NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased last week, Oct. 3–9, at a rate of 1 index point. That places gross revenue at a level 9 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 41) when compared with last year, 3 points above the same period in 2020, and 14 points above 2019, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker. All optical sales categories were up last week when compared with the previous week besides one, at rates of 1 index point for gross revenue, lens pairs and frame units, 2 index points for exams/refractions and -3 index points for contact lenses.
 
When comparing last week’s optical sales with the same period last year, all categories were up, ranging from the highest increase of 9 index points for gross revenue to the lowest increase of 2 index points for contact lenses. The other categories increased at rates of 5 index points for frame units, 4 points for lens pairs and 5 points for exams/refractions.
 
Despite all optical sales increasing last week with the exception of one category, 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 111 index points for gross revenue to a low of 90 index points for contact lenses. The other three categories reached 96 index points for frame units, 96 points for lens pairs and 97 points for exams/refractions.
 
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