Shopping for glasses can be a tedious process – from getting the right prescription, to choosing the best lenses to suit your lifestyle needs and trying on dozens of frames until you find the perfect fit. Eyeglass wearers can also attest to how expensive spectacles can get, as high markups in the industry are often passed onto consumers. Hassle and cost are two hurdles that eyeglass shoppers often face, and while more shoppers are pivoting online to purchase their glasses as well, this can be a daunting experience for some as they may not have as much clarity or guidance to choose the best pair online.  

On a quest to address these common pain points both online and in-store, international omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart is one of the recent disrupters to the eyewear industry with its tech-enabled buying process. As an international omnichannel eyewear retailer with over 700 retail stores and online channels across India, Singapore, Middle East, and the US, Lenskart offers high-quality and fashion-forward eyewear at affordable prices, while leveraging technology to provide a truly seamless and unique customer experience.

One of Lenskart’s unique value propositions involves a virtual ‘3D Try On’ service that is available both online and in-store, where customers can try out its full range of glasses virtually using augmented reality (AR) to gauge what suits their style. Complementing this fuss-free service with extensive resources, Lenskart also provides comprehensive buying guides to help shoppers choose the most suitable pair for their lifestyle and preferences.

To explore how Lenskart is transforming the eyewear industry, we caught up with the Lenskart Singapore team, who shares more on the brand’s vision to provide their customers with a fuss-free and tech-enabled omnichannel shopping experience. 

How does Lenskart provide high-quality eyewear at affordable prices? 

As a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand, we pride ourselves in providing affordable eyewear without compromising quality nor fashion. We achieve this by establishing a direct route to customers - straight from manufacturing to retail. This allows us to formulate transparent pricing strategies with no hidden costs, enabling us to provide high-quality and affordable eyewear for anyone who needs it. 

In the last decade, Singapore has witnessed an alarming rise in myopia cases. Today, four out of five adults in Singapore have short-sightedness, with at least one of the four having high myopia. Prescription glasses have thus become an essential for most, but the high costs often result in people settling for low-quality and poorly designed glasses. At Lenskart, we want to deliver quality, design, and affordability, providing eyewear that is accessible and inclusive. 

Can you share more about your virtual ‘3D Try On’ service?

Photo credit: The Smart Local

Our virtual ‘3D Try On’ service has been available since the brand was launched in 2010. With this service, we wanted to make online shopping for glasses more convenient and enjoyable. Using AR technology, you can create a 3D mesh of your face within 5 seconds and try on as many as 10,000 designs in one seating. We provide this service both online and in stores, giving our customers the flexibility to try out glasses virtually wherever they prefer.

The feedback has been positive, especially over the past year when customers were more careful with shopping in-store. The ‘3D Try On’ service enables our customers to imagine themselves in the glasses, just like trying on the frames in person. The service makes online shopping for glasses a lot more "real" and fun, providing a more seamless try-on and shopping experience for our customers.   

We noticed a number of educational resources and buying guides on the website, why is this important for customers when they are shopping for glasses online?  

A lot goes into selecting a pair of glasses – from the fit, the type of lens, to how it suits your face and your lifestyle. Through our resources and buying guides on our website, we hope to empower our customers’ online buying journey with more informed decisions and clarity on how to find the perfect pair of glasses from the comfort of your own home. 

In our experience, we noticed that many customers are still more comfortable with shopping for glasses in-store. Shopping for prescription glasses online can also be quite challenging as compared to shopping for fashion and accessories, as there are various considerations like getting an accurate prescription, and choosing the right lens, frame size and design. 

Hence, by sharing these resources through our website, we hope that we can provide our customers with the information and support needed to allow them to shop online more easily. To address any concerns our shoppers may have when buying online, we also have a dedicated online customer service team with a Live chat function to provide solutions and recommendations whenever needed.

How has business been affected amid the Covid-19 pandemic? 

The pandemic has had a positive impact on our business. There’s a greater awareness among shoppers on eye health and eye care, with more opting for better quality lenses such as blue-light lenses or Tokai Lutina lenses. As we continue to expand our business in Singapore and focus on enhancing our services and offerings on our online store, we are happy to see that our omnichannel approach is working well for our customers. For instance, we have more customers shopping for their frames online and visiting our stores to have their eyes checked. This way, customers enjoy the convenience and comfort of shopping from home, as well as the assurance that their prescription is accurate and most suited to their needs. 

How does Lenskart plan to continue providing customers with a unique shopping experience? 

We are constantly improving the technology and services that we provide for our customers. Making eyewear shopping even more accessible and convenient, we have developed our very own Lenskart app – which allows customers to shop from anywhere, try our eyeglasses virtually on the go, and enjoy flexible cash-on-delivery and no-fuss return options. We will continue to improve these technologies on our website and app, to ensure a seamless shopping experience for all our customers. 

As one of the leading omnichannel eyewear retailers in the region, Lenskart has certainly carved a niche for itself in providing a holistic and unique shopping experience for their customers using technology. Over the past decade, Lenskart has revolutionised the entire eyewear shopping experience using technology – so that every customer can find the perfect pair with greater convenience, through a more informative and personalised buying process, and at affordable prices. 

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If you’re looking for a pair of affordable quality glasses, visit Lenskart and try out their tech-enabled services. Lenskart has multiple outlets island-wide, including Century Square (#01-02), Hougang Mall (#01-12/13), Northpoint City, (#01-106), Waterway Point (#01-06), and White Sands (#02-15).