The announcement of the sales of Ray-Ban sunglasses directly through an own Ray-Ban webshop caused some turbulence in Belgium but not that much yet in the Netherlands. Of course you could already buy Ray-Ban’s online everywhere. However now, Ray-Ban claims to sell Ray-Ban’s at this website which you cannot buy in a store. The question is what is more harmful; the same collection opticians sell in their stores, available online as well or a collection with added value for which you need to go online because you will not find it in the stores. For the basis product you go to the store, if you want something special, you shop online. It seems to mark a new trend and the beginning of a “reversed world”. We were used to buy the bulk online and find the specialties in specialized boutiques but more and more manufacturers choose to sell them in their own monobrand stores and webshops. That way it is much easier to control the information and meet the demand of consumers for more and more personalized products. That is exactly what Ray-Ban does here and it makes absolutely clear how large manufacturers look at stores. Many employees in stores have limited know-how about products and stores sell so many brands you can hardly expect employees to know all about it. Selling tailormade products online is much easier. It would demand an army of trainers to give all employees in the stores all the necessary information and train them to use it and why would a brand invest in that when products can easily and with more profit be sold online. Anyway, this is once again a clear sign for stores to increase efforts and improve know-how and shopping experience and most of all invest in new, innovative and exciting products. Opticians in some countries seem to understand this better as others in other countries. Independent stores need to specialize and reduce the amount of brands they sell. Want to see what you can buy at the Ray-Ban Remix store? Click here!
