ABB OPTICAL GROUP Releases Year in Review Industry Insights
Consistent growth leads to strong sales of contact lenses in the U.S. in 2016
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (February 21, 2017) – Amid a strong year for contact lenses growth in the U.S. in 2016, daily disposals continued to fuel sales and moving into 2017, that trend shows no signs of slowing.
That’s according to ABB OPTICAL GROUP, which distributes optical products to two-thirds of practicing optometrists nationwide and is a leading resource for identifying industry trends and projecting areas of future growth.
Reviewing 2016 sales and projecting 2017 growth, the company's data on same-store sales shows that:
- Daily disposable growth was up nearly 23 percent and represented 76 percent of all growth in the category in 2016.
- Reusable contact lenses were soft in 2016 with a slight decline of 0.4 percent, but have come to life with recent monthly lens introductions of sphericals, torics and multifocals.
- Growth of torics was up 11 percent, driven predominantly by daily disposable torics which were up more than 36 percent.
- Multifocals continue to post gains with growth of nearly 17 percent. The growth was dominated by daily disposable multifocals at more than 69 percent due to recent introductions from all four major manufacturers in this area.
“Looking at 2017 and beyond, torics and multifocals will continue to be the growth drivers in daily disposables, which already represent the dominant share of spherical dollars at 48 percent,” said ABB OPTICAL GROUP Vice President of Marketing Aaron See. “There’s more opportunity for growth in daily disposable multifocals and torics, which lag behind at just 32 percent and 25 percent in those segments respectively.”
In 2016, ABB OPTICAL GROUP also reported a nearly 8 percent organic contact lens growth from practices that have chosen to partner with the company.
“That is a growth rate that is roughly 60-70 percent faster than the market," said See. "We’re excited about building on a great 2016 as we move into this year. At the end of the day, we are here to make sure that practitioners and their staff have the information they need to better serve their patients and guide them in those decisions.”
ABOUT ABB OPTICAL GROUP
ABB OPTICAL GROUP is a leading distributor of optical products in the United States. The company supplies nearly two-thirds of eye care professionals across the country with brand name contact lenses, fully customizable gas permeable and custom specialty soft contact lenses, ophthalmic lenses and more. The company's Digital Eye Lab is a fully automated optical lab dedicated to freeform digital lens fabrication. ABBOPTICAL GROUP also offers practice building services such as pricing strategy tools, business reviews, annual supply staff training and e-commerce solutions. For additional information, visit ABBOptical.com.