Previous Sunglass Wars Articles:
Sunglass Wars: Blenders Eyewear vs Shady Rays
Sunglass Wars Part II: Blenders vs Shady Rays (August Update)
I have been following Blenders Eyewear and Shady Rays for the past three and a half months, and it appears in September, seasonality has officially set in. Here is the Google search volume for the term “sunglasses” over the past 4 years:
Every July, search volume peaks for sunglasses and bottoms out in October. And I am seeing the same trend with the revenue for Blenders Eyewear and Shady Rays:
In September, Blenders averaged 2,500 orders per day for an estimated revenue of $3.5M. This is down from August which they saw 3,500 orders per day for an estimated revenue of $4.9M and in July, 5,200 orders for an estimated revenue of about 7.3M
Shady Rays averaged just over 2,000 orders per day for an estimated revenue of about $2.8M in September. This is down from August which they saw just under 3,500 orders per day for an estimated revenue of $4.8M and in July, 6,000 orders per day for an estimated revenue of about $8.4M.
In July, Shady Rays outperformed Blenders, but Blenders has been out performing Shady Rays in August and September.
Instagram Stats
(note: Shady Rays follower count on the right axis)
Follower count growth has slowed for both companies (again, no surprise based on seasonality). Blenders now has 555K followers and Shady Rays has 126K followers.
Both companies posted on Instagram about 1 time per day during the month of September, however Blenders was tagged in posts almost 4x as much as Shady Rays.
TikTok and Reels
Blenders is making a little bit of an effort to utilize TikTok and Reels, while Shady Rays not made any efforts. It appears most platforms are trying to push more video content out (as it seems that’s what consumers want).
Blenders is averaging about 40K views on their Instagram Reels and about 1700 views on their TikTok videos.
I would like to see both of these brands try to create more content for these channels as they can be great for getting exposure for your brand.
Facebook Ads
Here is more confirmation that seasonality has hit. Blenders currently has 730 active ads on Facebook (in August, they had 870 ads, and in July, over 1600 ads).
Shady Rays has 110 active ads on Facebook (in August, they had 81 ads and in July 160 ads).
I obviously cannot see the ad spend for both of these companies but my guess is that it correlates with the number of active ads they have. Their peak spending was in July and have backed down since then.
See Blenders Eyewear Facebook Ads
Top Paid Keywords
Here are the top paid keywords for both of these brands over the past 3 months:
I find it interesting that for both brands had “…for women” appear in their top 5 keywords this month. I really do not have an explanation for it, or even a guess but it was interesting that it occurred for both brands.
The Sunglasses War
After the first month, I had that Shady Rays is currently winning the war. However, after 3 months now, I believe that Blenders will win the war. That doesn’t mean I think that Shady Rays is going to zero, it means I think Blenders will outperform Shady Rays in the long run. I think Blenders has a stronger brand and they are better at showcasing that brand.
Blenders represents being outdoors by the beach (surfing, skateboarding, playing volleyball, or just hanging out). Shady Rays is about being outdoors, but where that is is not clearly defined and they have been all over the map with influencers they partner with (professional wrestler, Olympic gymnast, racecar driver, and more). I can not clearly define who a Shady Rays customer is, but I can clearly define who a Blenders Eyewear customer is.
I will continue to follow both of these brands to see if my opinions hold true. My bet is both of these brands will have another down month in October and then maybe a small bump for the holidays. We will not see significant monthly revenue growth until March 2022.
