The contact lens market in the US isnearly $3.6 billion,according to The Vision Council’s June 2011 Consumer Barometer report. Some 40.5 percent of those dollars is spent with independent ODs, while 24 percent is spent with mass merchandisers; 18 percent is spent with chains; and 17.5 percent is spent with other retailers.
What This Means for an Optometric Practice
Studies show the majority of contact lens new fits happen because patients ask their doctor for contacts! Is this happening in your practice?Are you offering patients contact lenses, or are you waiting for patients to ask you?Let’s review a few things we know about contact lens patients.Contact lens patients return for care more frequently than spectacle lens patients.Over a 10-year period, contact lens patients spend more money in your practice than spectacle lens patients.Contact lens patients are more loyal than spectacle lens patients.Wow, I want more patients like these contact lens patients.Start prescribing contact lenses to every patient who would possibly benefit from them and watch the positive changes that occur in your practice. — Mark Wright, OD, and Carole Burns, OD, ROB Professional Editors
