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NEW YORK—The optical business again experienced steady growth in all product/service categories, marking six weeks of increases. On a national level, the growth was again substantial, measuring at a rate of index points in the double digits. Business increases ranged from 10 index points for contact lenses to 12 index points for gross revenue. The three other categories being tracked (exams/refractions, frame units, and lens pairs) grew at a rate of 11 index points each. This continued growth is clearly due to optical businesses reopening across most of the country. According to the results of Jobson Optical Research’s most recent Coronavirus ECP Survey, 81 percent of respondents state that they are open at this point. The substantial increase in purchases appears because patients coming in now are filling urgent needs. Those without pent-up demand are likely holding off on appointments.

Regionally, both the Northeast and West still lag behind the U.S. overall and the South and the Midwest specifically, but both the Northeast and West also made strong strides toward catching up over the past week. In all product/service categories (except contact lenses), the West increased business at a rate of 15 or 16 index points, while the Northeast grew at 14 index points across the board.

This brings the West closer to the U.S. overall average for all categories, while the Northeast still has a lot of catching up to do as it remains at about 20 index points behind the overall country in all categories. This reflects the regional reactions to reopening as the Northeast, among those hardest hit by the pandemic, gets back to business more slowly than the rest of the country.

U.S. consumers' concern about COVID-19 remained relatively stable since the prior week, although less consumers were inclined to postpone eyewear purchases in the week ending May 24, per the Tracker and The Vision Council's VisionWatch data.

The Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker data is compiled by Jobson Research from GPN and ABB Analyze  data. Another element of the report illustrates Consumer Sentiments about the COVID-19 response and purchasing

intentions, with data supplied by The Vision Council.

Click to view the COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker for the week ending May 24, 2020.