Market uncertainty

November is usually a buoyant month with all benchmarks doing well prior to December when, with Christmas looming, patients tend to be concentrating on other things. However, with market uncertainty and poor consumer trading, retail optics has also been challenged and all performance measures fall overall, with only modest rises from October figures.
Eye examinations are up 6 per cent from October, -9 per cent from last year. The 12-month moving average is negative by 7 per cent. Average figures are very similar to static periods over 1999 and 2001. The proportion of tests that are NHS is 65.9 per cent, the highest optician Index has recorded.
The total volume of dispensing has increased by 4 per cent this month. Single-vision lenses are up 1.5 per cent, bifocals up 1.8 per cent and progressive lenses up 10 per cent from October. Total spectacles are down by 22 per cent from last November.
The trend for dispensing has fallen further from -7 per cent to -9 per cent and the graph clearly shows the gradual decline over the year.
Reflection-free coatings are up by 4 per cent from October's results, yet lag November 2003 by 53 per cent, a month where results are usually high. Fewer than 43 per cent of all spectacles dispensed have AR coats, compared to 50 per cent last November.
The November dispensing rate is down slightly at 66 per cent compared to 68 per cent last month. November 2003 was lower at 65 per cent. Dispensing rate is calculated from total number of eye examinations and total dispensing, and hence does not take into account multiple dispensing.
New contact lens fits have fallen by 10 per cent compared to last month, down 12 per cent from last year. The annual trend is negative at -3 per cent. November is not generally a favourable month for new fits, the best months being over the summer.
Solution sales are down by 2 per cent from last month, down 6 per cent from November 2003. The trend is just negative at -1 per cent.
Total practice turnover results improve by 2.5 per cent from October, -12 per cent from last year. Turnover is still showing positive growth at 5 per cent. The last time this was negative was October 2001. Average growth for the year is still 12 per cent despite this apparent slowing of activity.
Turnover per eye examination is up at 126, a negligible move from last month, but an increase of 7.00 from last November. Average sales per eye examination have increased by 5.10 over 12 months. They have increased on average by 26 since 2001.
When comparing your practice with the results it is important to notice that all our figures are equated to a 25-day month, so year on year, month on month we can compare equal time periods. November had 26 working days (excluding Sundays and UK Bank holidays).

If a practice would like to contribute to the Index please contact Louise Jarvis on 01622 851726, to discuss the benefits, no obligation, or by email to l.jarvis@businessbenchmarks.co.uk.

BOXTEXT: On average the fortunes of optical practices have been sliding this year with all performance benchmarks showing a fall again this month, but how does this compare with previous years?
Compared to November 2003 over half the sample (63 per cent) have seen a drop in turnover, a quarter have seen a fall in excess of 20 per cent. Two practices have seen large differences in excess of 60 per cent and this could be attributable to a change in staffing levels, an extra optometrist, or losing a major member of staff, for example. But the remainder, almost 100 per cent, see a differential range between plus and minus 36 per cent.
Turnover per eye examination is certainly seen to be increasing over the period of the survey, and while this trend is less obvious over the last year, sales per eye examination have still increased by an average of 5.00 over the last 12 months.
Turnover and eye examinations have increased at different rates over the past 12 years. On average eye examinations have increased by 26 per cent since November 1992, while turnover has increased by 54 per cent.


BOXTEXT: November was a fairly good month for AA Baker Opticians in north London, according to David Baker, a partner of the practice, with overall turnover beating last year's results.
Contrary to the Index, he says that the overall number of eye tests and dispensing were up on last year and that this year some new patients had helped to boost results. He attributes this rise to a number of factors including increased diabetic screening which, although not profitable in itself, brings in other family members who will potentially buy spectacles.
The practice can also usually see people at relatively short notice compared, he claims, to some of the larger practices. 'We don't book up too far ahead and we have two optometrists here so we can see more people,' he says.
Baker believes customers are becoming more aware of different frame materials and different lens options. 'It is common for people to come in and ask for particular things rather than us having to explain it, which helps speed up dispensing,' he says.
Dispensing in November increased over October, but the practice has not noticed an overall decline in the previous 12-month period as suggested in the Index. AR coatings dropped slightly while the proportion of NHS tests was the same as normal. Baker did notice the trend for negative growth in contact lenses, which he thinks may have something to do with the 'number of people asking about laser eye surgery as a first option over spectacles.'
Predicting how different months of the year will go is becoming increasingly hard, he adds. 'Lifestyles are changing and people are going on holidays at different times so eye tests and turnover is spread out across the year.'