Glasses Online: The business of serving more than what meets the eye

There is an increasing prevalence of myopia in Malaysia, with the Chinese and Malays presenting varying prevalence rates, according to a study by the Department of Optometry, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Myopia (shortsightedness/nearsightedness), as defined by the Association of Malaysian Optometrists (AMO), is a condition in which light is focused in front of the retina, resulting in blurred vision. It says that “shortsighted people can often see reasonably clearly at short distances, but will not be able to see distant objects clearly. “

The Association says that there is currently no cure for myopia except for corrective measures such as spectacles, contact lenses and refractive surgery that can provide good distance vision for myopia sufferers.

Healthcare Asia focuses on Malaysia’s eye care situation, probable causes of myopia and the latest trends in eyewear with an exclusive interview with eyewear retail specialist GlassesOnline’s Managing Director, Christopher Strauch.

Healthcare Asia: First of all, kindly share with us how GlassesOnline was started.

Christopher Strauch: The initial idea came about in October 2012, after looking into interesting verticals in the ecommerce space. The following months were spent on developing the website and reaching out to suppliers, until we commercially launched in January 2013.

Since then we have dedicated our time to establishing the company in Malaysia and continuously improving the customer experience on the website through added functionalities, such as the prescription program for contact lenses, as well as an increasing product portfolio.

HCA: Are you only based in Malaysia?

Strauch: After establishing the company successfully in Malaysia over the first half of 2013 and setting up a healthy foundation for the business, we expanded into the Singapore and Hong Kong markets in June 2013. Both markets are showing good results and we are currently already in the midst of launching in Australia as our next target market.

HCA: Is this the first company launched by you or have you been in other ventures before GlassesOnline?

Strauch: I had the opportunity to learn a great deal about launching companies in the ecommerce space while I was still working with the international internet investor Rocket Internet. My last project, before I decided to branch out into the eyewear space, was to build the fashion ecommerce company Zalora. The great success of this project ultimately convinced me of the huge potential of the ecommerce market in the Southeast Asian region and made me realise the large untapped opportunities in this market.

HCA: Why sell eyewear?

Strauch:  I believe in the product and the market potential. There are many successful players in other markets, such as Europe and the US, but none yet across the Asian region. The region is forecasted to show the strongest growth patterns globally, due to its strongly increasing myopia rate. While the internet market in this vertical segment is still at an early stage, we are looking forward to help educating customers and innovating the market together with our partners.

HCA: Kindly tell us about your products online; are they locally made?

Strauch: We can confidently say that today we have the largest collection of glasses and sunglasses with over 5,000 pairs online. We wanted to be 100% sure that we source only authentic products and therefore decided to contact the headquarters of the brands in Europe directly.

With billion dollar companies such as Luxottica, we had to tread a difficult path to get in contact with the right person and eventually sign the deal. But today we are proud to be the exclusive online partner for them in the Asian region. Next to the leading global eyewear supplier, we are working together with local suppliers and also managed to introduce new independent brands from Europe to the Southeast Asian market, such as Invicta, Breil, Palo Wood and Fiorucci. Overall we have a good mix of local, global and independent brands.

HCA: How is the pricing of your products sold online comparable to those sold off the shelf from physical shops?

Strauch:  As part of our unique offering, we provide a lowest price guarantee. If you find it cheaper anywhere within 30 days of your purchase, then we return the difference. We don’t consider ourselves as a discount website, but are very confident in our pricing strategy to assure best value for money to our customers.

HCA: Do you intend to have a physical store in the future that will have more comprehensive service offerings like consultations, pre-fitting, etc?

Strauch:  We acknowledge the service aspect of the eyewear industry and appreciate the fact that exceptional service is only achievable with a physical presence as part of our offering.

Right now we are achieving this through our trusted optometrist network, however also exploring options to build an offline presence by either teaming up with an existing player in the market or independently.

HCA: What is the latest information on Myopia in Southeast Asia (including emerging symptoms, treatment and management, as well as solutions)?

Strauch:  Myopia affects a growing part of the population in Southeast Asia, with a particularly strong growth amongst children.

Myopia can be easily diagnosed using standard eye exams given by an eye doctor. People who are nearsighted often complain about headaches, eyestrain, squinting or fatigue when driving, doing sports, or looking more than a few feet away. But this eye disorder is easily corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses and surgery. Refractive surgery can reduce or even eliminate your dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

The most common procedures for myopia are performed with a laser, including photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), and corneal rings.

HCA: Do you see a demographic trend (in terms of age/gender/occupation) in eyeglass and contact lens users?

Strauch: Demographically speaking, there has been a surge in myopia rates amongst younger children.

Studies suggest that the problem is being caused by a combination of factors, such as increased schooling hours and lack of outdoor light.

Another reason for increased younger demographics is the use of coloured contact lenses for aesthetic purposes, which can also be noticed amongst the spectacles segment as it develops more and more into a fashionable object.

Simultaneously there has been a growing demand for prescription glasses and contact lenses amongst the working demographic of 25-35 year olds, who are increasingly exposed to PC-related desk work. In this segment, the affluent consumers prefer to wear daily disposable contact lenses and are willing to spend more on these to enjoy higher convenience and better hygiene.

HCA: Finally, what is your take on the eyecare market in Malaysia?

Strauch: Half of the Malaysian population is myopic. Due to the high rate of myopia in the population, demand for eyewear is forecasted to strongly increase.

The market is still underdeveloped and customers need to be better educated about their eye conditions. In this context, the association of optometrists is requesting the Malaysian Health Ministry to have stricter requirements for qualified professionals, as normal opticians might not be competent enough to identify possible side effects and complications. We have therefore assured to build a dedicated partnership network of optometrists to help this trend towards qualified eye care and support the efforts of the optometrist association.

Category: Top Story