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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

With COVID-19 cases in the U.S. at six million and 29 states reporting increasing numbers of cases, according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, U.S. optical sales experienced slight reductions on a national level over this past week. Contact lenses were down the most (-4 index points), and lens pairs were down the least (-1 index point). Gross revenue, exams/refractions, and frame units were all down -2 index points. Nearly all practices across the country are open for business, as evidenced by the 14th wave of Jobson Optical Research’s ECP Coronavirus Survey, for the period of August 21-27, but this decline in overall national optical sales corresponds with a decrease in the average number of patients being seen per day, from 25.7 before the pandemic to 22.4 during the current survey period.

REGIONAL BREAKOUT

On a regional basis, optical sales were down across the board over this past week except for in the West, which experienced increases of 2 index points for gross revenue and frame units, and 1 index point for exams/refractions and lens pairs. Other than being up 1 index point for exams/refractions, the Northeast experienced downturns in all categories as did the South and Midwest. This corresponds with the fact that while all four census regions being tracked reported some states with increasing numbers of cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, both the Northeast and the West had only four states with more coronavirus cases over the past week, while the South and Midwest had far more, 10 and 11 respectively.

*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.

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.