Summer Internship Project

On
An Exploratory Study Focusing on Consumer
Preferences towards Eyewear: A study in NCR
At
Vision Spring India

(Submitted towards partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the

Post Graduate Diploma in Management 2014-2016)

Submitted to
Prof Shallini Taneja
Faculty, FORE School of Management

Submitted by
Puneet Gupta
Roll no. 231107
FMG XXIII

FORE School of Management, New Delhi

 Certificate

This is to certify that Mr Puneet Gupta Roll No 231107 has completed his summer internship

at vision Spring Delhi and has submitted this project report entitled “Study of Indian

Consumers Preferences towards Eyewear” towards part fulfilment of the requirements for

the award of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (FMG-23) 2014-2016.

This Report is the result of his own work and to the best of my knowledge, no part of it

has earlier comprised any other report, monograph, dissertation or book. This project was

carried out under my overall supervision.

Date:

Place: New Delhi

————————————-

Shallini Taneja

2|Page
 Acknowledgment

I would like to thank everyone who helped me throughout this project and provided

their support and guidance.

Firstly, I would like to thank my faculty guide Prof Shallini Taneja for her support and

valuable inputs on how to go about the project. Secondly, I would like to thank Vision

Spring India for giving me an opportunity to do my internship and learn from some of

the great leadership in the industry. I take this opportunity to express my profound

gratitude and deep regards to my Industry mentor Mr. Rajeeb Das for his exemplary

guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the internship.

Last but not the least I would like to thank Company staff to help me and providing

full cooperation and continuous support during the course of this assignment.

Thanks to FORE School Of Management for their belief and constant support. And

finally, I would like to thank each and every person who has contributed in any of the

ways in my training.

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 Table of Contents

Certificate................................................................................................................................................ 2
Acknowledgment .................................................................................................................................. 3
Executive Summary................................................................................................................................. 6
Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 7
Eyewear industry in India.................................................................................................................... 7
Chapter2: Literature Review ................................................................................................................. 10
Objectives ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Chapter 3: Research Methodology ....................................................................................................... 14
Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 4: Results and Analysis ............................................................................................................ 15
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Suggestions ........................................................................................ 24
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 24
Suggestions ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Limitations ....................................................................................................................................... 26
Annexure ............................................................................................................................................. 27
About Vision Spring........................................................................................................................... 27
References ...................................................................................................................................... 32
Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................... 34

4|Page
 List of figures

Figure 1 Gender distribution of the respondents…………………………. 17

Figure 2 Age of the Respondents……….………………………….……… 18

Figure 3 Pair of eyeglasses people own………………………………..…. 19

Figure 4.Number of retailer customers shopped around…...................... 19

Figure 5 Location…………………………………………………………..…. 20

Figure 6 - The influence of the optician…..………………………………… 21

Figure 7- Influencing factors………………………………………………… 21

Figure 8- Costumers buying online……………..………………………….. 22

Figure 9- satisfaction level of online purchase…………………………….. 23

Figure 10- Reasons behind buying eyewear…………...…………………. 23

Figure 11 discounts/promotions……………………………………………. 24

Figure 12 online use of discount or promotion……………………………. 26

Figure 13 gender and influencers……………………...…………………....26

5|Page
Executive Summary

This project on “Study of Indian Consumers Preferences towards Eyewear” aims at

studying the eyewear industry in India and the consumer preferences in this industry.

VisionSpring is an eyewear company that works to ensure affordable access to

eyewear, everywhere. Primary objective of this project is to analyse the consumer

buying behaviour and habits. For this purpose, research and analysis is very

important and is needed to be done continuously in this dynamic environment where

consumer buying behaviour keeps on changing.

In this competitive market, customers are becoming more and more aware about the

new products. Any useful information and eye catching deal can change a

customer‟s decision. The visibility has been one of the major factors to get the

customer attention. To sustain a competitive advantage, the existing players will

need to improve customer experience and satisfaction. Customer loyalty is very

important in this industry.

Key factors which consumers considers while buying eyewear were analysed. After

researching I found that the eyewear industry is likely to expand in coming years

since consumers are now also buying eyewear as a fashion accessory and also

because of multiple eyewear ownership among users.

As per my recommendation focus should be more on the quality of product and

services rather than just selling, because word of mouth marketing plays a major role

in this industry. Also, in my view the influence of the optometrist on the customer is

high so Vision Spring should have optometrists which are good in both eye

testing/analysis as well as in selling the right products.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Eyewear industry in India

According to a study by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of

India (ASSOCHAM), the total value of the Indian eyewear market (including contact

lenses, intraocular lenses, lens cleaning solutions, spectacle lenses, frames and

sunglasses) is estimated to be worth as much as US$7.2 billion by 2015.

An estimated 450 million people in India need vision correction, but the actual

number of those who use optical lenses is less than 25 percent of that. The

shockingly high number of people with untreated vision-correction requirements

speaks volumes about the state of ocular health in the country and about access to

ophthalmic health care.

India's eyewear industry is highly segmented, comprising various manufacturers that

specialise in designing and producing eyewear products in different sectors. Despite

the presence of a number of leading eyewear companies in the regulated sector, the

optical market in India is primarily driven by the revenues of a huge number of

smaller manufacturers in the more informal, largely unregulated sector. The eyewear

market continues to be dominated by unbranded players, which sell really cheap

products at low prices. However, unbranded players have continued to lose share as

their cumulative share dipped over the past few years. Interestingly, multinationals

have made a mark in terms of branded products. Of the top five players in eyewear,

four, namely Essilor, Carl Zeiss, Safilo and Luxottica, were subsidiaries of

multinationals. Optical goods stores were the most popular channel in 2013. Indians

are more used to going to such shops as they are located in residential as well as

famous shopping areas. The staff at such stores has built relationships with

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consumers over decades, which has led to high levels of trust. Moreover, there

continued to be an increasing trend towards branded stores in 2014, such as

Lawrence &Mayo, Vision Express and GKB Optolabs in India, which also fall under

optical goods stores. This would suggest the ongoing dominance of this channel in

the longer term. In the regulated spectacle lens sector, Essilor is the clear market

leader, while Bausch & Lomb dominates the contact lens segment. Ray-Ban is the

largest selling sunglasses brand. Titan is the largest eyewear retail chain.

Overall, a number of factors have contributed to the growth in demand in the Indian

eyewear sector. Higher levels of disposable income and greater awareness of

remedial solutions have seen a greater uptake of corrective spectacles by those

suffering from some form of vision impairment. Eyewear is also expected to maintain

its good run over the 2014-2018 period. The fact that such products are necessity

driven will provide a boost to the market. This is because consumers cannot cut the

consumption of such products significantly in the event of further economic

slowdown. Moreover, demand for branded eyewear is currently very low in India and

therefore its low base will also help the growth rate. Based on these factors, the

eyewear market is expected to register double-digit constant value growth between

2014 and 2018.

At the same time, sales of sunglasses have benefited from greater awareness of the

health benefits of such eyewear, as well as a heightened fashion sense, driven by

greater media awareness. While, in the past, Indian consumers viewed eyewear as a

merely functional product, this mind-set has now changed considerably, especially in

the major urban areas.

Historically, Indians have considered eyewear as utility products. As such, most

consumers did not own more than one pair of sunglasses even though sunglasses

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have been present in the country for decades. This trend changed significantly over

the past few years. Consumers started opting for more than one pair of spectacle

frames and sunglasses in light of the rapidly changing fashion trends. Multiple

ownership of different brands/style of eyewear is now far more commonplace. Five

years ago, multiple ownership in this category was just around 2%. Now it estimated

at around 6-7% and predicted to grow considerably over the coming years.

“The India Eyewear Market Outlook to FY'2018 - Rising Popularity of Online

Eyewear Portals” report cites shifting demographics, fashion and changing health

care practices in India as being the primary drivers of this growth. It also indicates

that sales of new varieties of eyewear products, incorporating advanced

technologies, are also playing a significant role.

The surge in the number of online portals selling eyewear and related products has

seen a huge shift away from conventional high street outlets specialising in the

sector. This move has been driven, at least in part, by the greater penetration of

broadband into India's tier one, two and three cities.

At present Lenskart has the highest online market share in the country, with GKB

Opticals being ranked second by retail volume. Other significant players here include

Lenstrade, LensDirect, Yebhi and Rediff Shopping.

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Chapter2: Literature Review

The Vision Council (February 2011) in their report “Fashion v.s Function In Eyewear”

stated that a large majority of eyeglass users/buyers (83%-87%) view eyeglasses

primarily as a medical necessity. The aim of the research was to provide insight into

the mind of the eyewear user and buyer as to whether they view eyewear as being a

medical necessity, a fashion item, or a mix of the two.

Karl Citek in his study “Safety and compliance of prescription spectacles ordered by

the public via the Internet”, published in Optometry, vol. 82, iss. 9 , pgs 549-555,

Sept. 2011 found out that more than one in every five pairs of eyeglasses sold online

was not delivered as ordered, with features added or omitted. Overall, the study

found that nearly half of all glasses they ordered online had a problem, either with

the prescription being wrong, the lens type (single vision vs bi-focal) being wrong, or

with the lenses not passing impact resistance testing – and that problem existed

regardless of the cost of those glasses online. Probably the most disturbing finding

of the study was that in 25% of the glasses for children, the lenses failed impact

testing.

Sweeney Research (2013) did a research on “Sunglasses and Fashion Spectacles -

Consumer Purchasing Decisions”. The aim was to provide a benchmark measure of

consumer awareness of safety considerations regarding eye protection from sun

exposure and how this impacts purchase decision making for sunglasses and

fashion spectacles. They found out that sunglasses are a common accessory with

around seven in ten (71%) Australians owning at least one pair of non-prescription

sunglasses. The most common reasons for wearing sunglasses are to prevent glare,

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protect eyes from UV/sunlight and to protect eyes from sun damage. Compared to

other age groups, 18-29 year olds are significantly more likely to be wearing

sunglasses to look good or to be fashionable, however glare and UV protection are

still the main reasons for wearing sunglasses in this age group.

Zambelli-Weiner, John E. Crews, and David S. Freidman (2012) in their study

“Disparities in Adult Vision Health in the United States” found out that because vision

loss most often is the result of underlying degenerative processes, the data showed

increased risk with increasing age for most of the major eye diseases. In general,

women are at higher risk of most major eye diseases. Major population-based

studies have examined the prevalence and risk of most major eye diseases by race,

but data are limited and findings are inconsistent. Data on other sociodemographic

variables, such as education and income, are limited.

“How 'try and buy' allows niche online retailers like Lenskart take on giants like

Amazon”, Econmictimes 5th may 2015. According to this article permitting item trials

at home is turned out to be lucrative for niche players like lenskart. By permitting

purchasers to try things before buying, organizations, for example, online eyewear

retailer Lenskart and goldsmith BlueStone have able to push through higher worth

buys while essentially bringing down item gives back.

According to the report „India Eyewear Market Outlook to FY2018‟ rising disposable

incomes, soaring population with visual impairment and increase in the number of

fashion-driven purchases will increase in the spending on eyewear products in India.

The report also added that the steep rise in the penetration of broadband in tier I, tier

II and tier III cities is expected to augment the revenues from the online eyewear

retailers in India.

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The report „Eyewear in India‟ by Euromonitor International says that eyewear in India

registered healthy retail volume and value growth in 2014. This was primarily driven

by the increased use of contact lenses and sunglasses among consumers. Eyewear

sales were no longer simply utilitarian in 2014. Consumers started to use spectacles,

contact lenses and sunglasses for various other purposes as well. The use of no

power spectacles with antireflective and antiglare properties became very popular as

they help to relieve eye stress caused by the increased use of laptops and

computers.

„Do you see what we see? The future of independent optometry‟ by Bain & Company

According to the report independent optometrists like Dr. Calderon will need to

change their behaviour in order to survive. They will need to have a stronger

materials offering, more transparent pricing, online scheduling for exams, availability

of materials to buy or pick up easily in store and faster production of new glasses,

while continuing to provide the same personalized service that has won them loyalty

up to this point. Category disrupters such as Zappos for footwear or the new upstarts

such as Warby Parker for eye glasses are changing the way glasses are purchased

and will continue to evolve and deliver higher levels of convenience and value. The

independent optometrist must act or be left behind.

According to the research paper “A Study of Demographics Influencing on Consumer

Behavior and Attitude towards Brand Equity of Optical Business in Thailand” The

major consumer‟ reason to purchase eyeglasses was optician‟s specialist; the

reason to wear eyeglasses was having myopia; and the people influencing in

purchasing eyeglasses was oneself. The score of consumer attitude towards brand

equity were brand association, perceive quality, brand loyalty, and brand awareness,

respectively.

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Objectives
The objective of this study is to understand the attitudes of consumers towards

eyeglass. Our purpose is to determine if the attitude of consumers towards eyewear

is affected by the demographic variables like age, gender, level of household

income. Factors that influence the consumer will also be studied.

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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Research Design

To meet the objectives of this study a quantitative research is carried out. In the

study both primary and secondary data has been used. The secondary data was

collected from various published literature. The information regarding the

organization has been collected from the internet and documents provided by the

company. To collect the primary data a survey was conducted in which a sample of

respondents from National capital Region (NCR) has been chosen using

convenience sample technique. An online questionnaire was distributed to the

selected respondents. The questionnaire contained questions regarding

demographics, attitudes, presentences of the respondents towards eyewear. The

data collected was then analysed and interpreted using statistical tools. Then

relevant conclusion were drawn and suggestions given.

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Chapter 4: Results and Analysis
In this section the data collected has been analysed. The data has been analysed

with the help pie diagram, bar charts, percentage analysis and Chi-Square Test.

Software such as SPSS and excel have been used.

Demographics of the Respondents

 Gender of Respondent: Form the figure below it can be seen that 63% (44 out

of 70) respondents were male and 37% were female.

37%

Male
63%
Female

Figure 1 Gender distribution of the respondents

 Age of the respondents: Almost 60% of the population was in age group of 20

to 25. It can be seen that the sample is inclined more towards the young

generation i.e. in the age group of 20-30.

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 11% 3%

27% 15-20
20-25
59%
25-30
>30

Figure 2 Age of the Respondents

 Annual income of the family: 49% have income in the range 5-10 lakhs.

7%
23%
21%
<3 lakh
3-5 lakh
5-10 Lakh
49% >10 lakh

Figure 3 Age of the Respondents

Pairs of eyeglasses people own

 Almost 50% of the respondents own 2 pair of eyeglasses

 Only 6% own 4 or more pair of eyeglasses

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 6%

17% 29%
1
2
3
4 or more

48%

Figure 3 - pair of eyeglasses people own

Customer Journey

 40% of the respondents visited a single retailer: From the chart it is clear that

28 out of 70 respondents went to just one retailer/shop to make a purchase

and did not looked around in the competing stores.

21%

40%
1
2
more than 2

39%

Figure 4 - Number of retailers customers shopped around

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  47% of the customers purchased the eyeglasses from location they had their

eyes examined, whereas 53% purchased from a different location.

47% Yes

53% No

Figure 5

Purchase influencers

 For more than 50% of the customers the influence of the optometrist was

important.

Very Important
13% 21%
9% Important

Neither important nor

26% unimportant
31%
Of little Importance

Unimportant

Figure 6 - The influence of the optometrist

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  49% of the respondents were most influenced by the inputs of friends and

family members.

 Just 4% were most influenced by discount/promotions.

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
The assistance Input from Point of Promotions Other
of the optician friends and purchase
family displays
members

Figure 7- Influencing factors

Online Purchases

 34% have shopped for eyewear online.

34%

Yes
66%
No

Figure 8- Costumers buying online

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  Only 32% are satisfied with their online purchase. 12% were extremely

dissatisfied whereas 8% were extremely satisfied

Extremely Satisfied
12% 8%

8% Very satisfied
24%
Neither satisfied nor
dissatisfied
dissatisfied

48% Not at all satisfied

Figure 9- satisfaction level of online purchase

Reasons behind buying eyewear

 66% bought eyewear because of medical necessity and 31% bought it as a

fashion accessory.

3%

31%
Medical necessity

66% Fashion accessory

Other

Figure 10- Reasons behind buying eyewear

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Discount and Promotions

 57% did not took advantage of a discount or promotion. Whereas 43% used

discount/promotion while buying eyewear.

43%
57%
Yes
No

Figure 11 discounts/promotions

 87.5% who bought online made use of a discount or promotion

12.5%

Do not use discounts

when buying online

87.5% Use discounts while

buying online

Figure 12

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Relation between gender and influencers

I will now apply the chi square test to determine if there is any relation between
gender and influencers.

cc

The null and alternative hypotheses are

H0: Gender and influencers are independent.

Ha: Gender and influencers are not independent.

The SPSS result was as follows

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 Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

a
Pearson Chi-Square 2.424 3 .489

Likelihood Ratio 2.429 3 .488

N of Valid Cases 67

a. 3 cells (37.5%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

expected count is 1.16.

From the table we can see that the Chi is 2.424 and degree of freedom is 3. P value

of this test is 0.489 which is more the Alpha value (0.05). Therefore we cannot reject

the null hypothesis. Hence there is no co-relation between Gender and influencers.

23 | P a g e
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Suggestions

Conclusion

The results of the conducted study highlight the combination of factors that leads to

customers buying eyewear. It can be seen that the eye industry is following similar

trends as seen in the retail makeover in India. Over the years eyewear has changed

from being a utility product vision correction to key fashion accessory. In the past few

years the competition has increased tremendously with many online players entering

into the market. Some of these players have even started opening brick and mortar

stores.

The consumers have become more aware about the products and the prices. The

increase in the online purchases could also be because of the deals and discounts

which are on offer online.

The eyewear industry is expected to expand in the next few years because of many

factors like increasing use of multiple eyewear ownership, increased use of eyewear

as a fashion accessory.

Consumers have started experimenting by buying online, but the satisfaction levels

of online buyers are very low. This could be because of the fact that eyewear is a

category which users like to get a feel of before buying it. Getting the right fit of an

eyeglass is very important and getting that fit online is very difficult.

It can be concluded that the key success factors of this industry are

 Product portfolio and quality of products

 Delivery time

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  After sales services

However, as with any other industry, this industry is also facing many challenges.

The scarcity of professionals is one of the biggest challenges. This is leading to an

increase in salaries for trained professionals. Also, higher rentals in cities are

causing a hindrance to growth.

Suggestions

Over the years the eyewear industry has changed and the consumers have become

more aware about the products and the prices, hence it is important for the

companies to provide excellent service to the consumers.

The following suggestions have been on the basis of the study:

1. Focus should be more on the quality of product and services rather than just selling,

because word of mouth marketing plays a major role in this industry.

2. The influence of the optometrist on the customer is high, so Vision Spring should train

optometrists which are good in both eye testing/analysis as well as in selling the right

products.

3. To retain customer, they should provide excellent after sales services and offer loyalty

programs to customers.

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Limitations

1. The study has been restricted to the users of eyewear.

2. The data and opinion collected are assumed to be objective.

3. The survey is restricted to 70 respondents.

4. Data was collected online.

5. The study has been restricted to Delhi NCR only.

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Annexure

About Vision Spring

VisionSpring is a social enterprise founded by Jordan Kassalow and Scott Berrie in

2001, a year after Kassalow co-founded Scojo Vision LLC, a designer and distributor

of high-end reading glasses. He is named in the list of Forbes magazine‟s Impact 30.

VisionSpring has its global headquarters in New York (USA) and its India head office

is located in New Delhi.

Their proclaimed mission is "to ensure equitable and affordable eyeglass is available

to every individual to live a productive life".

VisionSpring works to ensure affordable access to eyewear, everywhere. The World

Health Organization estimates that over 700 million people who need eyeglasses do

not have access to this important product. This leads to an estimated 35% loss of

economic productivity, children falling out of school, and a significant loss of quality

of life. Since inception, VisionSpring has sold over 1.6M eyeglasses to their target

customers who typically earn between $1-$8 per day. As a social enterprise,

VisionSpring deploys philanthropic capital to uncover economically viable business

models that can scale through market forces. In 2013, their operations in Central

America were on the cusp of achieving this important milestone.

VisionSpring has two working models. One called the Hub & Spoke model and the

other the Partnership model. The Economist likened their Hub & Spoke model to

"Lenscrafters meets Mary Kay." In this model, they operate fixed cross-subsidized

optical shops with optometrists from which a small band of "Vision Entrepreneurs"

fan out into the neighboring communities to provide eye screenings, sell reading and

sunglasses, and refer more advanced cases back to the store to see the optometrist.

27 | P a g e
They operate this model in India and El Salvador and have active plans to scale this

model to several other countries in Central America including Honduras, Nicaragua,

and Guatemala. The Partnership model, typified by their work with BRAC in

Bangladesh, helps organizations with existing distribution networks and teaches

them to add vision services into their product offering. VisionSpring operates this

model in over a dozen countries including Rwanda, Morocco, Afghanistan,

Paraguay, and Ethiopia.

Work in India

VisionSpring is a not-for-profit international healthcare organization working in India

since 2005.

Partnerships & Projects: VisionSpring partners with like-minded organizations across

India to provide primary eye care services to the community at large. Its key partners

are SREI Sahaj, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Aravind Eye Care

System, Wockhardt, Mahindra & Mahindra, DLF Foundation, Apollo Tyres

Foundation, Sightsavers, Vasan Eye Care, Kalinga Kusum, Drishtee Foundation,

Indira Gandhi Eye Hospitals, ERC Eye Care, Gram Tarang, Mela Artisans,

Sagarmatha Chaudhary Eye Hospital (Nepal), Honest Tea, Fair Trade USA, and

many others.

Vision Entrepreneurs: VisionSpring empowers and trains people to do eye screening

and give glasses on the spot.

Hub & Spoke (H&S): VisionSpring partners with hospitals across India for optical

shops and ophthalmic outreach activities in order to provide complete eye care

28 | P a g e
solution to the community. VisionSpring also runs optical shops independently and

outside hospital locations.

VisionSpring started its Hub & Spoke operations in 2012 from Karnal (Haryana),

India, and expanded across the country in 2013. They started stand-alone optical

shops and associated with leading eye hospitals to set-up optical shops in their

premises. These shops serve people with refractive error and also cater to patients

with post-surgery refractive-error rectification. It also partner with hospitals for their

community outreach activities in a variety of ways. The Hub & Spoke operations

presently consist of 18 initiatives, and in 2015, they will be further expanding across

India. Many centres have mobile outreach vans associated with them for conducting

rural eye-screening activities.

Hub & Spoke partners in India:

S. No. Partner/associati Type Location

on
1. All India Institute Government Ansari Nagar
of Medical (Delhi)
Sciences (AIIMS)
2. VisionSpring-run Self Dwarka Mod
(Delhi)
3. VisionSpring-run Self Dwarka Sector-7
(Delhi)
4. VisionSpring-run Self Fatehpuri/Chand
ni Chowk (Delhi)
5. Arya Eye Hospital Private Sonipat
(Haryana)
6. Navjeevan Private Panipat
Hospital (Haryana)
7. Arpana Hospital Private Karnal (Haryana)
8. VisionSpring-run Self Karnal (Haryana)
9. Agarwal Nursing Private Kurukshetra
Home (Haryana)
10. Philadelphia Private Ambala
(Mission) Hospital (Haryana)
11. Roop Rani Private Yamuna Nagar
Hospital (Haryana)
12. Civil Hospital Government Fatehabad

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 (Haryana)
13. Gian Sagar Private Banur (District
Hospital Patiala), Punjab
14. Saraswati Eye Private Pratapgarh (Uttar
Hospital Pradesh)
15. Raj Retina and Private Patna (Bihar)
Eye Care Centre
16. VisionSpring-run Self Angul (Odisha)
17. Pharande Eye Private Pune
Hospital (Maharashtra)
18. Sujag Netralaya Private Pune
(Maharashtra)

Awards and recognition

VisionSpring is an award winning social enterprise. They have been widely

recognized having been honored by winning competitions and awards such as: The

World Bank Development Market Place Competition, The BYU Innovator Award, the

Duke University's Social Innovation Award, The Aspen Institute's McNulty Prize, the

Draper Richards Kaplan Fellowship, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the

Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Ashoka Fellowship,

the Forbes Impact 30 and many others.

Through the sale of over 1.6M VisionSpring has created over $269M of economic

impact. Studies conducted by the University of Michigan demonstrated that a pair of

reading glasses increases a workers productivity by 35% resulting in an increased

earning potential of an average customer by $381 over the two year estimated life of

the product.

The success of VisionSpring‟s capitalistic and philanthropic operation has been used

as a learning example and role model for social enterprises. Stanford Social

Innovation Review, Handbook of Research on Social Entrepreneurship and Next

Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid: New Approaches for

30 | P a g e
Building Mutual Value have featured VisionSpring and published its experience to

allow other social enterprise industry learn from them.

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References

 Karl C (2011), Safety and compliance of prescription spectacles ordered by the public
via the Internet, Optometry, 2011 pp:549-55
 Zambelli-Weiner, John E, and David S. Freidman (2012), Disparities in Adult Vision
Health in the United States, Anerican Journal of Ophthalmology, volume 154, issue 6,
pp20-30
 How 'try and buy' allows niche online retailers like Lenskart take on giants like
Amazon, Econmictimes 5th may 2015
(http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-05-05/news/61833410_1_online-
eyewear-retailer-lenskart-peyush-bansal-flipkart-and-amazon)
 Elizabeth Spaulding(2012), Do you see what we see? The future of independent
optometry
(http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/the-future-of-independent-
optometry.aspx)
 http://visionspring.org/commitment-to-our-customers/ (accessed on 4th june)

 https://www.opticians.ca/CMS2011/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Article%20on%20O

nline%20frame%20ordering%20Sept%202011.pdf (accessed on 4th june)

 http://littlefoureyes.com/2012/03/10/new-study-on-ordering-glasses-

online/(accessed on 4th june)

 http://www.theopticalvisionsite.com/marketing-trends/the-vision-council-report-

fashion-v-s-function-in-eyewear/#.VXqdofmqqkp (accessed on 7th june)

 http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/eyewear-market-set-to-touch-

rs43000-crore-by-2015-study/article3291483.ece (accessed on 7th june)

 http://www.indianretailer.com/article/sector-watch/specialty/An-Eye-for-

Eyewear-Retail-322/ (accessed on 7th june)

 http://www.euromonitor.com/eyewear-in-india/report (accessed on 1th june)

 http://www.marketresearchreports.com/reevolv/indian-eyewear-retail-industry-

report (accessed on 7th june)

 http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140328/business-latest/article/e-tailers-

make-branded-eyewear-affordable (accessed on 7th june)

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  http://visionspring.org/commitment-to-our-customers/ (accessed on 10th june)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisionSpring (accessed on 10th june)

 http://www.opticians.ca/CMS2011/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Article%20on%20Onl

ine%20frame%20ordering%20Sept%202011.pdf (accessed on 10th june)

 https://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=1004207&nodeI

d=a7526562f9394fdde53072784d1b52d5&fn=Sunglasses%20and%20fashion

%20spectacles%20%E2%80%93%20Consumer%20purchasing%20decisions

%20%E2%80%93%20Research%20report.PDF (accessed on 10th june)

 http://www.visionspring.org/newscenter/news-detail.php?id=876 (accessed on

10th june)

 http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/97524116/study-demographics-

influencing-consumer-behavior-attitude-towards-brand-equity-optical-

business-thailand (accessed on 12th june)

 http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/freeing_the_social_entrepreneur/

(accessed on 12th june)

 http://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/pdf/2-disparities-adult-vision-health-US.pdf

(accessed on 12th june)

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Questionnaire

Completing the survey is voluntary. If you decide to complete the survey, you can

skip any question you do not want to answer or stop the survey at any time for any

reason. Your participation will be greatly appreciated.

The result of this survey would be kept confidential.

NAME_____________________________

AGE____ GENDER_________

1. Approximately, how much do you earn in a month?

A. <10000

B. 10000-20000

C. 20000-30000

D. 30000-40000

E. 40000-50000

F. 50000+

2. How many pairs of eye glasses do you currently have?

A. None

B. 1

C. 2

D. 3

E. 4 or More

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 3. Did you purchase your glasses at the same location or retailer at which you

had your eyes examined?

A) Yes

B) NO

4. Approximately how many retailers did you shopped around before making a

purchase?

A) 1

B) 2

C) More than 2

5. How important was the optical dispenser in making your final decision?

A) Very Important

B) Important

C) Neither important nor unimportant

D) Of little Importance

E) Unimportant

6. Have you ever shopped for eyewear online?

A) Yes

B) NO

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 7. If yes, are you satisfied with your online purchase?

A) Not at all satisfied

B) Slightly satisfied

C) Moderately satisfied

D) Very satisfied

E) Extremely satisfied

8. What was the most important reason behind buying your eyeglass?

A) medical necessity

B) Fashion accessory

C) Others

9. Did you take advantage of a promotion, a coupon, a discount, or a special

sale when making your eyewear purchases?

A) Yes

B) NO

10. When making your eyeglass purchase decision, did you have a friend or

family member along to assist you in making a purchase decision?

A) Yes

B) No

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 11. Who/What influenced you purchase the most?

A) The assistance of the optical dispenser

B) Input from friends and family members

C) Point of purchase displays

D) Promotions

E) Other (please specify______

12. Your family annual income?

A) Less than 3 lakhs B) 3 lakhs-5 lakhs C) 5 lakhs–10 lakhs D) More than 10

lakh

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