Maui Jim was started in Hawaii in the mid-1980s when no other sunglasses company had developed adequate eye protection from the severe glare and harmful UV rays of the Hawaiian sun. This was the beginning of a 30-year pursuit to produce the most technologically advanced eye protection solution in the world. The rationale was to equip sunglasses with sound UV protection and glare reduction, and provide a clarity that was never seen before. Maui Jim’s first major advancement was PolarisedPlus lens technology which was awarded a U.S. patent. Maui Jim recently earned the Seal of Recommendation from The Skin Cancer Foundation as an effective UV filter for the eyes and surrounding skin.
Launching the brand in India in 2008, it had already grown incredulously for over a decade, catering to a large middle class segment with significant purchasing power, hungry for quality products. Interestingly, in the market of sunglasses particularly, brand consciousness has started growing in India rapidly over the last 10 years and they were in time to capture a worthwhile share of that consciousness. A large economy with a rapidly growing and discerning middle class was motivational enough. We wanted to make our world class products available to the Indian audience as well.
Who is your target consumer and what consumer area/sensitivities does your brand stand for? Our target audience is the urban dweller – both, the upper middle class and the elite , who believe in buying sunglasses for both comfort and style and prefer the technology segment. A large number of people in India, particularly in the middle income group, have only in recent years converted to the idea of wearing sunglasses. Earlier, for many it was a luxury, which has now become a necessity. A lot of it has to do with rising disposal incomes. The segment of population that travels a lot and has seen other parts of the world also has a fair idea about quality products and trends across the world. Also, the section of the population who are turning towards lifestyle products is our focus.
Maui Jim is a technology driven product that fulfils the need for sunglass lovers who look for health products. Maui Jim sunglasses offer great protection from sun’s UV radiation and are preferred by holidayers and adventure sports lovers. It is as much a utility product; moreover it is a lifestyle product. The best part of Maui Jim is that it comes with prescription also, so that people with prescription can also avail the benefits and comfort of sunglasses.
What are the price points your brand ranges in? What is the sweet price spot that you have observed?
Maui Jim products are available in different price ranges. The prices we have offered in India vary from Rs 6,790 to Rs 17,000 roughly. The sweet spot, I would say, is roughly the average of our lowest and highest price offerings and falls somewhere in between.
There exist many players in this segment, what’s your strategy to beat the existing competition?
Yes, the challenge before us was to enter and establish our own space amid a market where shelves were already packed with some well-known brands. . In such situations what a brand needs most is a different positioning. If your brand has a USP and you are able to market this USP intelligently, you will find a clientele that will be committed and loyal. From the beginning, we differentiated ourselves as the best in polarised technology sunglasses and the best in offering UV protection. This gave us an edge in the crowded market space. Today, we have a loyal clientele who look forward to the wonderful mix of style and protection that Maui Jim offers. Our positioning as a technology driven brand has been unique and we have captured a good space in the prescription eyewear market as we provide sunglasses with customised prescription and visual power. Interestingly, brand consciousness has started growing in India rapidly over the last 10 years and we were in time to capture a worthwhile share of that consciousness. Indian consumer has warmed up to the idea of technology-driven lifestyle products in recent years and as this consciousness increases, so will our reach. Already, people have started looking at Maui Jim as a unique brand that offers a wonderful mix of style and health needs.
Keeping in mind the growing customer preferences, what’s your omni-channel strategy? Do you sell through own ecommerce or through marketplaces and which ones?
As our major focus is on prescription sunglasses, offline stores remain the main mode of buying prescription eyewear among people. We are focusing extensively on the prescription sunglasses segment in India as part of our strategy to further extend the reach of Maui Jim. For a spectacle wearer, it has always been a challenge to buy the right pair of eye-wear that can offer sun protection, while also completing the need for vision correction. Maui Jim is one of the best offerings in this section, and the discerning Indian consumer is rapidly warming up to it. Our immediate expansion plans include a continuous focus on expanding our dealer network which currently stands at over 1,000 optical brand outlets across the country.
Yes, e-commerce is certainly the future and we are turning our attention to this mode of sale as well. But, still not many purchase prescription eye-wear online in India, even though the e-commerce space is catching up fast. Currently, the bulk of Maui Jim’s sales still come from the traditional selling route i.e. optical stores almost 90 per cent. Yet, our target audience is the one which is urban and internet savvy and sooner or later is certain to shift to the e-commerce bandwagon. So, anybody can ignore this route at their own peril. We are also working towards maximising our online sale potential by tying up with major online retail ventures. We will continue to do so aggressively in the near future.
How do you manage your supply chain and logistics effectively?
We have a highly skilled and dedicated managerial workforce. Our marketing strategies are planned in advance to ensure logistic issues are minimised.
What’s your expansion plan?
Our expansion plans is to expand our MBO network upto 2000 over the next two years.
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