NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased by 2 index points last week, Oct. 17–23. That places gross revenue at a level 7 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 43) when compared with last year, 4 points above the same period in 2020, and 16 points above 2019, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker. Optical sales categories were all either up or flat last week when compared with the previous week, at rates of 2 index points for gross revenue, 0 index points for exams/refractions and contact lenses, 4 index points for frame units and 3 index points for lens pairs.

When comparing last week’s optical sales with the same period last year, all categories were up or flat, ranging from the highest increase of 7 index points for gross revenue to the lowest increase of 0 index point for contact lenses. The other categories increased at rates of 5 index points for frame units, 3 points for lens pairs, and 1 point for exams/refractions.

With optical sales categories up or flat last week, only one category reached levels above an average week in 2019—the index baseline assigned a value of 100 for this Optical Business Tracker. These ranged from a high of 113 index points for gross revenue to a low of 88 index points for contact lenses. The other three categories reached 98 index points for exams/refractions and 100 index points for frame units and lens pairs.

Jobson Optical Research selected 1,500 optical locations that have been operating and reporting their sales to its partners, GPN and ABB Analytics, since 2019. The index has been rebased to an average week in 2019. Going forward, this new index base will be used as an arbitrary benchmark and assigned a value of 100.

Click here to view the complete Jobson COVID-19 Performance Tracker