Eyewear retailer Titan Eye+ will shift focus back to network expansion from the quarter beginning July, Saumen Bhaumik, chief executive officer of Eyecare Division at Titan Company, told ET. The retailer had focused on strengthening existing stores rather than opening new ones last year.
“We are building a business venture, which is profitable by design and which is what we established for the last four years. We accelerated our network expansion in the previous two and a half years. We took a pause last year and we are more or less at the same level right now,” he said.
The retail brand, which is an arm of Titan, currently has more than 900 stores in the country, across around 350 cities. In fiscal year 2023-24, the brand recorded earnings of INR 707 crore, with a growth rate of five per cent.
The company had stepped into the luxury eyewear space in August last year. This year the company is opening retail store Runway for premium sunglasses on Friday. “Right now, our current share through our own brands, as well as the international brands that we sell is around ten per cent or less in premium eyewear. We are trying to go beyond that with the launch of these new retail stores, just like we have done in watches in the other lifestyle segments,” he said.
The premium segment, however, is not yet a significant contributor to the eyewear company’s overall topline, he added. “When you are building a brand for a segment, it has to go through the rigour of delivering exceptional value and for the quality and comfort that it stands for. So, we are not in a rush. We can take it to INR 500 crore eventually, and increase distribution, but that is not what we are planning to do right now,” he said.
The company aims to capture a larger share of the affordable eyewear segment, aligning with the anticipated 7.54 per cent CAGR growth in this market between 2024 and 2028, he added.
