Ahmedabad, March 4: While many disruptive business models have been applauded recently for their innovative ways, one sector which made them sweat out without much success is pure ‘online’ eyewear retailing. The reason is no matter what features are offered over the internet, some aspects will make ‘offline first’ the primary choice for most eyewear buyers.
When asked, Mr Ashwin Sheth, a veteran eyewear retailer from Ahmedabad whose brand Sheth Opticals has been in business for over the last 4 decades, said, “The reason is that most of the online eyewear retail brands believe in aggressive customer acquisition via deep discounting which in-turn undercuts their business stability. What happens is that all those users who throng online on their websites to buy spectacles or sunglasses will be from the extremely price-sensitive segment, and they tend to flip their loyalty the moment those sites stop offering competitive rates. But the overall dent that happens to them because of this is the customer mindset which becomes difficult to change at a later stage. Also, the GMV of such online sites is limited to a certain price bracket because a higher range of sunglass or spectacles is still best preferred to be bought from an offline store. The reasons for it are many, namely the Personalized service, thorough Eye Testing by an Optometrist for spectacle/lens and Try & Buy option.”
Sheth Opticals has a more than 1 lakh loyal customer base with a more significant segment consisting of NRIs in their kitty, and the brand has quite a grip on its customer needs. Their challenge seems to be something other than those pure online eyewear retailers or the constantly mushrooming offline eyewear shops at every nook & corner of Ahmedabad, but from those national brands who operate via a chain of stores. They intend to counter them with more personalized service with extended features like doorstep service. Helping devise a more refined business strategy to counter that segment of the competition is Ashwinbhai’s dynamic son Mr Jishnu Sheth who intends to carry on the baton of this foundation more vigorously than ever.
As per one of their business plans, they do not intend to franchise their legacy, which can dilute their brand experience for customers, but instead plan to adopt a brick-to-click approach which still holds relevance for their NRI customers specifically.
Here’s wishing them stellar success because, ultimately, the business acumen of a typical Amdavadi is something that the entire nation now bows to.