With the opening of new shopping malls and hospitals opening outlets, the eye wear market in the district seems to be thriving. The total number of optical shops in the organised sector in Ernakulam district is now 246, marking a steep increase over the past three years.
As the number of people with refractive errors increase, 10 to 15 per cent annually, the industry is all set to milk the opportunity. Along with the organised players around 100 small shops are also competing in the district, making Ernakulam the capital of eye wear industry in the state.
Paul K J Manvettom, general secretary, All-Kerala Optical Association, said that with the increased usage of computer and other gadgets more people are forced to use spectacles now.
“The eye wear business in the city has now expanded to various areas in the district. Earlier Broadway was the capital of eye wear industry in the entire state. Now Palarivattom, Elamkulam, Vyttila and Kadavanthra in the city are home to numerous optical shops. The number of people who use spectacles has now reached 35 per cent. The usage of sunglasses has also increased recently,” he said.
According to an industry estimate, the eyewear market is growing at a rate of 20-30 per cent annually. The organised eyewear market constitutes of about 2,500 shops across Kerala. As many as 10,000 people are working in the industry and of the total shops the majority fall in the small-scale category.
“The youngsters in the state consider spectacles as part of their lifestyle. Of the total sales, about 50 to 60 per cent is normal glasses. About 10 to 15 per cent customers are using contact lenses,” Paul said.
Paul J Vithayathil, secretary, All-Kerala Optical Association, said that youngsters usually change their glasses every year.
“People have now become brand conscious. The number of people who use spectacles has risen over the past decade. Earlier people changed their glasses once or twice in their lifetime. But now the frequency of changing glasses has decreased drastically. Youngsters change their eye wears within one year and older people do it in two-three years,” he said.
He added that eye wear shops have become a necessity in shopping malls now.
The size of the Indian eyewear market, comprising optical products such as contact lens, intraocular lens, lasik, lens cleaning solutions, spectacle lenses, frames and sunglasses is Rs 21,000 crore now.
According to an industry estimate, the market is poised to touch Rs 43,000 cr by 2015.