Eyewear retail chain Titan Eyeplus is aiming to appeal to a wider band of customers with an all-new retail and brand identity that was unveiled on Tuesday.
The new brand logo sports a ‘cool blue’ colour palette and a modern typeface which is minimalist and contemporary. “Our earlier logo with its plus (+) sign had a medical feel to it. Today, consumers are buying multiple pairs of eyewear which they see as fashion/lifestyle statements for different occasions, including work, weddings, parties and so on, with replacement cycles of 12-18 months down from two-three years earlier. The new brand logo and retail identity reflects the shift of the eyewear category from a serious, functional category rooted in healthcare to a more youthful, contemporary fashion accessory,” Ronnie Talati, CEO, Eyewear division, Titan Company Ltd, told BusinessLine .
Adhering to the international norms, the products on display in the new Titan Eyeplus stores (700 sq ft) will have separate sections dedicated to men, women, youth and kids. Each consumer segment will have products segregated by lifestyle/occasion based requirements such as corporate, fashion, sports, luxury with each segment showcasing global trending styles.
The virtual walk-through of the store in its new avatar revealed, backlit sunglass display towers, interaction islands for customers with style consultants, and separate spaces for Lens, Eye Testing, Cash & Delivery.
“We have rejuvenated the brand’s retail experience from the time the customer enters the store till the time they exit with a story-telling approach for each category, easy browsing and tactile experience with vertical and horizontal displays,” said Michael Foley, Founder of Foley Designs, and designer of the new identity.
Thirty Titan Eyeplus stores have been readied with the new identity and the rest will go through a makeover in phases, at a cost of ₹15-20 lakh per store.
At present, 80 per cent of the company’s sales accrue from prescription eyewear that addresses a core target group of 40 plus individuals and the rest is from sunglasses. And 90 per cent of the lenses sold are manufactured by Titan.
Asked about investments in augmenting manufacturing capacity of lenses, Talati said: “Our lens manufacturing facility is in Chikballapur outside Bengaluru with a capacity of 2,000 lenses per day. We set up a Satellite Lens Processing Unit in Kolkata last month at an investment of ₹5 crore and plan to set up one in Noida in April and another outside Mumbai in September, at an investment of ₹5 crore each. These processing units will cut down delivery time to customers in those regions from three days to 24 hours.”
Titan Eyeplus has registered a CAGR of 25 per cent over the last five years.
The company clocked over ₹500 crore last fiscal, has crossed ₹460 crore last December and is expecting to grow at 17 per cent this fiscal.
The company offers in-house brands such as Enigma, Adreno, Titan, Fastrack, Vybes, Trendz, Dash priced from ₹495 to ₹4,000 and international brands such as Montblanc, Swarovski, Porsche, Tag-Heuer and so on, priced upwards of ₹4,000 to ₹40,000.
Titan Eyeplus has a footprint of 395 stores in 148 cities, of which 100 are company-owned.