Lenskart: Leading Omni-channel eyewear
Situation:
Eyewear has become an important part of our life. Most people need them for eyesight, for safety from harmful rays, and fashion. Be it eyeglasses, lenses, sunglasses, etc., each commodity is sold by various brands and offline stores.
With the rising e-commerce, various commodities from groceries to appliances are being sold and bought online. However, customers especially in India prefer to buy eyewear from offline stores.
Problems and implications:
Offline eyewear stores are available in large numbers, with a focus on specific brands and types. Customers prefer such stores due to various reasons like the ability to touch and feel the eyewear before purchase etc. However, buying eyewear offline comes with its own set of problems.
1. Cost: Due to the business model of offline stores, where the cost incurred includes the middle seller, the brand seller, and the store seller, the overall cost is higher. Moreover, to try, buy or return customers have to visit multiple times to stores that are far away from their homes which incur additional costs.
2. Options: Each offline store has a partnership with particular brands and displays only the eye wears from those brands. Additionally, due to the fixed shop area, only certain eyewear is displayed. Customers, therefore, don’t have a lot of options to pick their choice from.
3. Comparisons: Stores have limited options on types of eyewear and their models etc. This makes it difficult for the customer to compare different brands and choose the right model from the existing eyewear market.
4. Commodities distributed into various stores: Due to their inherent business model, stores at different locations sell different types of eyewear sometimes localized to the region/place.
Need pay-offs:
Headquartered in Delhi, Lenskart is thriving as one of the top 10 startups in the growth/late-stage deals in India dealing with the D2C eyewear segment. It is Asia’s largest omnichannel retailer and manufacturer of premium quality & contemporary eyewear and has more than 900+ offline stores all over the world.
Though various offline eyewear stores are offering different services, Lenskart provides both offline and online services as per the customer requirement.
1. Cost: Lenskart provides various offers to its new and longtime users. Additionally, due to the business model, no middle seller is involved and the cost of the eyewear is low.
2. Variety: In its online store, Lenskart provides different types of eyewear. From eyeglasses to contact lenses for kids and older people, customers have various options to choose from.
3. All in one place: Lenskart’s online store provides all the different eyewear in one place. Instead of traveling to different stores offline to find the required eyewear, customers need only visit the online store and choose the right model they need.
4. Hybrid model: Lenskart operates both an online website and various offline stores. Customers can choose the eyewear they require through 3D try on, or order a few to ‘Try at home'. Their innovative 3D facial visualizer helps the customer to see how the frames, and lens will look on them. Additionally, customers can also book eye checkups at their homes. For those who like to visit a store, Lenskart also has on-ground stores in major cities across the world.