Considering that eyewear is a lucrative business, you might be wondering how to start one. In this article, I’ll show you how to start an eyewear business by examining the business models of Lenskart, Coolwinks, Peyush Bansal, and others. It’s also important to understand marketing. Marketing is the key to generating sales, so make sure you market your business properly.
Lenskart
Lenskart is an online eyewear company that offers over 5000 frames and 45 types of superior quality lenses. This startup employs designers and stylists to ensure that its designs reflect the latest trends in eyewear. It also uses an inventory-led business model to keep costs low and manage the supply chain. The startup also tries to maintain a low cost structure by developing products with superior quality, innovativeness, and variety.
The company is expanding its brick-and-mortar store network in India. It plans to open 400 stores by FY23. It has already diversified into states such as Assam, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. Lenskart’s vision is to provide ‘vision to India’. It has several plans to reach 2,000 stores in five years. Vanshika was born and raised in Kolkata. She will be joining the Narsee Monjee Institute, Mumbai, to study the business further.
Coolwinks
Having launched in the Indian market two years ago, Coolwinks has garnered a loyal following of over 1 million customers. It has also garnered substantial sales from the smaller cities. It sells eyewear under various price tags and offers cashback on different payment methods. The startup is confident of stealing a large share of the market from the leading online eyewear retailer in the country.
Founded in 2016, Coolwinks has established itself as one of the fastest-growing online optical retailers in India. With the help of innovative technology, it offers a simple platform for eyewear shopping. The company offers free shipping and a 14-day return period. The aim is to offer an easy and hassle-free online shopping experience to its customers. It has been backed by world-leading lens supplier Essilor, which has a long history of serving consumers.
Peyush Bansal
The founder of Lenskart, Peyush Bansal, is a former Microsoft employee and program manager. He decided to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions and founded Lenskart in 2009. He then went on to start Valyoo Technologies, which specialized in selling eyewear online in the United States. The success of Lenskart paved the way for Bansal to expand his company to eyeglasses.
In addition to Lenskart, Peyush Bansal also started John Jacobs, a startup backed by Lenskart. John Jacobs aims to bring the latest fashion eyewear worldwide to consumers. The company strives to use only the finest materials and does not have middlemen. Additionally, Lenskart Plus launched in Delhi in Nov 2020 to meet the growing demand for eyewear. And, in October 2020, Peyush Bansal, a co-founder of Lenskart, launched Lenskart Vision Fund. This fund invests in startups that disrupt the eyewear industry and the Omni-retail business.
Marketing
Eyeglasses are a staple product of Indian society. The country has over 1.3 billion people and one-third of them need eyeglasses to see clearly. The number of people in India who need eyeglasses is growing every day, and there are several opportunities for startups in the eyewear sector to tap into this market. Many traditional players in the eyecare industry have shifted to a D2C model.
Lenskart, an online eyewear portal, claims to sell 5,000 pairs of spectacles daily. The company also plans to enter 372 cities in the next three years, and is building low-cost eye check-up equipment to make sure that their prices remain competitive. Lenskart was launched in 2010 as an online player, but has since switched to an omni-channel strategy. The company claims to have 30 percent market share in the organised eyewear sector in India. It recently launched a ‘Vision Fund’ to support early-stage players.
Networking
If you want to make your Eyeglass business grow, you should focus on setting up your stores in a market that common people use. The location of the stores is important, as customers usually come to a store to purchase fashionable glasses that fit their personality. In India, location is a crucial factor in a startup’s success. While the demand for eyeglasses has increased over the past decade, a location’s proximity to the market also plays an important role.
The market for eyeglasses is huge in India. There are roughly half a billion people in the country who have poor vision and over 170 million of them have chosen to purchase glasses for the first time. Startups like Lenskart have found niches in a growing market. It offers free eye inspection tests and even lets users book glasses for home tryouts, and its 3D AI technology uses a virtual model to show the correct fit.
