Eyewear selling redefined

Not just apparels, shoes, groceries and cars, now you can get your eyes tested for power at your doorstep.

Lenskart.com, founded by an ex-Microsoft professional Peyush Bansal along with Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi, is an online retailer of branded eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses.

Started in 2010, the e-tailer has launched a unique service offering home check-up in eight metros, where an optometrist comes to your home, tests your eyes, and offers you a selection of 200 frames. After you make your choice, the optometrist places an online order for the lenses. While the company charges for the frames and lenses, the test comes gratis, says Bansal.

“We don’t charge for the tests. It is part of our customer service and we are optimistic that this will help us reach more and more customers as we get ready to expand to other cities,” he adds.

Lenskart is a part of Delhi-based Valyoo Technologies started by Bansal in 2008. Valyoo Technologies has portals such as bagskart.com, jewelskart.com and watchkart.com.

“My parents were shocked to hear that I had quit my high-paying job at Microsoft. I didn’t return to India but started an online classified portal there. It was successful and then I saw a huge opportunity in selling eyewear online in the US. It gained good traction and I learnt a lot about the eyewear segment.

“That is when I thought of replicating the idea in the Indian market. India was just getting into e-commerce at that time and there was no one in the eyewear segment,” Bansal recalls.

Big collection The portal does over 1,500 transactions a day and has a collection of over 5,000 frames across 45 kinds of high quality, scratch resistant and unbreakable contact lenses from brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Tag Heuer, Fastrack, Sprint, Vintage, Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb, and Cooper Vision.

On the need for an online eyewear portal, Bansal says that a third of India’s population needs vision correction.

“We saw an opportunity in this segment as many towns in India do not have a proper eyewear outlet, forget about varieties. By going online we not only reach every nook and corner of the country but also offer products that are 70 per cent cheaper than those sold at brick and mortar outlets as there is no middleman involved.” About 60 per cent of the business, he says, comes from Tier II /III cities, adding that the eye-wear market in India is worth around $2 billion and is growing at 25-30 per cent.

The portal, which competes with retailers such as Titan Eyeplus, Vision Express and Lawrence and Mayo, currently delivers in more than 450 cities in the country.

The website also offers services such as online eyewear selection help, quality checks, one-year product warranty, 14-day no-questions-asked return policy, and convenient payment options. Besides, it launched in Delhi recently a ‘try before you buy’ service.

‘Strong pitch’ For the engineering graduate from Canada’s McGill University, confidence grew after Lenskart got its first funding of ₹22 crore from IDG Ventures in October 2011. “It was a tough pitch as not many VCs were interested in a single product portal but we had a strong pitch and our numbers were good,” he added.

The second funding was a tad easier. Ronnie Screwvala’s VC firm Unilazer along with the existing partner invested another $10 million in the portal.

“I wanted to pick up a segment where we could become leaders and we did. You search for any eyewear brand and Lenskart would be among the top six searches,” Bansal said.

The company is currently working towards improving its delivery and logistics, which still remain a major concern among e-commerce companies in India.

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