How These French Founders Built A Warby Parker Competitor That’s Even More Affordable

Easy Peasy: The French Warby Parker Competitor - Forbes Summary

Key Concepts:

• Affordable luxury eyewear
• Direct-to-consumer (DTC) vs. brick-and-mortar retail strategy
• Pivot strategy
• Brand scaling
• Fundraising

1. Introduction and Background:

• Easy Peasy, formerly known as C Concept and Mastige, is a French eyewear company founded in 2010 by Xavier Agua, Charles Brun, and Quentyn Coturier.
• The company aims to provide affordable luxury eyewear, competing with brands like Warby Parker.
• The founders, friends since their teenage years in Leon, France, all attended business school in Paris and aspired to be entrepreneurs.

2. Business Model and Pricing:

• Easy Peasy's prices range from $50 to $75, making them more affordable than Warby Parker, which starts at $95.
• Initially, C Concept adopted a brick-and-mortar approach, contrasting with Warby Parker's direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy.
• The founders believed French consumers preferred the in-store experience, while American consumers favored the convenience of at-home try-ons.

3. Early Business and Initial Strategy:

• The initial business idea involved self-service reading glasses in public places like banks and hotels.
• Coturier's inspiration came from his mother's frequent need for reading glasses in public settings. Quote: "I had the idea at the beginning because my mom was always looking for her glasses in restaurants and banks. She would say, could you help me read? Give me your eyes."
• The tagline was "clear vision at your fingertips."
• Each founder invested $6,500, and they secured $260,000 in bank loans.
• First-year sales slightly exceeded the loan amount.
• Revenue doubled in 2011 and reached $850,000 in 2012.

4. Pivot and Rebranding:

• Despite consistent growth, the initial self-service model didn't meet the founders' expectations.
• Brun stated, "We thought we could sell these all around the world to millions of places. The product was useful, but it was hard for people to understand the need and to convince places like banks and post offices."
• The founders recognized untapped potential in the traditional reading glasses market.
• They pivoted to "reinvent reading glasses from conventional products to a sexy lifestyle and fashion product."
• They raised nearly $800,000 in two fundraising rounds in 2012 and 2013 from friends and family, giving a minority equity share to two lead investors.
• They began working with a manufacturing company in Taiwan.
• The company rebranded as Easy Peasy.

5. Scaling and Expansion:

• The company's big break came with a launch in the luxury Parisian boutique Colette.
• C Concept earned just under $4 million in revenue in 2013, achieving net profitability for the first time.
• The founders focused on launching the product in fashionable department stores and neighborhoods across Europe.
• The product line expanded to include sunglasses, kids' eyewear, and sports eyewear.

6. Comparison to Warby Parker and Swatch:

• Warby Parker's revenue was $770 million last year, but it has not expanded beyond the United States and Canada.
• Easy Peasy saw itself more in the mold of Swatch, the inexpensive Swiss watch company, aiming for ubiquity.

7. Current Status:

• Easy Peasy currently generates nearly $60 million in annual revenue.
• The company continues to operate with a focus on affordable luxury and stylish eyewear.

8. Conclusion:

Easy Peasy, starting from a self-service reading glasses concept, successfully pivoted to become a significant player in the affordable luxury eyewear market. By focusing on style, affordability, and strategic retail partnerships, the French company has achieved substantial growth and competes with established brands like Warby Parker. The founders' ability to adapt and rebrand has been crucial to their success.