Summary of Warby Parker’s Australian Expansion

Warby Parker is a United States eyeglass retailer founded in 2010, offering high-quality
prescription glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses. Although it is mainly e-commerce based, it
has expanded to 183 retail locations in the US and Canada. Warby Parker offers a digital try-on
experience, where you can see how the glasses fit you through their augmented reality
technology. This sets them apart from their competition and has been their strongest competitive
advantage.

As the US eyewear market is highly saturated, Warby Parker is looking to internationalise due to
market-seeking motivations. Their strong vertical integration and their innovation is flexible and
well-suited to be transferred to an international market. Moving into Australia would lead to
reaching a larger market, which would increase customer diversification and revenue.

Australia is a great market to enter for Warby Parker as they look to expand out of North
America, with the cultural, administrative, and economic distance being close to the home
market. Although the geographic distance is significant, Warby Parker can still be able to
increase their profits due to the efficiency of home replication. Through exporting and wholly
owned subsidiaries, Warby Parker can retail in the same manner that they do in the US. This is
possible due to the low need for local responsiveness in the eyewear market in Australia relative
to the home market.

As Warby Parker’s technology is its biggest comparative advantage, it is important to enter

through a wholly owned subsidiary to protect the intellectual property. Warby Parker also has a
need to protect and maintain brand consistency and its organisational/HR processes, making a
mode of entry with less control unfit for their expansion. Although Warby Parker will not be a
first mover in the market, they are able to draw benefits from hiring local workers who already
have experience and expertise in the industry, reducing the gap between the local consumers and
the foreignness of the brand.

Through a market analysis looking at growth and competition, as well as using Porter’s Diamond
and Five Forces, we’ll demonstrate why Australia is the right market for Warby Parker to expand
into. Combining this with Warby Parker’s home market and their ownership advantages, we
believe that Warby Parker can be successful in their Australian expansion.