EssilorLuxottica partners with Pattern for Amazon expansion in Aus

EssilorLuxottica has announced a partnership with ecommerce and marketplace firm Pattern to boost its presence on online marketplaces in Australia for its Ray-Ban and Oakley brands.

This collaboration marks EssilorLuxottica's first global initiative of selling its eyewear products on Amazon through an intermediary, deviating from its traditional practice of direct engagement.

Brent Furniss, Senior Key Account Manager at EssilorLuxottica, explained the strategic move, stating, "Given the growing influence of marketplaces in Australia, EssilorLuxottica recognised the importance of being present where our customers are shopping, which is increasingly on platforms like Amazon. Partnering with Pattern to officially launch on Amazon allows customers to buy our industry-leading eyewear products from a trusted marketplace source. It also supports sales for our wider wholesale partnership network, by providing visibility of Ray-Ban and Oakley products to increasing numbers of consumers using Amazon as a search tool."

EssilorLuxottica faced challenges in directly engaging with Amazon in the Australian market, primarily due to resource constraints. Furniss noted, "Direct engagement with Amazon in the Australian market presented significant resourcing challenges for EssilorLuxottica, requiring dedicated personnel we did not currently have on board. Pattern's end-to-end marketplace services offered us the solution we needed, ensuring we were positioned to quickly expand the visibility of our Ray-Ban and Oakley brands on Australia's leading marketplace."

The partnership aims to enhance brand awareness and attract new customers by optimising listings, improving conversion rates and profitability, and addressing issues with unauthorised resellers. By launching on Amazon Australia, EssilorLuxottica has been able to access a broader customer base.

"EssilorLuxottica operates on a global scale and maintains a diverse network of partnerships worldwide. As such, it was crucial for us to avoid diverting customers from our existing wholesale partners. Instead, our aim was to tap into a fresh pool of consumers who might purchase directly from the Amazon platform or who might search on Amazon then purchase through our various other sales channels," Furniss added.

Pattern's research, highlighted in its 'Marketplace Consumer Trends Report - 2024,' indicates the growing role of Amazon in product discovery, with 59% of Australian consumers starting their product searches on the platform. This trend underscores the strategy, with Ray-Ban products being searched every 1.8 minutes and Oakley products every 2.1 minutes during the last quarter of 2023.

Addressing the issue of unauthorised resellers, a significant challenge for EssilorLuxottica, Merline McGregor, Managing Director of Pattern Australia, stated, "Unauthorised resellers present a huge challenge for brands like EssilorLuxottica. They can damage brand value by listing incorrect product or brand information. This confuses and undermines the consumer's perception of a brand and can result in a poor customer experience." Pattern uses a proprietary software called Predict to help brands maintain control over their listings.

Since the partnership with Pattern, EssilorLuxottica has observed a substantial improvement in addressing unauthorised reseller issues, leading to increased control over the marketplace activities. Notably, the Buy Box percentage for Ray-Ban improved significantly, climbing from 66% at launch to 85% by September 2024.

Furniss remarked, "Unauthorised resellers have the potential to significantly impact brand reputation for EssilorLuxottica. Pattern's analytics and monitoring capabilities give us a deeper understanding of marketplace dynamics, helping to distinguish between suspected unauthorised resellers and authorised wholesalers operating globally. This strategic insight is essential for maintaining the brand reputation for Ray-Ban and Oakley and providing positive customer experiences that help to grow local sales."