and even Walmart. While its attractive, precisely lit optical stores represent a major investment, for these reasons they may be too important to ignore.

Reason 1: Warby Parker’s business is simply going well. Yes, they have higher overhead costs, but Warby Parker stores generate revenue and complement the online business. In fiscal 2023, Warby Parker’s online sales fell 3.1% while store sales rose 21.7%. This channel difference is reflected across the industry: According to Statista, physical eyeglass sales are expected to account for 74% of total industry sales in 2024, and online sales will account for 26%. This could be because consumers can try out more than five frames, which can be fun. A warning: While online sales of eyewear have only increased by a few percentage points since 2021, Statista predicts that by 2027 they will reach a large enough market share to account for almost a third of the industry. This suggests that more players are entering the market and that more consumers are choosing to spend their money on eyewear online.

Reason 2: Competition from all directions. Warby Parker’s online platform has brought a number of serious competitors to market, including Pair Eyewear, Zenni Optical and Amazon. Its branded stores differentiate it from these rivals, and its strategically placed stores in cities in particular encourage impulse purchases (30% of stores are located on the street rather than in malls). But there is also plenty of competition from brick-and-mortar retailers: Warby Parker’s 256 optical stores are among 45,000 in the U.S., the company reports. A warning: If Warby Parker stores require unexpectedly high levels of management attention due to poor performance, theft or other problems, the disruption could force management to shift its focus away from key online features and risk losing customers to copycat competitors.

Reason 3: The eye-to-eye examinationsWarby Parker offers virtual vision tests online via artificial intelligence, but some customers prefer to see their doctor in person (85% of all prescription eyeglasses are purchased in person, according to the Review of Optometric Business), so the company employs opticians in its stores to provide vision tests and consultations. These professional services are likely to lead diagnosed patients to make further purchases in-store. A warning: Doctors earn more than store employees, so those higher salaries could squeeze profit margins as Warby Parker expands its in-store exam services. As the company highlighted in its second-quarter earnings report, while gross margin increased from 54.6% in the second quarter of 2023 to 56% in 2024, “higher physician salaries” partially offset the margin growth.

Reason 4: A look at broader shopping behavior. By combining online and in-store shopper activity, Warby Parker gains more nuanced insights into its customers. First, store associates can determine customer preferences simply by answering questions. Through Warby Parker’s proprietary Point of Everything sales software, these associates can also access online customer accounts that include browsing histories, purchases, prescriptions and delivery locations. According to the Leaders report, associates can even send customers follow-up emails with embedded purchase buttons for the frames they tried on in the store. A warning: Warby Parker’s attentive service could veer into the “creepy” if it sends emails too frequently or too quickly.

And let’s not forget what holds these bricks and bytes together

Yes, stores have high overhead and high costs, but when it comes to selling something as personal as eyeglasses, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Warby Parker has turned the eyewear industry on its head with its unprecedented direct-to-consumer model. And it’s caused quite a stir.

Warby Parker built a brand image long before it built stores. That image remains the company’s most important investment, whether it translates into bricks or bytes.