– By Raj Pyla
Eyewear serves as a functional tool for vision correction and a fashion accessory, reflecting personal style and preferences. The Indian eyewear market faces challenges in catering to diverse consumer needs, including varying fashion preferences, correction and protection needs, and affordability.
As the demand for better eyewear continues to grow, it is, therefore, crucial for eyewear manufacturers and distributors to adopt effective marketing strategies that capture the attention of retailers while optimizing the supply chain. In the coming years, B2B eyewear has tremendous potential for growth in India. The driver of this growth lies in the demand for high-quality, fashionable eyewear that is affordable in addition to the growing awareness of eye health and higher disposable incomes amongst consumers.
Serving the underserved, unorganized independent retailers as well as the eye hospital market, requires eyewear brands to develop innovative approaches and targeted strategies to reach the independent retailers and their customers. Building strong partnerships is required with independent retailers as they are not only the trusted intermediaries between brands and end customers but they also ensure product availability and visibility.
Building partnerships requires building trust and loyalty with retailers. It involves understanding their needs, challenges and preferences. It requires providing them with transparent and comprehensive product information, competitive pricing, extensive product range, fresh styles and open communication channels. It requires providing marketing and communication support, offline and online. It requires brands to solve problems faced by customers of these retailers too, such as post-sales support, payment options, offers and discounts, etc. The following areas require attention in order to reduce the friction between brands and retailers, and retailers and customers, to succeed in a dynamic market like India:
1. Consumer segmentation: With the vast and diverse Indian market, eyewear brands recognize the importance of targeting specific consumer segments. Brands need to understand different micro segments’ unique wants, needs, and desires and create products that cater to their preferences. This approach replaces the one-size-fits-all strategy and offers more personalized marketing and product offerings.
2. Fashion and lifestyle focus: Eyewear has evolved from solely a vision correction tool to a lifestyle accessory. Sunglasses too have crossed over from being bought only for their fashion appeal to providing protection from harmful UV light, glare reduction, reduced eye strain, light sensitivity and visual comfort. Brands are capitalizing on this trend by emphasizing their products’ fashion and style elements. They are aiming to offer trendy and innovative designs that appeal to consumers, especially the younger generation, who seek sleek and stylish eyewear options.
3. Customer engagement: Attracting and retaining customers requires devising new strategies to achieve better engagement with customers, building meaningful relationships and fostering dialogue. Email marketing, social media campaigns, influencer marketing activities, personalized campaigns, gamification for the youth, virtual showrooms, contests, content marketing and digital catalogs are just a few marketing strategies that eyewear brands can use to build credibility, create desire, enhance customer experience and establish trust and loyalty.
4. Product quality and afffordability: Eyewear brands strive to satisfy the growing demand for fashionable and reasonably priced eyewear by enhancing product quality through research and development while maintaining competitiveness in the market.
5. Local sourcing and manufacturing: The Make in India campaign has focused on local sourcing and manufacturing in the eyewear industry. Manufacturers are exploring alternate sources within India due to disruptions in the global supply chain. By emphasizing local production, brands can reduce costs, improve supply chain efficiency, and contribute to the growth of the domestic economy.
6. Technological advancements: The eyewear industry is embracing technological advancements to enhance the customer experience. Maturing virtual try-on technology is being implemented in physical stores and online platforms, allowing customers to visualize how different eyewear styles look on them. In addition, 3D printing allows for personalized eyeglasses and speeds up the creation process through rapid prototyping.
7. Digital transformation: Eyewear retailers leverage digital devices and tools to enhance the customer experience. This includes using better measurement devices, digital catalogs, augmented reality devices, and other digital innovations. By incorporating these technologies, retailers aim to provide customers with a seamless and immersive shopping experience.
8. Expansion into tier-I, -II and -III towns: There is a growing demand for branded eyewear products in India’s Tier 1, 2 and 3 towns. Brands can capitalize on this opportunity by expanding their presence and distribution networks to reach these markets. In addition, brands can expand their customer base and boost industry growth by targeting underserved markets.
9. Streamlined operations: Through technology adoption, retailers improve inventory management, supply chain efficiency, and overall store operations, ensuring better cash flow, stability, and growth.
10. Collaboration and learning: Retailers and eye hospitals actively collaborate with eyewear brands, incorporating their practices, strategies, and knowledge to enhance operations, inventory management, customer experience, and patient care. This collaborative approach drives industry growth, improves customer satisfaction, and creates modern store layouts that engage customers and provide personalized experiences.
11. Emphasis on customer experience: By investing in innovative and fashionable product offerings, opticians and retailers aim to delight customers at every touch point, building stronger relationships and fostering loyalty.
Efficient supply chain logistics: Streamlining the process
The eyewear retail industry in India faces many significant challenges in managing its supply chain logistics, including limited product options, cash flow issues, and customer dissatisfaction. In addition, the lack of technology and marketing capabilities further hinder their ability to streamline operations and expand their customer base. Furthermore, the industry grapples with a shortage of trained dispensing retailers, insufficient marketing support, an underserved market, compromised quality, and outdated technology adoption. Addressing these challenges requires attention from all stakeholders.
1. Inventory management: Implementing advanced inventory management systems, such as AI-driven solutions, can optimize inventory levels, reduce stockouts, and improve demand forecasting accuracy. By having real-time visibility into inventory levels and demand patterns, supply chain logistics can be aligned more effectively to meet customer needs while minimizing excess inventory and associated costs.
2. Efficient distribution network: Developing a well-designed and efficient distribution network is crucial for delivering eyewear products in a timely and cost-effective manner. This can involve establishing strategic partnerships with logistics providers, optimizing transportation routes, utilizing technology for route planning and tracking, and ensuring effective warehousing and inventory replenishment processes.
3. Quality control and assurance: Strict quality control is vital for durable and efficient eyewear products. This can involve supplier qualification and monitoring, quality inspections at various stages of production, and adherence to industry standards and regulations. In addition, by maintaining high product quality standards, supply chain logistics can be streamlined by reducing the need for returns, replacements, and customer complaints.
4. Data analytics and insights: Valuable Insights can be obtained through data analytics regarding the supply chain, market trends, customer behavior, and operations. By analyzing this data, supply chain managers can identify areas for improvement, make data-driven decisions, and proactively address issues to streamline the logistics process.
In conclusion, the Indian eyewear industry is implementing innovative marketing strategies, embracing technology, and focusing on collaboration to cater to diverse consumer needs and streamline the supply chain logistics process. Efforts made toward consumer segmentation, fashion emphasis, local sourcing, and technological advancements will drive industry growth. Retailers are enhancing the product range, streamlining operations, and prioritizing customer experience. Challenges remain, but the industry will continue to evolve and rise above the challenges to achieve an efficient supply chain and meet customer expectations through technological solutions and collaboration.
(Raj Pyla is the chairman and managing director at EyeGear Optics.)
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