NEW YORK—The latest Optical Business Barometer (OBB) report from Jobson Optical Research showed that the OBB Index of independents’ sentiments about their business in Q1 2018 was down slightly showing 3.92 compared with a very strong Q1 2017 report which was 3.94. However, this is with the exception of independent’s assessment of eye exams which were up by 0.1 percent in Q1 2018 showing 3.93 over Q1 2017, which was 3.92. According to Jobson Optical Research’s report, at a rating of 3.92 for current overall optical, Q1 of 2018 fell 0.5 percent under Q1 of 2017. Additionally, out of the four regions in the U.S., only the West (by 1.9 percent) showed gains over Q1 2018. The shortfalls in the other regions may have been based on retail days curtailed by bad weather, the report stated.


In a breakdown of business components, the Q1 2018 current eyeglasses rating of 3.89 was 0.9 percent below the Q1 2017 eyeglass rating of 3.92. That Q1 2017 rating of 3.92 tied for the highest quarterly rating of the 2017 year. So, Q1 2018 was compared to a very strong previous year quarter.

Additionally, the Q1 2018 rating for current contact lenses, which was 3.75, fell slightly below the Q1 2017 rating of 3.76.

The Optical Business Barometer (OBB) is designed to gauge the optical business trends of eyecare professionals at independent optical locations and to provide independent optical retailers with a comparative "how's business" benchmark.

OBB is a study of a representative sample of independent optical retailers (single locations and groups of no more than 3 locations). It is conducted online by Jobson Optical Research.

For more information or to purchase the complete Optical Business Barometer report with more data and trends on the independent ECP business, contact Jennifer Waller jwaller@jobson.com at Jobson Research.