NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased last week, May 2-8, at a rate of 3 index points. That places gross revenue at a level 7 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 19) when compared with last year and 13 points above 2019. Gross revenue during Week 19 of 2020 was 62 index points below Week 19 of this year at a level of 50 index points, gradually emerging from the pandemic-related low of 14 index points it had reached during Week 15 of 2020, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker.
 
All but one optical sales category increased or remained flat last week. When comparing last week with the previous week, frame units decreased by -1 index point, lens pairs remained flat, and gross revenue, exams/refractions, and contact lenses were all up by 3 index points. When comparing last week’s optical sales with the same period last year, all categories increased or remained flat.
 
Gross revenue increased the most by 7 index points, then contact lenses by 6 index points, and exams/refractions by 5 index points. Lens pairs remained flat, and frame units increased by 1 index point.
 
With optical sales varied last week, three categories reached levels above an average week in 2019—the index baseline assigned a value of 100 for this Optical Business Tracker. Gross revenue, frame units, and lens pairs were equal to or above that benchmark at 112, 103 and 102 index points, respectively, while exams/refractions and contact lenses were below, at 95 and 92 index points, respectively.
 
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