NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased substantially by 22 index points last week, July 11-17, recouping and surpassing the -19 index points it declined last week as a result of the Fourth of July holiday. That places gross revenue at a level 6 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 29) when compared with last year, 3 points above the same time period in 2020, and 8 points above 2019, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker.
 
With all optical sales increasing last week when compared with the previous week, all categories rebounded from the previous week’s declines that resulted from the Independence Day holiday. Gross revenue’s 22 index point increase was the largest, while contact lenses’ increase by 16 points was the smallest. When comparing last week’s optical sales with the same period last year, all categories were either up or unchanged, ranging from exams/refractions up 3 index points to frame units, which remained unchanged.
 
Even though all optical sales increased last week, only one category, gross revenue at 113 index points, reached a level above an average week in 2019—the index baseline assigned a value of 100 for this Optical Business Tracker. The other categories below that benchmark were close, reaching either 99 index points for exams/refractions, lens pairs, and contact lenses while frame units reached 98 index points.
 
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