NEW YORK—All optical sales categories recovered last week (Feb. 22-28) following the previous week’s steep declines resulting from historically severe winter weather, according to Jobson’s Practice Performance Tracker. This restores national optical sales to the levels of four weeks ago (Jan. 25-31) when the most recent month-long optical sales declines began. This also coincides with a six-week downward trend in coronavirus cases in the U.S., according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker. Over the course of last week (Feb. 22-28), all regional optical sales regained losses experienced during the past few weeks.

While all regions easily regained the weather-related optical sales declines experienced the previous week (Feb. 15-21), some also surpassed those to return to even higher levels.

Substantial increases in optical sales this past week were in the South (ranging from 34 index points for exams/refractions to 37 index points for frame units), which recovered from debilitating weather and resulting optical sales declines the previous week.

Increases in optical sales were also experienced in all other service/product categories in all other census regions, ranging from a low of 1 index point for exams/refractions in the West to 15 index points for frame units and lens pairs in the Midwest. These differing degrees of optical sales recovery also coincided with varying state-by-state increases and decreases in COVID cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

The Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker data is compiled by Jobson Research from GPN/EDGEPro 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.

This index baseline was developed by Jobson Research from total sales from an average 7 days in the first quarter of 2019.

Click here to view the complete Jobson COVID-19 Performance Tracker