NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased last week (March 21-27) at a rate of 5 index points. That places gross revenue at a level 2 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 13) when compared with last year and 12 points above 2019. During 2020, however, pandemic-related, mandated shutdowns brought gross revenue to only 22 index points during Week 13. That’s 95 points below Week 13 of this year, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker.
 
All optical sales categories increased last week, ranging from gross revenue’s and frame units’ 5 index points to 3 index points for exams/refractions. Both lens pairs and contact lenses were up by 4 index points.
 
With optical sales up across the board last week, four of five categories reached levels above an average week in 2019—the index baseline assigned a value of 100 for this Optical Business Tracker. Categories ranged from 103 index points for exams/refractions to 117 index points for gross revenue. The only category below an average week in 2019 was contact lenses at 97 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