Not one to give up, Sanjay Tekchandani has always been a fighter. Here he speaks about why he stuck to being a single store owner and how he foresees the evolution of the industry.
Vision 2000 was established by me in 1996. In the year 2004, I renamed the store to Vision 2020 to connect to the idea of perfect vision (20/20 Vision i.e. reading font size 20 at a distance of 20 feet). I have been in the business for 25 years. And unlike others who have grown to have multiple stores, I’ve stuck to just one. I have my own reasons for this. There are different ways of growing business. Generally people grow horizontally, by having multiple stores. However I decided to grow vertically. We have progressed from a normal optical store in 1996, to a Complete Eye Care Centre today. In the year 2009, we started our Laser Surgery Centre, performing Lasik surgeries. Today we also do cataract and other surgeries with ophthalmologists.
My education as an Engineer and an MBA has helped me in my business as a good and sound education is always a strong foundation for any business. Then we learn as we grow, by doing the right things and also making mistakes but constantly learning from our actions. As you know, in 2018 and 2019, we were nominated for 5 You&Eye Awards for Boutique stores, and we also won the award for Best Marketing initiative, Boutique Stores, Metro Cities, in the year 2018.
Our USP
Our location in Bandra certainly makes a big difference to us, but more than that it is the service and high quality of products that we dispense. Being open 7 days a week, gives our consumers and patients the flexibility of purchase on Sundays. Also we are very particular about our inventory management. We ensure that we have a high turnaround of stocks of frames and sunglasses, so we can provide our consumers merchandise that suits their personal tastes, professional and visual correction requirements.
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Eminent Indian personalities including Amir Khan, Kiran Rao, Arnab Goswami, Siddharth Roy Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Kapoor family, Salman khan family, Jackie Shroff, Katrina Kaif, Pooja Bhatt, Subash Ghai, Zeenat Aman and many others are our regular customers. We had our moment of fame in the eyewear industry when Preity Zinta wore our glasses in the movie “Kal Ho Na No.” This brought about a big acceptance of spectacles in the industry. Before this, wearing spectacles was not considered trendy.
My younger son Dr. Uday Tekchandani, is an Ophthalmologist, and pursuing his Senior Residency in Retina from PGIMER Chandigarh. Once he joins us, we propose to start a fully equipped Eye Care Centre in Bandra. We will complement each other, and take vision care to another level.
Online and its effect on our business
Regarding the Digital Presence of Vision 2020 I feel that being present on Social media, Google, Instagram etc. is now a hygiene factor. While being present on these platforms showcases our expertise and plethora of offerings as a standard practice, not being present or active on any platform impacts business immediately. My elder son Akash, who manages Digital & CRM for Cadbury India, leads our digital presence and initiatives.
The influx of E-Commerce and online business has affected all markets. Fortunately, as we are in healthcare and so we are better off than many markets. We have seen a huge shift in the younger generation (ages 25 to 30 years), who buy impulsively and are only looking for convenience and price.
However, we all know that quality and service comes at a price. Over a period of time, many of our consumers and patients did shift to online purchasing, but now have slowly started moving back to us, as they have realized the benefits of touch and feel, and would like to add a particular sort of experience to their purchases.
But yes, for purchases of normal Spherical Contact Lenses and Coloured (Cosmetic) Contact lenses, I do feel that the online options are affecting the retail industry. We have seen a drop in offline(Optical Store Purchases) and rise in online in this segment. The impact is definitely seen today. As patients have reduced visits to optical stores, opticians do not get a chance to interact with them, and hence we are unable to advise them on the latest products and technology. This could prove to be very harmful to their vision.
Products not sold online are also not being promoted by opticians, in the fear that once the new products get established, the optician’s efforts will go down the drain, as the companies could start offering them online at a heavy discount.
Also as our footfalls have reduced, we are unable to upgrade patients. All multinational companies are feeling the heat. They have huge spending on Research and Development for the new products. Hence I feel, in the case of contact lenses, all are losing out, i.e. the patients, the manufacturers, and the opticians.
Solution
I know, for a fact, that online and offline have to co-exist. I feel that if the manufacturers directly sell online, but by controlling the discount structure, it could be beneficial to all. I have personally voiced my opinion to all major manufacturers. Let’s wait and see how they act on it.
Secondly I feel that soft skills are lacking in our sales staff and also our optometrists. Optometry schools should put this as a part of their curriculum. Of course, regular technical training and upgrading of the staff, and also the optical stores is extremely important.
