With 68 per cent of UK men and 77 per cent of UK women relying on glasses or contact lenses for vision correction, the optical industry has to be one of the most important sectors. However, only a few monopolistic giants have controlled the entire industry for decades.
As a result, the UK eyewear market has operated in a curious paradox, one where necessity doesn’t quite align with accessibility. Prices remain disproportionately high, product innovation crawls forward at a snail’s pace, and customer experience often feels like an afterthought. From long lead times on prescription glasses to underwhelming in-store experiences, we’ve all been there.
But every now and then, a challenger emerges to shake up the status quo. One such disruptor is Specscart, a homegrown British eyewear startup that’s not just throwing stones at the establishment, it’s rewriting the rulebook altogether.
Why did the UK Eyewear Market Need Specscart in the First Place?
Sid Sethi, the founder of Specscart, was studying at the University of Manchester when he accidentally broke his only pair of glasses, a few days before his semester exams. When he went to some of the popular opticians in the city centre, he noticed that glasses were either mediocre quality or overpriced (mostly both). The frames were locked behind shelves like a treasure. Sid got a mediocre pair of glasses for more than £150 (2017) as the designer ones were costing £600+, as much as an iPhone 6 back then. Being a student, he went on taking out credit card debt only to realise that it’d take approximately 3 weeks to arrive.
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