In the new era of optometry, eyeglasses aren’t just a necessity — they’re a fashion statement. Rivet & Sway is bringing this mindset to women nationwide by offering discounts for multiple pairs of glasses.
With the updated pricing format, women can purchase their first pair of glasses for $169. Each pair added to the final order will cost only $99.
{loadposition TSHBAIAA022014} Just like women have more than one pair of shoes, the new pricing model is designed to provide a “really compelling incentive for consumers to buy more than one pair of glasses,” said Sarah Bryar, CEO of Rivet & Sway, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. The company will continue to offer a variety of services, including free personal styling, convenient home try-on, high-quality lenses, lens coatings, and free shipping.
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“Not only are we changing the way people buy glasses, but we’re also changing the way people perceive glasses,” Bryar said. “We truly believe that glasses can make women feel more beautiful and help them express their style — it’s the perfect fashion accessory. We want to align our product pricing with our experience to encourage women to find one pair, or more, of glasses.”
The new pricing policy was implemented due to positive results from a promotion during the 2013 holiday season. Between November and December, Rivet & Sway offered discounts of up to 40% on multiple frames. As a result, the company saw weekly sales increase by 57% within the first four days of the campaign kick-off.
“People were really responding to this opportunity to buy more than one pair [of glasses],” Bryar said. “This is amazing because if you look industry wide, most people buy glasses once every two years.”
A Pop Of Color And More Guided Experience
For the eTailer’s first collection, Bryar and her team focused on three key categories: black, tortoise and color. However, more colorful lenses in red, blue and even pink would be considered “editorial material,” Bryar explained. This means while the more fashion-forward frames would help generate buzz and encourage consumers to visit the web site, they wouldn’t necessarily be top sellers.
“We find women actually buy colored frames from Rivet & Sway because they have a pair of glasses they spent $400 or $600 on, and they plan to keep those for a while,” Bryar said. “But they have the opportunity to buy another pair of beautiful glasses at a great price point.”
Along with the new pricing structure, Rivet & Sway has made new enhancements to its at home try-on offering. Consumers now have the ability to test five different styles of lenses before making a final purchase decision. Prior to this change, consumers could have three types of frames delivered to their homes. However, Bryar noted that it was more challenging to get consumers to purchase more than one pair of glasses when they couldn’t experiment freely. The at home try-on, coupled with Rivet & Sway’s stylist services, empower consumers to go outside their fashion comfort zone.
“Most women who come to the site don’t know what they want or what type of glasses looks good on them,” Bryar said. “We see our role as helping women figure that out. That’s why the stylist service is so important to us — it’s an important part of the online shopping experience.”
Rivet & Sway plans to continue to evolve its customer experience by integrating stylists and merchandising throughout the browsing and buying journey — even for customers who have not initially opted in for help. The eTailer is focusing on “changing the merchandising experience into a guided experience,” Bryar said. While consumers would be able to browse collections on their own, “we also could guide you based on information you give us.”
