Lenskart, the omnichannel eyewear retailer, has noticed a proclaimed stint in client shopping behaviour, with 90% of gross sales at present coming from the net channel, served by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The eyewear retailer plans to open more than 300 new shops as state-wide lockdowns are untroubled, taking the total to over 1,000 shops, the firm’s patron Peyush Bansal notified ET in a unique conversation. Despite this, Lenskart is, without a doubt, one of the few producers to boost offline retail shops.
Lenskart has over 750 shops in whole and more than 720 are in India.
Previous in the pandemic, Lenskart would perceive around 60-65% of gross sales from online. Due to the aspect of the enterprise, shoppers end up visiting shops oftentimes.
Bansal didn’t stipulate the numbers though mentioned the net channel had seen a significant shift due to the second Covid-19 wave and that it had increased the Ghaziabad-based startup’s market share within the established retail house.
Bansal mentioned in the interview, “We were hit by Covid-19 but the positive has been the online channel adoption. We have seen it is sustainable as well since more people are now buying glasses online than ever. Our market share is growing. People now want to go out and shop – 400-450 of our stores are fully operational while the rest are partially open depending on local lockdowns. We are adding new stores and have signed up for over 130 stores already.”
Most of those shops will be in India whereas it can additionally expand into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
According to Bansal, the corporate is under scrutiny and will report web income for the initial time within the ongoing monetary year despite the second wave’s impact from March to May.
The firm reported an income of around Rs 1,000 crore in FY20 without handing over revenue. Bansal refused to share the financials for the recently closed fiscal year.
The SoftBank-backed firm has seen a refurbishment of 70% in gross sales and expects a full recovery to pre-second wave volumes by July as offline markets proceed to open.
Lenskart Vision Fund
Additionally, The firm has set up a ‘Lenskart Vision Fund’ with an entity of around $20 million which can invest money into startups within the space of eye testing applied sciences, omnichannel expertise options throughout in-store automation, logistics, provide chain, merchandising, advertising, and deep tech options for eyewear, retail and e-commerce.
This is just not affiliated with Lenskart investor SoftBank’s Vision Fund.
Bansal stated that he had already financed 4 startups via this fund, all throughout India and abroad.
It will make investments of up to $2 million in these companies for anywhere between 10% and a majority stake.
Lenskart funding
Lenskart is within the terminal stage of
closing a $250-$300 million funding round, following which it’s foreseen to be worth around $2.5 billion.
