Wednesday, October 7, 2015

"Warby Parker sells a monocle. Which just about no one buys. But"



WP co-founder:
When we launched in 2010, our debut collection featured 27 pairs of eyeglasses and one monocle--a handsome tortoiseshell model named after Colonel Mustard. Despite dismal sales and growth prospects that roughly equal zero, the monocle has remained in rotation ever since.
...
But that's exactly why I love it. Nobody expects to stumble across a monocle while shopping in 2013. We have a showroom right inside our office headquarters in New York, and one of my favorite things to do is catch sight of customers discovering the monocle.
Also:
Q - What has been the most surprising insight/development you have found?
A - Warby Parker sells a monocle and it has an extremely high conversion rate. Most people who order this in their Home Try-On boxes end up purchasing it. Conversion is so high that we had to tweak our basket analysis algorithm specifically to account for it.