eyewa opens 50 stores in 2 years across 20 cities in the GCC

Omnichannel eyewear retailer eyewa opened its 50^th store in the GCC – and its 10^th in the UAE at Mall of the Emirates. With the opening of its new flagship store in Mall of the Emirates eyewa has achieved over 300% growth in its retail footprint in the past 12 months.

For perspective, over the last two years eyewa has grown from no offline presence to 50 stores. Having entered the physical retail space less than two years ago with the opening of its first store in Mall of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia in December 2020 the home-grown start-up delivered on a high-speed expansion plan, fast-tracking its physical store presence across the region.

Being a digital native company that first started as an eyewear e-commerce retailer, eyewa saw early on that customers move freely across channels and was right in committing to an omni-channel strategy. With customer needs at its heart eyewa focuses on making their experience across all touchpoints as delightful as possible. Users begin their journey either on the eyewa app or social media to then undergoing an eye examination in store or making a purchase online or offline. This strategy has enabled eyewa to rapidly expand its bricks and mortar network, reaching more customers across the region.

To date, eyewa invested more than $30 million in this cross-platform approach which in turn has allowed for greater convenience for its customers. eyewa’s expansion strategy is driven by the company’s focus on delivering a unique value proposition of on-trend and fashionable eyewear at an affordable pricing, leveraging seven house brands built locally specifically for the needs of the GCC customers.

“From the beginning, our vision for eyewa has always been about making eyewear accessible to all; from pricing first but also the shopping experience. We initially invested heavily in the online channel because there was a gap in the market with very little supply of eyewear online. Over time, we realised that the same gap existed in the offline market especially in the affordable segment – and that pushed us to expand to offline retail to reach more customers with these unmet needs,” said Elias Tsikhlakhis, Managing Director of eyewa in the UAE.

Building on this momentum, the company will expand further. First, in its home markets of Saudi Arabia and the UAE with the aim of doubling its reach in 2023 and bringing the total number of physical stores to 100, but also by moving into other markets in the GCC and in the MENA region.