Throughout our combined history spanning over two centuries, innovation has always been at the heart of EssilorLuxottica’s growth story and leadership position. From rethinking product and design to establishing new business models, we constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible and question how we can better serve both our customers and end consumers. This is done with the goal of helping people to learn, work and express themselves better in order to fulfill their utmost potential.
The future is here: transforming the consumer experience through innovation
Throughout our combined history spanning over two centuries, innovation has always been at the heart of EssilorLuxottica’s growth story and leadership position. From rethinking product and design to establishing new business models, we constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible and question how we can better serve both our customers and end consumers. This is done with the goal of helping people to learn, work and express themselves better in order to fulfill their utmost potential.
One of the best performing R&D teams in the industry: excellence from lab to shelf
The innovative ecosystem at EssilorLuxottica is made up of multidisciplinary teams who explore and experiment with new technologies, techniques and materials. Home to over 9,000 patents and more than 2,000 new products per year with over 900 researchers, engineers and designers across the globe, EssilorLuxottica is constantly reinventing what eye care and eyewear can do for our consumers. From revolutionary refraction tools such as the Vision-R™ 800 device, which provides faster, more accurate prescriptions for patients, to digital windows in retail stores to view an endless array of brands, models and colors for a revolutionized in-store experience, to a promising new lens technology with the potential to address myopia, we are raising the bar every day.
5+1 strategic pillars shaping innovation at EssilorLuxottica
At EssilorLuxottica, our mission is to help people to ‘see more, be more and live life to its fullest’ with groundbreaking innovations which correct, protect and frame the beauty of our most precious sensory organ – our eyes. With this in mind, our business is supported by the following 5+1 core strategic pillars of innovation:
1. Providing vision solutions that harmonize branded frames and lenses: This is a complete end-to-end system, combining both frame and lens design, with the needs, environments and lifestyles of consumers taken into consideration from the conception phase. This includes revolutionary technology to correct and control the progression of myopia, a global epidemic which by 2050 will affect five billion people worldwide.
2. Accelerating the worldwide growth in sun lenses through Sun 2.0 (non-prescription and prescription lenses): With Essilor and Luxottica’s vast portfolio of premium sun eyewear brands, each player brings a substantial amount of technological know-how to the category. This includes specific lens treatments that address inconveniences like glare, as well as complete eye protection from natural and artificial elements. But there is still ample room for disruption in this category, with the ultimate goal to continue to provide consumers with a wide and growing array of options for sunglasses, with or without a prescription - with sun prescription being the area where EssilorLuxottica has the potential to introduce significant innovation on the market.
3. Developing new digital products, including Smart eyewear: Today EssilorLuxottica is leading digital transformation in the optics industry with key programs around connected eyewear. For example, we developed a proprietary electrochromic technology that will manage 10 to more than 90% of light transmission within seconds, covering class 1 to class 4 optical eyewear, regardless of temperature. This helps us offer a real solution in providing premium vision and comfort under diverse lighting and temperature conditions and makes us ready for many new applications of transmission management in the future. We are also making critical contributions on an ongoing basis to artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the virtual reality world.
4. Investing in a common process and product platform. As long-established industry leaders, Essilor and Luxottica, continue to benefit from each other’s expertise and technologies. Our vast combined technology portfolio helps to drive the Group’s productivity, quality and product performance.
5. Creating a new, fun and unique optical journey for kids and youth. Today, the youth segment remains either partially or completely underserved in rural markets, and in more developed markets, there is often a compromise that has to be made between lens and frame needs by consumers. Our goal at EssilorLuxottica is to change this by creating a unique and fun consumer experience for children while adapting to their changing lifestyles, habits and design expectations.
+1. Searching for low impact materials, processes and technologies, putting Sustainability in action: As we introduce over 2,000 new products per year, it is critical that sustainability is integrated into our daily business practices in order to amplify our positive impact as an organization. We are making this a reality by: doing more with less, leveraging local resources and low impact materials, optimizing production (product life cycles and go-to-market phases) and investing in cutting-edge technologies. These steps demonstrate how we are a sustainable company that innovates responsibly.
Re-designing the entire consumer experience
At EssilorLuxottica, innovation does not stop at frames and lenses. It happens before, during and after the purchase of our products, starting with the eye exam. We give eye care professionals an opportunity to differentiate themselves with our cutting-edge technology so that they can be more precise in their screenings and diagnosis. This enables them to provide better frames and lenses, increase their store efficiency and overall customer satisfaction. For example, the Advanced Vision Accuracy™ (AVA™) is EssilorLuxottica's breakthrough journey of high vision precision. Offering prescription accuracy within 1/100th of diopter, this solution features breakthrough refraction technology, innovative user-friendly intelligence and advanced lenses which give eye care professionals the ability to demonstrate and deliver the precision their patients deserve. This new method of conducting eye exams makes the refraction more precise and the overall experience better for the customer. We have started testing this solution in Europe and in the United States with encouraging results from customers and look forward to launching it in different markets in 2020.
Staying ahead of the game
In line with our mission, EssilorLuxottica has built its business on a conviction: only strong research and innovation can create solutions with truly beneficial results which break paradigms, introduce a digital revolution and embrace the future of the eyewear industry – this is our focus and ultimately our path to staying ahead.
