Industry Overview

• Eyewear is anything that one wears to protect the eyes or to correct vision. It could be different types which depend on the quality, size, material, and frame based on the product type, the Indian eyewear market can be segmented into contact lenses, spectacles, and sunglasses

Market Size: 

• The Indian eyewear market has reached to $ 35.5 mn in 2022 as compared to $ 21.5 mn, which represents a growth rate of 39% year-on-year
• The growth is primarily attributable to increasing eye health issues, more screen time among all age groups especially post covid-19 aid by work-from-home culture, etc.
• 70% of the consumers who are wearing or are in need of eyeglasses are in the value segment with the ability to pay between Rs 500 - 1200.
• By product, the market is dominated by spectacles, which primarily constitute nearly, 3/4th of the total eyewear market in India. It is followed by Sunglasses, which hold nearly 15% of the total eyewear market in India. 
• North India has held a 35% share of the sunglasses market and is also estimated to hold during the forecast period. Delhi holds the largest share of the market in the forecast period as a fashion trend is huge in Delhi city.
• Out of the total eyewear import, China accounts for nearly 78% of the imports making it the single largest country exporting eyewear to India.

Breakup by Distribution Channel

 Product segmentation 

Key growth drivers 

• Increased screen time: There has been a significant increase in screen exposure during the pandemic. Working from home and children studying from PCs and laptops have been hurting their eyes resulting in the purchase of computer eyeglasses.
• Increasing eye health issues Around 50 crores of the Indian population needs some form of vision correction but sadly only 25% of those have had their vision corrected. Therefore, the 35 crore population in the Indian sub-continent is still bereft of an eyewear solution, the most common condition is presbyopia, which is age-related and affects a majority aged 35 & above. 
• Increasing awareness Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their needs and are also getting brand conscious driving an organized market in eyewear
• High margins Companies are entering the eyewear space owing to the high margins offered - mark ups over 300% exist between the cost and retail price of certain products.
• Technological advancements with the use of technology, new developments in eyewear products have started speeding up. Strong investments in online marketing are among the primary drivers for business expansion.
• Comfortable online buying with e-commerce shopping becoming the new norm, eyeglasses companies are making online eyewear shopping more convenient by providing specialized product pages based on face shape - round, triangle, square, oval, and so on. Furthermore, brands are determining the customer's face type with facial recognition software to assist them in selecting the appropriate eyewear.
• Innovations revolution in eyewear products like anti-fog spectacles and smart sunglasses are expected to drive demand and generate sales.

How D2C players are disrupting the eyewear market 

• Opting the D2C route has paved the way for several brands in the eyewear market to establish more robust business models that may help them sustain in the long run.
• Tata group owned Titan co Ltd has now entered into the e-commerce space for its eyewear brand Titan Eye Plus which strengthened its brand royalty.
• Titan also has over 600 exclusive stores operating in over 245 cities, it allows them to deal with their customers directly. In this way they achieve higher margins by eliminating the middlemen from the equation.
• Online retailers such as Lenskart are now aggressively setting up offline stores to eat into market share of traditional retailers. This is giving them greater control over brand messaging and consumer engagement.
• Nonetheless, these organized D2C eyewear players are now increasingly tapping this massive addressable base with an aim to improve consumer education and style awareness, and that is clearly reflected by the steady growth in their market share.
• D2C eyewear players are targeting young people with sleek and fashionable sunglasses and spectacle frames. They make online eyewear purchasing more convenient by developing specialized product sites for each face shape - round, triangle, square, oval, and so on.

Impact of COVID 19

• As a result of the mayhem caused by Coronavirus, several government agencies declared a state of emergency to halt the  spread of the global pandemic which resulted in more screen time for those who were confined to their homes
• Furthermore people's eyes are suffering as a result of digital overload, prompting them to seek out glasses that protect them from harmful blue light.

• COVID 19 has resulted in a significant increase in the preference for purchasing eyewear through online networks.

Key Trends In Technology 

• Artificial intelligence is the science of using complex sets of computer algorithms, codes, and programs to learn, identify, analyze and interpret data such as images, audio, videos, text speech, and anything to everything.
• As per studies and experiments, AI will play a vital role in eye care and diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmic disease.
• Because of AI, Today we can easily buy eyeglasses online with just a click and even try them on the website to get the look and feel of it before we purchase.
• Smart glasses are set to be the next big thing in technology, it puts cameras and headphones into what look like normal sunglasses. Some can even work as augmented reality devices, projecting a computer screen into the corner of your eye.

Challenges 

• Low penetration in rural areas 
• High import duty
• Price gap between branded and unbranded products   

Key players in the market