Sales of Oakley sunglass rose 12% in 2010, with sales of its prescription, goggle and accessories rising 15%, 32% and 24% respectively, parent company Luxottica Group disclosed last week in a conference call held to review its 2010 results.
Sales of Oakley’s women’s sunglasses rose 19% for the year. Luxottica executives said sales and operating income at Oakley have been growing at annual compounded rates of 12% and 24% respectively since it acquired the brand four years ago. Prescription sales now make up about 15% of Oakley’s wholesale sales. In the first two months of 2011, Oakley’s wholesale business is up 20%, while its retail sales are up 10%. Oakley CEO Colin Baden said the company has had great success promoting the brand at mountain resorts in Europe. Oakley will expand that campaign to beach resorts on the Continent this summer and expects Oakley’s online sales in Europe to grow 50% this year.
In the United States, Oakley will introduce its first Shaun White collection at Sunglass Hut and change how it merchandises and trains employees to sell the brand at Lenscrafters. The company sees “huge potential” for online prescription sales of Oakley sunglasses in North America. It also sees rapid growth of its Oakley Custom program, which enables consumers to order custom sunglasses online from Oakley stores and select dealers. The program already generates about 30% of Oakley’s retail sales and has been growing about 50% a year. Oakley will open 30 kiosks in Europe this year to test the concept there. Oakley has sold more than 15,000 pairs of 3D glasses in the United States so far this year.
Despite a torrent of press, the company is not yet sure how significant of a business 3D will become. Baden said Oakley has no plans to develop a separate 3D line, but that Luxottica may leverage the lens technology across other brands and is in talks with movie studios, TV manufacturers, gaming companies and retailers about developing the technology. In the meantime, some Oakley dealers and all Oakley stores are now showing 3D films of sporting activities to demonstrate the technology to customers. “Who knows where it's going to go,” Baden said of the 3d market. “But, man, it's paying back for how little capital we had to put into it.”
