Since he was nine years old, Daren Low has had the same problems as every glasses wearer. There are the obvious ones, like having trouble finding frames at reasonable prices, but according to Low, his struggles extended beyond the most basic.
“My sensitive eyes resulted in thousands spent with little effective results,” said Low. “I quickly got headaches and discomfort even from a slight eyewear misalignment.” Now, Low is committed to providing the best in online eyewear purchasing as the founder of Mouqy Eyewear.
An Inauspicious Beginning …
Low isn’t an optometrist, a doctor, or a salesman by trade. Low is an experienced freelancer and passionate about being his own boss, and that’s the only spark that was necessary. Low’s desire in founding Mouqy was to “sell high-quality, fashionable eyeglasses at affordable prices.”
He was frustrated with the high prices for designer spectacles but wanted to be able to purchase quality eyewear online
“What matters is how it looks, feels, and is easy to afford,” says Low, “not how many meals you have to skip to get a pair.” With a foundation in digital technology, Low used Bicatcha, a technology he’s the chief strategist for, to host his site and track traffic. Now Mouqy has grown into a brand worth nearly half a million dollars per year.
New Work Culture, New Eyewear Technology
Mouqy’s goal is to “create something to keep the eyes of the entire freelance community healthy in a sustainable, affordable yet effective way,” and the inspiration for the startup is deeply rooted in remote work culture.
The coronavirus shifted nearly all of the workforce to working remotely until it was safe to begin to trickle back into office spaces and completely transformed the American workweek along the way. Many companies registered that their employees could be both productive and comfortable while working from home, and gave them the opportunity to remain home part-time or full-time.
Americans everywhere jumped at the chance to take care of their work from the comfort of their home, and a new Renaissance of productivity has seemingly begun. However, there are vision items that people did not consider before working at home.
To work at home, being on a computer just about 40 hours a week (or likely more) is absolutely necessary. The strain that this can put on the eyes is immense. Mouqy’s answer to this problem is simple: create stylish, high-quality, inexpensive glasses, marketed to professionals and especially those working remotely.
The Mouqy Difference
Mouqy has found success quickly, but it’s not by chance. Low realized early on that people want designer frames, but don’t want to pay the absurd premium for the brand name.
He went on a quest to find what made frames popular, and through analytics and work with optical labs and professionals, Mouqy has compiled an inventory of 172 different frames. The goal, says Low, is to stock a thousand unique frames by the end of the year.
Mouqy’s website also includes a unique digital try-on feature that sets them apart from competitors. One of the biggest problems with shopping online is the inability to see what you’re buying on your body, and that’s only magnified when it comes to the glasses that will presumably be on your face every day. Augmented reality try-on is no longer a thing of the future — you can see your chosen frames on your face in real time before you make a decision.
Digital try-on is just one feature that Mouqy leverages to create a customer experience with maximum ease of access. Its website is simple and uses a basic color scheme, but gives off an air of modernity and importance. The simplicity of the website also pairs perfectly with the simplicity of the company’s mission — selling great eyeglasses at excellent prices.
All In One
One of the final pieces that has made Mouqy so successful is how it’s sandwiched every part of the eyewear buying process into a single, easy-to-use website. Mouqy sells frames, but their expertise ranges well beyond just that.
Once a customer has selected their preferred frames, they’re prompted to select from prescription lenses, clear lenses, or blue-light blocking lenses. Mouqy works with optometrists to fill customers’ prescriptions, which is all the customer needs for their glasses to be headed their way.
Their non-prescription lenses are also the result of significant research. Low’s negative experience with glasses early in life inspired him to make sure that every lens Mouqy sold was of the highest possible quality.
The site also has a robust section where customers can find any information they may need for the glasses buying process. Curious what frames will look best with your face shape or skin tone? Check it out.
Have questions about how to read your prescription? Look no further. Mouqy goes the extra mile to make sure its customers have no issues during their transaction and will get what they need the first time, every time.
Mouqy Madness!
Starting a business always requires a little bit of good fortune and timing, but Daren Low was a step ahead of the competition at every step in the process. His innovative technology, Bicatcha, set a baseline that allowed him to pay close attention to his sales and traffic, and by leveraging user-friendly website options, Mouqy has grown faster than he anticipated.
Mouqy is here to stay, and you’d do well to pay attention when Low speaks.