E-tailers make branded eyewear affordable

Hyderabad: With the trend of eyewear growing as a fashion and style accessory, players in the segment are targeting e-commerce stores to propel this growth.

Interestingly, companies like Titan EyePlus sell only frames on Myntra and Flipkart. “Because most of the online shoppers are looking for emerging trends, we sell only frames (including fashionable ones with zero power) and not lenses,” said S. Ravi Kant, CEO, eyewear division, Titan Company.

Given that nearly 70 per cent of the eyewear market is still unorganised, the market size is of the organised segment is small, say industry experts.

According to an Assocham study titled ‘Indian Optical sector’, the eyewear market is poised to touch Rs 43,000 crore from Rs 21,000 crore in 2012.

Meanwhile, the contact lenses market is growing at a CAGR of about 25 per cent. The growth is led by a growing demand for daily disposables and frequent replacement contacts, including coloured contacts, revealed the study.

Acknowledging that the online sales of eyewear is growing rapidly with a rise in the Internet penetration across the country, Mr Kant said that the segment is still niche. A study reveals that consumers in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and other tier I cities experiment with designs while those from tier II cities prefer quality and look for more formal and classic designs.

“While rising disposable incomes, soaring population with visual impairment and increase in the number of fashion-driven purchases will increase in the spending on eyewear products in India, steep rise in the penetration of broadband in tier I, tier II and tier III cities is expected to augment the revenues from the online eyewear retailers in India,” according to  a report on ‘India Eyewear Market Outlook to FY2018’.

The growth of online retailers like Myntra, Jabong and those specialising in eyewear like LensKart also have caused a shift from viewing eyewear as a necessity to a fashion accessory.

This has in turn led to the growth of branded eyewear, said Mr Kant, adding that the segment takes about 30-35 per cent of the total eyewear market in India.

Meanwhile, the coming of online portals have also made branded eyewear affordable with discounts or sale offers, coupled with home delivery service.