According to Bansal, the eyewear category is highly fragmented and dominated by small neighbourhood stores. The online retailer ships close to 1,20,000 orders a month, which is “too high compared to the competitors”, he said.
The Titan Company, which runs eyewear, watch and jewellery outlets, had 1,266 stores at the end of December. Reliance Retail operates India’s largest chain, with more than 3,000 stores in 371 cities. Lenskart, based in Faridabad, already operates 150 stores. A majority of its business now comes from its mobile apps and stores, unlike last year when all orders were placed online through desktops, Bansal said.
The company plans to open another 150 outlets in the coming months and hopes to “reach the 1,000 mark very quickly”, said Bansal. Apart from catering to demand from offline customers, the partner network of franchise stores would offer supplementary services for online consumers.
“The same partner network allows for many things. It services the online orders via home delivery, takes care of the logistics and payments, provides home service,” said Bansal. He added that the company won’t have to spend on setting up the stores and these shops in turn would help expand business.
Lenskart has about 170 employees on the ground in seven cities who conduct about 1,000 eye exams at home every day. “We hope to expand to 55 to 60 cities in the next six months,” added Bansal.
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