Please describe what the company does…

My Glasses Club is the worlds first subscription-based prescription glasses retailer.

By joining our club, from just 99p per month, members can choose a new pair of prescription glasses or sunglasses every six months from our range; which includes all their favourite brands.

Their glasses will be delivered straight to their doorstep within five days and come with free reglazes which covers them lens against damage or if their prescription changes.

They can cancel at anytime and even keep their glasses. 

What problems does it solve?

We make it easier and more affordable for glasses wearers to own more than one pair.

The upfront cost of buying glasses is expensive and the ongoing cost of getting them reglazed with a new prescription can leave you feeling short changed. So we wanted to do something about it.

Utilising a subscription-based model means customers pay an affordable monthly amount in return for two pairs of glasses each year with free reglazes.  

Is this a crowded market? 

The online optics industry is certainly not competition free, but most of the websites popping up these days are smaller outfits that do not carry stock or do their glazing in-house.

Among other things, this leads to longer delivery timescales of up to 14 days. Since we do everything in house at My Glasses Club, it means customers receive orders within five days. 

What are your goals?

Our immediate goals are to let as many people know about us as possible.

We are a totally new concept in the industry offering a better way of purchasing glasses online, so we want to communicate this to the masses.

What are the biggest challenges you face?

Although the online market for spectacles is well established the consumer still likes to try on the frames before they buy.

We offer a free home trial service to help this but the customer still has to wait until it arrives. Consumers want things faster these days so I think our biggest challenge will be speeding up how quickly we can put frames on faces.

Technology and virtual mirrors will play a big role in this for us but we are yet to find a suitable solution that really works. 

How will you make money?

Ultimately by adding real value to glasses wearers and giving them the peace of mind they may find at traditional independent high street opticians. We look after all our members.  

Who is in your team?

The company was co-founded by Scott Woodhead who has been involved in multiple online business over the last 10 years.

Then behind the scenes Jo looks after our members, Steven and Dihren work in the lab and our creative team make everything look beautiful. 

Where would you like to be in one, three and five years’ time?

In the next five years we would like to be a major player in the online optics space, so we have a lot of work to do between now and then to realise that dream.

Other than your own, what are your favourite websites / apps / tools?

I really love a desktop application called EyeLeo which helps prevent eye strain when using a computer.

Used regularly it will help to reduce the number of people requiring glasses which might mean less members for us but if more people can see unaided then that’s fine by us.