Lenskart plans to expand operations through franchise model

Online eyewear retailer Lenskart, which claims to be the largest in the country in terms of daily items shipped, plans to expand by opening 1,000 brick-and mortar shops through the franchise model. These shops, which will also enable delivery, service and return of products ordered online, will enable the company to expand quickly while remaining asset light, CEO Peyush Bansal  said. 

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. 

The firm received funding of about $22 million in a Series-C round led by private equity firm TPG Growth, Hong Kong-based TR Capital and existing investor IDG Ventures earlier this year. Lenskart is already clocking a revenue "run rate" of Rs 300 crore and hopes to reach the Rs 2,500 crore mark in the next four years. Although it is well funded, it could do with more funding to invest in its backend infrastructure and its manufacturing capacity. 

Lenskart to aggressively expand offline

Valyoo Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs online eyewear retailer Lenskart, is eyeing earnings of Rs.3,000 crore in the next five years as it aggressively expands its offline presence.

Valyoo is seeking franchise Partners  to open 2,000 franchise stores in next 5 years, a top executive said. “At the end of the day, we want more and more touch points to be available,” chief executive officer and founder Peyush Bansal said. “They have great marketing and customer acquisition channel.” The firm is looking mostly at smaller cities. “Though it’s a slower market but has huge opportunity, People have high aspirations and want to buy quality products,” Bansal said.

There is significant advantage of online and offline merchandise. It is all about how a company reaches out to more and more customers, While these outlets not only help customers link themselves to the brand but they also lead to increase in buying. They also reduce the return rate as the customers have checked the product offline.”