The illusion of Competition
The case study of ‘eyewear’
Have you ever gone to any optical store or online store to search for a pair of sunglasses and your eyes popped out? Ever wondered why Ray Ban is so costly while an Indian made fast track is nearly one third the price, or why something with metal and screws and lens is costing a ton. You have one company to thank.
Back in 2013, my friend needed a new pair of spectacles. Actually he just needed the frames to look ‘cool’ He bought a pair of Prada that costed about Rs. 10,000 for a set of plastic frames. I was highly confused, simply because I don’t really wear spectacles or even sunglasses. The same design could have easily been had at Rs. 500 in old Delhi. It’s not that hard. I was thoroughly confused about this until I learned about Luxoticca.
Luxottica isn’t a company that you may have heard about at all, the reason is that they like to keep a low profile. The fact is that if you own a pair of spectacles or sunglasses with a global brand name, they made it. Oh and about Ray Ban, they own that brand too. So now you’re thinking, wait there should be a competition right? Well in India where a lot sunglasses are unbranded and sold of the flea markets yeah you can say that. When it comes to brands, Ray ban is the top seller here as well. The fact is that what we have is an illusion of choice.
We also have luxottica to thank who took spectacles which were the symbol of geeks and nerds, and made them into a fashion statement, now called ‘eyewear’. It is once this was done, you have companies like D&C, Prada and even Chanel branded frames came out and sell at about 400 US dollars. That’s serious money and luxottica can set it at any price they want. In the US and other places, they even own retail chains that sell this ‘eyewear’ and have silently crept up and captured the market with everything related to eye fashion. You still have choices, with the flea market and going for some of the brands that have been untouched, but if you want to scale up be ready to shell out a ton.
#TVI
