Online retailer turns eyewear into fashionwear

by Kate Pritchard - Friday, 25th April 2008 -

High street opticians were cross-eyed with fury when James Murray Wells launched Glasses Direct, selling specs online at a fraction of the price. As the industry moves from function to fashion, Murray Wells is using the web to revolutionise buying habits.

“It’s one thing to be able to save people a hell of a lot of money but I want to change the entire way people buy glasses,” says Murray Wells, who set up Glasses Direct in 2004 when he was still a nipper at university.

We’re interviewing Murray Wells as part of the My First Million series we’re running in association with Orange, and he’s sporting a rather garish pair of red specs.

“I have a different pair for every day of the week,” he says. “Now that glasses are so affordable [prescription glasses start at £15 on his website], people are realising that they can own four or five pairs. Glasses are becoming a fashion accessory."

Murray Wells says that “stuffy, old-school retailers” sell glasses according to their price bracket. As more people flock to the internet to buy essential items at knock-down prices, Murray Wells is rolling out new marketing techniques, selling glasses according to people’s moods and activities. "If you’ve got a hot date lined up, you can buy a pair of romantic glasses. If you’re about to clinch a multi-million pound deal, you can pick up some serious business specs," he says.

Sales at Glass Direct hit £2.4m in 2007. Murray expects turnover to top £8m this year and is setting his sights on international expansion. Pretty impressive for someone who spent £500 “knocking together a website” while studying for his degree.

"In many ways, we're recession-proof," he says. "Glasses are a product that you need and we deliver them at better value than anyone else."

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