AUSTIN, Texas—VisionWeb announced that $51,011 in royalties will be paid to participating AOA State Affiliates for eyecare product orders placed by their members on VisionWeb over the last 12 months. This marks the 7th year that VisionWeb has paid royalties to the AOA for orders placed by AOA members to over 400 suppliers in the U.S. who are part of the VisionWeb supplier network.

Compared to last year, the number of participating state affiliates and the average royalty payout per participating state affiliate has increased by 12 percent. In addition, the number of qualifying accounts increased by 14 percent this year, more than double the growth experienced from 2008 to 2009.

“Over the past 12 months, more practices are ordering more products, more frequently, from more suppliers over the VisionWeb network,” said Ken Engelhart, president and CEO of VisionWeb. Under the terms of the program, AOA members automatically earn royalties for their State Affiliates by using VisionWeb to place their eyecare product orders. Members’ orders contribute toward the total payment made to their State Affiliate once they reach the minimum qualifying threshold of 1,200 orders placed over VisionWeb annually. The incremental royalty amount is calculated as a percentage of the transaction fee associated with each order (the fee paid to VisionWeb by the supplier who receives the order). Royalties earned by all qualifying accounts are combined by state to determine the royalty payment made to the participating AOA State Affiliate.

AOA State Affiliates participating in this program receive royalties from VisionWeb, exclusive of any agreements that they may have with buying groups. VisionWeb remains independent, and ordering on VisionWeb does not interfere with buying group discounts or pricing relationships that ordering accounts may have with suppliers, the company said.