Titan Eye+

Background:

Titan Eye+, the newest (well... almost!) baby of Titan Industries Limited was launched in March 2007. This is the third major vertical that the company has ventured into after watches and jewellery. Quoting from Eye+'s website - "The move was an initiative to re-define the industry and straddle the marketplace with exacting quality standards, unparalleled in India’s eyewear industry."
Eye+ aims to offer a eyewear buying experience which is unparalled in the industry, by offering a plethora of brands under one roof. Backed by the image of the Tata group, which in itself is a symbol of quality and trust, the latest venture aims to bring about standardization and consolidation in an otherwise extremely fragmented industry.


Store Location: Mani Square mall, Kolkata


Prior Expectations:

1. Large variety (w.r.t. brands, designs and price range) of frames to choose from.
2. Good eye testing facility with a qualified optometrist.
3. Great store ambience.
4. Skilled staff to help me choose the frame which looks best on me.


Factual Description:

1. On entering the store, it becomes very clear that Titan has brought all its expertise in visual merchandising from the other verticals into Eye+. The stores were well designed with contemporary steel and wood furniture.
2. Two sets of tables and chairs were present where store employees were attending to new customers, seated opposite them on the table.
3. Gadgets used for determining the location of the centre of the eye lens for perfect configuration of the lenses were present on the table.
4. Various international designer brands – Versace, Dior, Gucci, Esprit, Armani; along with the other premium brands like Levi’s and in-house brands Titan, Eye+ and Dash were present with the brand labels clearly displayed.
5. A separate section was present which housed the eye testing clinic.
6. A computer system with a camera was present which helped me to click my photograph wearing various frames and compare the looks.


Pros:

1. The security on the door politely greeted every customer and welcomed him into the store.
2. The large displays with loads of frames from a number of international luxury and premium brands along with the in-house brands could be seen. It became amply clear that a customer would be spoilt for choice in this store.
3. The eye testing clinic seemed to be up-to-date with the best equipment I have ever come across. Manual intervention was reduced to minimal to prevent any errors from creeping in.
4. The optometrist had undergone a 45 days training and was certified by Shankar Nethralaya, one of the biggest names in eye care in India. A certificate for the same was prominently displayed.
5. The store was laid out in a browse, select and buy format with customers having access to all the frames present in the store.
6. Only branded lenses from Kodak, Essilor and Titan were present with built in UV and glare reduction and scratch resistance.
7. The proprietary software developed for helping customers choose frames was very impressive and proved to be helpful.
8. A one year warranty on the frame and a six month warranty on the lenses was offered.
9. The store staff was very friendly, patient and warm. The customer felt very special.


Cons:

1. The store boasted of a ‘style consultant’ who would help in choosing the best frame. But no one person was designated as the consultant and all the employees had undergone a general style training. Thus no real help came from their end, though it was promised as one of the differentiating features of the format.
2. The lenses started at Rs. 1350 for a Titan branded lens, a company having no previous credentials in manufacture of eyewear lenses. I feel pricing for the same needs review. Other branded lenses started at Rs. 1500. This made the planned budgets go haywire.
3. The store staff was not able to deal with a large number of customers in the store at one point in time and service levels went down drastically.
4. High priced premium brands were kept in the same segment as the in-house brands and the whole buying experience became a little prohibitive with the constant ‘fear’ of ending up liking something exorbitantly priced.


Overall, I believe that though the stores were launched in March 2007, they have just come out of the pilot phase and thus some operational issues would be present. But because the stores hail from the house of Titan, I would expect these issues to be sorted out very quickly. Other players like Himalaya, Dayal Opticians, Zeiss and Lawrence and Mayo have also spotted the opportunity presented by consolidation in the segment and are quickly expanding. For Eye+ to have the same effect on the industry as Titan did with watches, it has to deliver on all promises and keep reinventing itself in order to establish itself as the leader in this segment as well.

For this experience, I would give Titan Eye+ an 8.5/10