Eyewear retailer Warby Parker says new store openings last year helped the company narrow its net loss – however, an analyst says that insufficient marketing is holding the company back.
The company’s annual net loss stood at $63.2 million as net revenue rose 12 per cent to $669.8 million.
The company opened 40 new stores, ending the year with 237.
“[W]e maintain our view that active customer growth is still coming in too shallow relative to the expansion efforts,” said GlobalData MD Neil Saunders.
“This is not to say that new stores are not working. We believe that they are, at least to an extent. The problem is that planned cuts to marketing over the past year have dampened the reach of Warby Parker and deflated customer growth.”
Saunders said that while he believes the stores are sound long-term investments, more marketing is crucial to boosting the number of customers as the economy recovers.
This year, Warby Parker forecasts net revenue to grow 12 per cent to 13 per cent to $748 to $758 million.
“Looking to 2024, we’re excited to meet millions of customers where and how they want to shop as we expand our retail presence, deploy disciplined marketing spend to support growth across our omnichannel experiences, and nearly double the number of insured lives who can use their in-network vision benefits with Warby Parker to over 34 million individuals,” said Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa.
