Optician Index October 2015: Fall marks downward trend

During October, all our benchmarks showed a slight fall from the results reported in September. Of greater concern, with the exception of progressive lens sales and turnover per eye examination, the figures were considerably lower than October 2014. In addition to our monthly analysis – as we have seen, the total number of eye examinations increasing year-on-year for our sample of independent opticians – we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at how this has affected the dispensing rate and how the different size practices have performed.

Summary

Turnover and eye examinations

Total practice turnover decreased by almost 2 per cent from September and from October last year to 163 Index points. The number of eye examinations fell by 1 per cent to 97 Index points from September and was 5 per cent lower than October 2014. Turnover per eye examination fell by £3 last month to £171, which was £9 higher than October 2014. The percentage of examinations that were NHS compared with private was marginally lower than September, at 75 per cent, which is almost 1 and a half percentage points lower than October last year.