NEW YORK—The national average for gross revenue at ECP locations increased substantially last week, June 6-12, at a rate of 22 index points, recouping and surpassing the -18 index points it declined the previous week during the Memorial Day holiday. That places gross revenue at a level 4 index points above where it was at this point in time (Week 24) when compared with last year, 6 points above Week 24 of 2020, and 11 points above 2019. With gross revenue at 104 index points by Week 24 of 2020, the impact of the pandemic appears to have diminished by that point in time, according to Jobson’s most recent Practice Performance Tracker.
 
With all optical sales increasing last week when compared with the previous week, all categories rebounded from the previous week’s declines that resulted from the Memorial Day holiday. Gross revenue’s 22-index-point increase was the largest, while contact lenses’ increase by 15 index points was the smallest. Optical sales categories were mixed when comparing last week’s optical sales with the same period last year. Gross revenue  was up 4 index points, contact lenses were up by 3 index points, and exams/refractions  were up by 1 index point. Frame units were down by 3 index points and lens pairs were down by 1 index point.
 
While all optical sales rebounded last week when compared with the previous week, only one category is at a level above an average week in 2019—the index baseline assigned a value of 100 for this Optical Business Tracker. Gross revenue reached a level of 110 index points last week, while all other categories below the 100-point benchmark ranged from contact lenses at 97 index points to frame units and exams/refractions at 95 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