-

-

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jobson Optical Research is tracking national and regional optical business metrics for the U.S.

ECP BUSINESS METRICS

Following nine weeks of steady growth (except for the week of Memorial Day), optical sales leveled off or dipped slightly last week. Service/product categories on a national level either remained flat (contact lenses), decreased by just one index point (exams/refractions) or by two index points (gross revenue, frame units, lens pairs). All service/product categories currently remain within 10 to 15 index points of their pre-pandemic sales levels.

REGIONAL BREAKOUT

Regionally, the Northeast continued its growth as the rest of the country declined slightly. While the various service/product categories increased at a rate of 3 or 4 index points in the Northeast, the service/product categories in all other regions declined at rates ranging from 1 index point (for a variety of categories) to 4 index points (contact lenses in the West). The Northeast remains behind the rest of the country but continues closing the gap with steady growth.

*The index baseline was developed by Jobson Research from total sales from an average seven days in the first quarter of 2019. This index baseline is equivalent to a score of 100. All other time periods going forward are calculated as a percent increase or decrease from the 100 baseline index of that period. This index is intended to show directional and magnitudinal change that the market is experiencing. Actual index scores are arbitrary meaning the baseline of 100 is simply used as a benchmark. Jobson Research shall not be held liable for any use or misuse of the data described and/or contained herein.

Please note that practices that use practice analytic systems tend to skew a bit larger and have higher revenue than practices that do not.

Source: GPN/EDGEPro and ABB Analyze contributed anonymous sales data used to determine gross revenue, exams/refractions, frame units, lens pairs, and contact lens boxes. Data was collected from approximately 3,500 independent eye care practices.

-

-

Consumer Sentiments

* Percentage of Rx eyewear users that are planning to postpone or cancel their Rx eyewear purchase until conditions are better. "If you need new eyeglasses or contact lenses while COVID-19 is still a threat, which of the following actions are you likely to take?"
** Selected answer option 8, 9 or 10 for the question "On a scale of 1-10 (were 1 = No concern at all and 10 = Extremely concerned) how concerned are you over the recent global COVID-19 threat and outbreak?"

Source: The Vision Council VisionWatch COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Study: February thru May editions

For additional information, you may reach out to GPN/EDGEPro, ABB Analyze, and The Vision Council directly.

For more information from Jobson Research contact jwaller@jobson.com.