Lenskart.com: Eye did it!

The online eyewear retailer claims to be the lone fighter in a self-created category. As part of its fight, Lenskart has launched a TV campaign to emphasise its features. afaqs! takes a look at the category.

Today, with everything available online, one wonders if the good old days, of buying a product after trying and testing it, are gone. Varied categories, from lingerie to luxury, are all available at the click of a button, each at a 'competitive' price. Consumers are spoilt for choice as online retailers vie for their attention with promotions, offers and aggressive communication across media. The latest entrant on the bandwagon is Lenskart.com, an eyewear e-tailer which recently launched an advertising campaign to educate consumers about the convenience and economy of shopping for eyewear, online.

Lenskart's campaign comprises two new television commercials starring youth icon, actor Purab Kohli. With his innate charm and mass appeal, the VJ-turned-actor highlights the convenience of shopping for eyewear online at Lenskart.com. Through a technologically suave tutorial, Kohli explains the user-friendly process that instantly connects with the mass TV audience.

Conceptualised in-house and created by the production house, Money On Hot Bricks, each TVC emphasises a significant feature of Lenskart.com. The first TVC intends to establish that shopping for eyewear no longer requires people to tread through a million shops to find the right pair of eyeglasses or shades. It takes people through the ease of shopping for eyeglasses, sunglasses and lenses online on Lenskart.com across brands, product specifications and ranges. It also encourages customers to explore the option of owning multiple pairs, thanks to the rich variety of brands offered on the website. It highlights the easy functionality of the website and motivates the user to take advantage of the multiple choices, without going over-budget!

The second ad has Kohli enticing customers to not limit their indulgence in eyeglasses to just one pair. Playing on consumers' preference for multiple varieties of shoes, T-shirts, jeans and jackets, it notes that users rarely get adventurous and fashion conscious when it comes to eyewear. The ad convincingly breaks the earlier stereotype of eyewear being an expensive investment with an easily affordable range that Lenskart.com brings online.

Speaking to afaqs! about the idea behind the campaign, Peyush Bansal, CEO and founder, Lenskart.com says that the company intends to simply point to the value addition that Lenskart.com brings into the lives of both, the existing online shoppers as well as the consumers who haven't explored buying eyewear online yet.

"The objective of the first TVC is to showcase the ease of buying eyewear online. It comes off well and says how it beats the offline experience with the range of options. The second ad reiterates how Lenskart.com now enables you to invest in several pairs of glasses and wear them as a fashion accessory without burning a hole in your wallet. Purab Kohli as the face of the ads does perfect justice to our brand's perception as a funky and cool place to shop from," he states.

Bansal further explains that it is common for Lenskart users to own at least three pairs of spectacles, whereas the industry standard is one. According to him, Lenskart takes the credit of creating this consumer behaviour where a commodity like eyewear is seen as an accessory and hence people want to own multiple pieces. The TVC, Bansal informs, is a result of this consumer insight.

With the campaign, Lenskart plans to drive the category through the medium of television and further leverage the digital space to sustain momentum. The company will also employ radio and outdoor activations to aid brand recall and build services as a key differentiator in the market.

Lone Warrior?

Valyoo Technologies, which operates Lenskart, also runs vertical-specific e-commerce stores like WatchKart and JewelsKart. However, as per Bansal, the company intends to be the No. 1 eyewear player in India, rather than being the No. 1 player in bags and it will consider selling these sites if they find a good buyer.

This is apparently part of Valyoo's plan to turn Lenskart profitable by March 2015. Lenskart accounted for 50 per cent of Valyoo's revenues as of February 2013 and Bansal says that Lenskart is now generating an average of 1,000 transactions of eyeglasses (excluding sunglasses) a day.

Bansal believes that Lenskart has created the category in India and hence it faces less competition and also seems to have gained a significant share in the online eyewear segment. But, there is a flip side to being the only significant player in the market, he admits.

In its nascent stage in India, the average customer acquisition cost (CPA) for e-commerce varied from player to player, depending on the sub-segment, brand recognition and most importantly, on the player's marketing/acquisition strategy. As it became apparent that acquisition is a function of the marketing spends, most well-funded players started advertising on TV to gain consumers.

According to experts, the acquisition cost in Indian e-commerce has been climbing rapidly due to intense competition between multiple well-funded players, who have pressed on their marketing accelerator really hard. But in a category where there are multiple players, one player advertising its product contributes to growing the category and thus helps the other players as well.

"When a Flipkart advertises, a Myntra or a Jabong tends to benefit as well, because the latter don't have to really educate the consumers about the 'how to-s' of e-commerce. Whereas in our case, first we need to educate the consumers, then show them our features and then exhibit our products and pricing. All these we have to attain ourselves and that is where a simple creative idea helps. Flipkart's initial creatives did a lot for them as well as the entire category," Bansal states.

Bansal however admits that though there are no major competitors online, brick and mortar eyewear stores do pose a threat. That is why, he informs, Lenskart has some unique pricing policies and services which differentiate it. As an example, he cites the 'First Frame Free' policy where a first time buyer can buy an eyeglass for free. This, Bansal believes, is an offer no offline player can match.

The biggest challenge, he acknowledges, remains that Indians are not accustomed to buying eyeglasses online. The company thus launched marketing campaigns to educate the consumers, with the first one titled 'Will you go out for coffee with me?' where the consumers were introduced to the idea of shopping online for eyewear. The current campaign speaks about buying more, online. Bansal adds that Lenskart will soon launch a campaign focussed on its products.

Lenskart.com was launched in 2010. The eyewear market in India is pegged at about Rs 20,000 crore and Lenskart intends to cross Rs 100 crore this fiscal. Lenskart.com's parent firm Valyoo Technologies is backed by Ronnie Screwvala-led Unilazer Ventures, IDG Ventures India.