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| Cathy Ciccolella
Senior Editor |
With daily news reports full of bank bailouts, escalating mortgage woes and consumer uncertainty, the nation’s overall business picture doesn’t look great. And yet, the numbers reported by public eyewear/eyecare companies, backed up by anecdotal evidence from privately held optical retailers, eyecare professionals and suppliers, indicate that while we’re certainly not looking for a boom in business this year, so far this industry seems to be holding its own.
A look at this issue’s exclusive feature on the latest VisionWatch vision care sales and market share data gives an update on last year’s performance. (The VisionWatch survey, conducted by VM parent Jobson Medical Information and the Vision Council of America, surveys 100,000 U.S. consumers annually on their buying patterns for and attitudes about eyewear and eyecare.)
VisionWatch survey numbers for the full year 2007 indicate that industry dollar sales were virtually flat last year, as were revenues in the key ophthalmic frame and spectacle lens product categories.
But in a sharply down economy--already being characterized by some financial pundits as a recession--keeping pace with a previous (and strong) year is not too bad.
With their own P&L statements for fiscal 2007 fresh in their minds, retailers and ECPs who head to Vision Expo East can be expected to be as cautious in their buying as at any show in recent memory. That certainly doesn’t mean they won’t be buying--it just means impulse buys, as opposed to well-thought-out purchasing decisions, may be few and far between this time.
In addition, the current economic conditions may generate even more interest than usual in education courses on practice management, business systems and controls, and the financial aspects of running a store or optometric office.
Every time we hit an economic downturn, we hear about how the optical business is generally recession-proof--how its products are low enough in price that consumers can “treat” themselves to new eyewear as an affordable luxury, how the importance of eyecare from a health/vision standpoint doesn’t change despite economic conditions, and how a savvy businessperson can compete successfully in the worst of recessionary times.
And you know what? That’s all true, to some extent. This can still be a decent year for our industry, and for the broad spectrum of its players who take a sensible, educated approach to their businesses. VM’s editors will be talking to a lot of those smart players at Expo. ■
