There are several Unicorn startups in India that have completely revolutionized the industry they work in. Today, we will talk about one such revolutionary unicorn that has changed the face of eyewear industry and the man behind its success. Yes, it’s Lenskart. From starting as an online portal for contact lenses to becoming the first-choice of the customers when it comes stylish frames or eyeglasses, Lenskart has certainly achieved a lot of success in the past few years.
Have you ever thought how Lenskart made a name for itself in the market or what compelled it’s founder Peyush Bansal to introduce such kind of platform in India? Read this blog to know the answer.
Firstly, take a glance at Peyush Bansal’s background and how did he start his entrepreneurial journey.
Who is he?
Peyush Bansal is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in India. Born on April 26, 1985 in New Delhi, Peyush was a bright child and always wanted to do something for his family. He did his schooling from Don Bosco in Delhi and graduation from McGill University in Canada.
Soon after graduating, Peyush got a placement in Microsoft, USA, which is still a dream for many youngsters. Although, Peyush didn’t find it as a big deal, he had some other plans.
The Success you know, the story you don’t
After working with Microsoft for almost a year, Peyush decided to come back to India. The sudden move of quitting his job in USA and return to home took his friends and family by surprise. But Peyush was adamant on his decision.
Back in India, Bansal worked with a couple of startups and also pursued his post-graduation in Management from IIM Bangalore.
During his time in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Peyush founded Valyoo Technologies, which introduced its first business portal in 2007. It was a student-oriented platform which aimed to offer solutions to different kinds of problems faced by the youngsters. From carpooling services to internship opportunities, the portal offered many interesting services which proved to be beneficial for the students.
While exploring this avenue, Peyush found out that the eyewear industry had not been tapped by the major e-commerce players. Therefore, he created Flyrr.com, a website dedicated to the American eyewear industry. After receiving a positive response in the US, Peyush decided to launch the same kind of portal in India as well. In this way, he founded Lenskart in 2010. Later, two of Peyush’s friends, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi also joined him in his dream venture.
Building Lenskart
Initially, Lenskart began by only selling contact lenses online, but soon after the portal gained the momentum, it added eyeglasses. Finally, in March 2011, the company expanded its portfolio by including sunglasses, putting them in the fashion accessory category.
Despite starting out as an online platform, the company has gradually grown to become one of the biggest eyewear sellers in India. So far, they have 600 retail stores in 30 plus cities across the country and are looking to add more, to complement its e-commerce business.
Moreover, Lenskart offers more than 5,000 frames and 45 different types of superior quality lenses to its customers, making it more popular among today’s generation.
Lenskart has completely revolutionized the eyewear industry by using cutting edge technology. It offers services such as 3-D trial facilities in order to make the process easier for its customers.
Secret behind Lenskart’s success
The main reason behind Lenskart’s success is that it keeps improving itself, considering the ever-changing dynamics of e-commerce world and is steadily making progress in the market.
There is no doubt in saying that Lenskart faces competition from both offline players and e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart etc. But with the help of an aggressive marketing strategy, different price points, and unique and innovative products and services, the company has always been one step ahead of its competitors. On the top of that, Peyush Bansal’s strong determination tells us that it doesn’t matter how many challenges or obstacles you face in your journey, there is always a way out if one can just hold on to the tide and never stop believing in himself.