The 2017 Premium Lens MarketPulse Survey of eyecare practitioners provides fresh insights into the types of spectacle lens designs, materials and treatments being prescribed and dispensed by independent optical retailers. These highlights from 20/20’s exclusive annual study provide valuable data that can help an independent eyecare practice or retail store benchmark its lens sales against the 251 other independents who participated in the survey.

When it comes to lens treatments, 88 percent of retailers said they offer a new AR lens that also reduced blue light. Forty-eight percent switched some of the products to ones where material substrate is instead attenuating blue light. They say it has replaced, on average, 20 percent of standard AR.

When asked to rank lens material by popularity, polycarbonate was ranked most popular by 50 percent of the retailers. Standard plastic was ranked most popular by 29 percent. Tribrid, the newest material, was ranked least popular by the most retailers (52 percent).

Fifty-three percent of retailers said that their 2016 polycarbonate lens sales increased as a proportion of total lens pair sales compared to one year ago. Forty-nine percent and 41 percent said the same about their super high-index lens and Trivex lenses, respectively.

Sixty percent said that their mid-index lens sales had stayed flat. Glass was the worst performer, with 55 percent saying that glass made up a smaller proportion of their total lens sales in 2016 than last year.