In the world of e-commerce and retail, few success stories are as impressive and inspiring as that of Lenskart. What started as a humble startup in 2010 has rapidly transformed into a global eyewear powerhouse, revolutionizing the way people buy eyeglasses and contact lenses. The growth trajectory of Lenskart is a testament to the power of innovation, customer-centricity, and strategic expansion.
Lenskart: The Growth Years Leading To Success
Lenskart was founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi. The idea was simple yet groundbreaking – to provide a convenient and affordable way for consumers to purchase eyewear online, eliminating the hassle of traditional brick-and-mortar stores. The founders identified a gap in the market and set out to change the eyewear shopping experience.
Lenskart is a leading eCommerce company that maintains an online optical store packed with both classic and trendy eyeglasses, lenses, and more at affordable prices. Customers may easily buy these glasses online, and they will receive them with a variety of changing discounts.
Lenskart operates on both an online and retail distribution platform, unlike many other competitors. Customers may purchase goods at their specially designed retail store or online at lenskart.com. The eyewear market is being transformed by Lenskart with the first-of-its-kind "Home eye checkup." They use specialised robots to deliver glasses in Lenskart that are accurate to 3 decimal places.
The elements that led to the success of this industry are: product, quality, portfolio, delivery time, and after-sales support. The brand's simple value proposition is to "deliver a high-quality product at a reasonable price."
The Eyewear Industry
An estimated $5.58 billion in revenue has been generated by the eyewear sector in India by 2023. This is a sizable market potential as the sector is anticipated to expand at a promising annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.19% between 2023 and 2027. With a predicted market volume of $2.52 billion in 2023, lenses stand out as the largest category among the major market categories in India.
The mission of Lenskart was to provide "Vision to India." Accordingly, they most recently created Lenskart Lite, a low-cost franchise model targeted at upcountry areas, particularly tier 3 and 4 regions. The strategy, which is geared towards small business owners, requires a 20 lakh rupee investment. This further generates roughly Rs 4-6 lakh in income per month.
Customers of Lenskart India may choose from more than 5,000 frame designs and 45 different types of high-quality lenses. Due to the in-house staff of designers and stylists who keep an eye on the newest trends, the designs are updated with the newest trends in eyewear.
It operates on an inventory-led business strategy and provides these designs to its suppliers. This together with Lenskart's supply chain practices, aids in limiting the price of their products.
Maintaining Market Position
While creating their product, the company considers a range of factors, including product innovation, good marketing techniques, and services like a 3-D trial facility. Additional factors include high product quality. The company places equal emphasis on the product's quality and longevity as well as its ongoing trends. It makes Lenskart the only company in India to be able to manufacture eyeglasses with an accuracy of up to three decimal places due to robotic technology that was specifically imported from Germany.
Lenskart faces competition from both offline and online players. GKB Opticals, Coolwinks, Specsmakers, Deals4Opticals, Lensbazaar, Vision Express, and Titan Eyeplus are a few of its major rivals. Lenskart also faces competition from e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Flipkart, PayTM, etc. who also offer eyewear online.
Looking through the Gaps and Providing Solutions
The eyewear industry is highly unorganized. The organized part just constitutes about 9-10% of the 18,000-20,000 crore market. Although Lenskart has around 70% of the market share among the organized players, its main challenge is to steer customers away from the unorganized sector, which offers product knockoffs which are available at low costs.
With an aggressive marketing strategy, different price points, and unique and innovative products and services, Lenskart can win over its competitors.
Additionally, it provides items at various price points, starting at Rs. 345 and going up to Rs. 30,000, in order to appeal to clients in various market groups. In order to remain competitive and relevant throughout time, it must consistently develop new initiatives. Some services like eye check-ups at home are really appreciated by the customers.
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The Road Map Ahead
Lenskart's success in the domestic market laid the foundation for its international expansion. The company ventured into markets like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and the United States, tapping into the growing demand for affordable and fashionable eyewear worldwide. This expansion was supported by strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and a commitment to adapt to local preferences and trends.
