Lenskart to open over 300 stores as lockdown restrictions ease

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 25, 2021

Eyewear brand Lenskart plans to restart its brick-and-mortar expansion as lockdown restrictions ease across India and will open over 300 stores to bring its total to over 1,000. 

“We were hit by Covid-19 but the positive has been the online channel adoption,” Lenskart’s founder Peyush Bansal told the Economic Times in an interview.

“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.”

Lenskart’s online sales recently increased from between 60% to 65% of sales from all retail channels to 90% as many stores remained closed during the Covid-19 second wave lockdowns. The business, which currently counts over 720 stores in India and over 750 stores in total, is confident that the nature of the eyewear business will ensure that demand for physical stores remains in an evolving retail landscape.
 
The majority of Lenskart’s upcoming stores will be in India with some openings planned for the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Lenskart is currently concluding a new funding round which will bring in new investments and is expected to value the business at around $2.5 billion (Rs 16,632 crore).