In times of digitalisation, the rise of the internet and mobile devices, there is almost everything available to shop online (Dentzel, 2013). However, products such as eyeglasses have for a long time only been available offline, or at least people thought that they had to buy glasses offline because they require professional knowledge and have to be customized. The company Mister Spex (MS) was one of the first to break through the traditional business model of the optician industry. It launched in 2007 a successful digital business model via its online shop (Ecommerce News, 2018). In the following blog post, I want to examine the digital business model of MS and work out how and why it has contributed to its great success.

To do so, I firstly want to introduce the company MS to you. Since its foundation, it has become one of the leading online opticians in Europe (Mister Spex GmbH a, 2020). Nowadays, it has over 3 million customers, is operating in 10 European countries, has partnerships with over 500 local opticians and has opened 11 own retail stores. In 2016 the company received the Red Dot Award for its innovative shop concept (DN Capital, 2019). But what is it that makes MS’s store concept so innovative and its business model so successful?

To begin with, the focus of its business model is on creating added value for its customers compared to its competitors. Although it started as an online shop, it soon cooperated with many local opticians and evolved into a multi-channel system to offer its customers various distribution options. The partnerships and the opening of its own shops had many advantages for the company and are very decisive for its success. Firstly, it helped MS to generate new local customers who were previously unfamiliar with the brand. Secondly, it has enabled the company to help inexperienced customers to switch to online shopping. Once they have completed an eye test, which is included in the purchase, and the correct lenses have been identified, the customer can create an account online. From then on, the customer can have any type of glasses or frames made online according to his individual needs and have them delivered to his home. Additionally, local partnerships and own retail stores enable MS to provide exceptional customer service, which creates a tremendous competitive advantage. The partners also benefits from it and receive a certain margin on each purchase (Mister Spex GmbH, 2020; Sven, 2016).

Furthermore, MS stands for high quality, cost transparency and a wide product portfolio. Due to its online presence, reputation and high awareness through marketing campaigns and local optician partners, it could straightforwardly enter foreign markets in Europe and broaden its product portfolio. Nowadays, the company has the largest product range in the European market. This is only possible because of its digital business models, which includes great technological and digital support in terms of operating processes, logistic and shipment. Its website provides simple handling of purchases and offers various payment opportunities, including free shipment (Mister Spex GmbH a, 2020). Its digital business model connects its offline and online performances, runs various touchpoints to interact with its customers and organises all logistics operations. Its ‚Intershop Commerce Management‘ forms a robust platform for all visitors and offers a customized and user-friendly experience across all channels (Intershop Communications AG, 2020).

A just recently added feature of MS which adds a lot of value to its business model is the integration of virtual reality (VR) tool to its website. It enables customers to try on glasses and sunglasses online by uploading a picture of themselves or recording live with a camera and see directly how the product suits them. Being able to try the product online reduces the risk of making a bad buy and encourages people to buy online as there is no need to go to a local store for a fitting (Mister Spex GmbH c., 2020). The implementation of VR in its business model shows how innovative the company is. There are forecasts that virtual reality with other enhanced technologies will have a significant impact on the retail industry and change its business environment in the future (Martínez-Navarro, Bigné, Guixeres, Alcañiz, & Torrecilla, 2019). The following chart gives an idea of the potential economic impact in the retail industry due to VR for the future (ABI Research; Statista estimates, 2019).

In conclusion, the hybrid store concept and the well-functioning connection of online and offline is what makes MS so successful. Additionally, it can be assumed that this in combination with its convenient handling, excellent customer support and its good reputation has encouraged people to loose the fear to buy their glasses online. The implementation of VR gives the company an additional competitive advantage. It enables its customers to try on their glasses online, which takes away the fear of making the wrong purchases. In order to summarize its digital business model and to make it clearer, I have used the framework of the business model in Appendix 1 (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). What do you think of this digital business model and could you imagine buying your glasses online?

Reference list

ABI Research; Statista estimates. (2019). Forecast size of the retail and marketing virtual reality (VR) market worldwide from 2020 to 2022, by region (in million U.S. dollars). Retrieved February 2020, from Statistica: https://www.statista.com/statistics/969418/worldwide-forecast-virtual-reality-market-by-segment/

Dentzel, Z. (2013). How the Internet Has Changed Everyday Life. Retrieved February 2020, from Open Mind BBVA: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/internet-changed-everyday-life/

DN Capital. (2019). Mister Spex raises €65 million to accelerate international growth and retail network expansion. Retrieved February 2020, from DN Capital News: https://www.dncapital.com/blog/mister-spex-raises-e65-million-to-accelerate-international-growth-and-retail-network-expansion/

Ecommerce News. (2018). lightspeed ecommerce Home > Ecommerce in Europe > Europe Mister Spex Mister Spex: ‘On average, 15,000 orders per day’. Retrieved February 2020, from Ecommerce News: https://ecommercenews.eu/mister-spex-on-average-15000-orders-per-day/

Intershop Communications AG. (2020). Clear vision for mister spex. Retrieved February 2020, from Growing with Intershop: https://www.intershop.com/en/customers-details/mister-spex

Martínez-Navarro, J., Bigné, E., Guixeres, J., Alcañiz, M., & Torrecilla, C. (2019). The influence of virtual reality in e-commerce. Journal of Business Research.

Mister Spex GmbH a. (2020). Mister Spex. Retrieved February 2020 , from Who we are: https://corporate.misterspex.com/en/

Mister Spex GmbH b. (2020). Mister Spex. Retrieved February 2020, from Media Contact: https://corporate.misterspex.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Foto-teilen.jpg

Mister Spex GmbH c. (2020). Sunglasses with Try-on in 3D. Retrieved February 2020, from Mister Spex: https://www.misterspex.co.uk/sunglasses/virtual-fitting-sunglasses

Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.