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

ECP BUSINESS METRICS

Across the board, the U.S. optical business changed little on a national level over the past week ending August 9 as the country surpassed more than five million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 160,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Nationwide, gross revenue remained flat, while three service/product categories dropped by only 1 index point (exams/refractions, frame units, lens pairs), and contact lenses increased by 3 index points.

REGIONAL BREAKOUT

While changes to the optical business on a regional level were slightly more pronounced than nationally, most were still small-scale increases or decreases, except certain service/product categories in the Northeast and contact lenses in specific regions. Often suffering the largest decreases since the beginning of the pandemic, the Northeast once again experienced the greatest losses, particularly a decline of 4 index points for gross revenue, frame units, and lens pairs. Contact lenses experienced the largest increases of 6 index points in both the Midwest and West. The Northeast had an increase of COVID-19 cases in only one state, while the West and Midwest had an increase in four and nine states, respectively, (according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker), showing that the prevalence of the coronavirus does not necessarily impact the optical business.

*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.

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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.