Growth reported in US contact lens market

The US contact lens market saw low-to-moderate gains in 2014 compared to the prior year, according to the Contact Lens Spectrum 2014 Annual Report.

Soft contact lens sales in the country grew 4.9 per cent between January and September last year, according to data compiled by GfK Retail and Technology. Further data from Robert W Baird indicated that US sales grew a healthy 5 per cent in the third quarter of 2014, with worldwide sales just under 5 per cent.

‘It’s interesting to note that in spite of the reported 5 per cent year-to-date growth, the Baird data also show that growth in the US contact lens market slowed to 2 per cent in the third quarter.’ The report said. ‘Baird believes that this largely reflects temporary timing issues and disruptions tied to distributor purchasing habits in addition to recent manufacturer-led rebate/policy shifts, including recent Unilateral Pricing Policy (UPP) efforts by some companies.’