ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The latest VisionWatch study of American consumers about how the internet is influencing and shaping their eyewear and eyecare decisions and purchases has just been released by The Vision Council to its members.

The extensive report, which looks at consumers by age groups, income and other cross-tabulations, indicates that about 28 percent of people using the internet to assist in their last purchase of eyewear—which includes research on styles, price and possible locations—actually made the purchase directly online. Specifically, about 2.8 percent of recent eyeglass buyers in the survey panel used the internet to directly purchase eyeglasses. Only 1.9 percent of recent over-the-counter readers’ buyers on the survey panel used the internet to directly purchase readers online, while a higher percentage, 3.6 percent of recent plano sunglass buyers used the internet to directly purchase non-prescription sunglasses. In terms of contact lens buyers, about 15 percent purchased their lenses directly online.

The Vision Council’s report stated, “Although it is difficult to use this data to project up to a national total of aggregate online purchase activity, it is likely that fewer than 1.8 million to 1.9 million pairs of Rx eyeglasses were purchased online during the 12-month period ending September 2010. It is also likely that about 900,000 pairs of over-the-counter readers and fewer than 3.3 million pairs of plano sunglasses were directly purchased online during this same time period.”

The report, “2010 Vision Council VisionWatch Internet Influence Report,” was conducted in November 2010. Vision Council Research received 9.293 complete “valid” responses from adults, representing people who have purchased Rx eyeglasses, plano sunglasses, contact lenses and/or OTC readers sometime within the past six months. The tabulations in the report are not always based on this sample size but vary depending on the questions.

Watch for more information and charts from the report coming soon on Vision Monday.com.

The report is also available to members of The Vision Council via member log in.

More questions about the Report and the study are available from the Research department at The Vision Council or from Stephen Kodey, director of industry research at skodey@visionsite.org.