How The Vision Council is Redefining Optometry: Vision Expo East & 2025 Industry Data

Summary

Power Hour Optometry: How The Vision Council is Redefining Optometry

Episode: How The Vision Council is Redefining Optometry: Vision Expo East & 2025 Industry Data
Release Date: January 17, 2025
Host: Eugene Shotsman
Guests: Ashley Mills (CEO, Vision Council), Elise Hinkle (VP of Research and Insights, Vision Council)

---

Introduction

In this episode of Power Hour Optometry, host Eugene Shotsman engages in a comprehensive discussion with Ashley Mills and Elise Hinkle from the Vision Council. The conversation primarily revolves around the upcoming Vision Expo East 2025 and the latest industry data that is set to influence optometric practices in the coming year.

---

Vision Expo East 2025

Event Details and Enhancements

Ashley Mills provides an in-depth overview of the Vision Expo East 2025, highlighting significant upgrades and new features aimed at enhancing the attendee experience.

Key Points:

• Location & Date: Orlando, Florida, February 19th-22nd.
• Registration: Complimentary registration available via vee2025.com/TVC.
• Accommodation: Main hotel blocks sold out, but rooms remain at Rosen Inner Point Orlando, Hyatt Regency Orlando, and True by Hilton with shuttle services.
• Transportation: 50% discount available on the Bright Line train from Miami to Orlando using the code VISION.

Notable Quote:

"Vision Expo East has moved. It will be in Orlando, Florida, February 19th through the 22nd." — Ashley Mills [04:27]

New Features and Attractions

Ashley elaborates on the new additions to the expo, emphasizing the focus on practice growth, networking, and innovative technologies.

Highlights:

• Networking Opportunities: Dedicated networking for healthcare and fashion sectors.
• New Pavilions: Over-the-counter (OTC) pavilion and Indee Lab Speakeasy for strategic partnerships.
• Continuing Education: 240 hours of CE available, including a new Myopia Control Symposium.
• Technology Showcase: Featuring emerging technologies like Aptero for low vision management and AI applications in eye care.
• Experiential Enhancements: Improved layout, pool parties, themed cafes, daily happy hours, and diverse entertainment options.

Notable Quote:

"This isn't, I think it will feel much more experiential than transactional. And there are, there are multiple ways for people to meet people, see people connect and also just engage." — Ashley Mills [13:29]

Keynote Speaker

The expo will feature Venus Williams as the keynote speaker, who will discuss the intersection of innovation, performance, fashion, and vision in the industry.

Notable Quote:

"We are thrilled to welcome Venus Williams as our keynote on Friday afternoon... she really embodies the spirit of our industry." — Ashley Mills [17:09]

---

Industry Data Overview

Data Sources and Scope

Elise Hinkle details the extensive data resources utilized by the Vision Council to generate industry insights.

Data Sources:

• Transactional Data: Approximately 60 million records from 2,700 U.S. practices.
• Credit Card Data: Over 20 million records capturing consumer spending.
• Location Data: Comprehensive data on optical retail and independent practices.
• Surveys: Monthly consumer tracker surveys with 4,000 U.S. respondents and 500 in Canada, along with biannual surveys of practice providers.

Notable Quote:

"We have a ton of data... probably pretty clearly in the like 60 million records somewhere along the way of transactions." — Elise Hinkle [20:36]

Key Findings from 2024 Data

Elise presents the 2024 Market Insights Report, revealing mixed growth patterns within the optometric industry.

Highlights:

• Overall Market Growth: +2.7%, reaching a $68.3 billion industry.
• Prescription Products Decline:
  • Frames: -5% in value, -4% in units.
  • Lenses: -1% in value, -3% in units.
  • Contact Lenses: -2% in value, -5% in units (notably worst Q4 in three years).
• Non-Prescription Products: Significant growth in Plano sunglasses.

Notable Quote:

"We are seeing like a 2.7% growth for the whole market combined together going up to $68.3 billion industry in 2024." — Elise Hinkle [28:32]

Exam Data Insights

Contrary to declines in product sales, eye exams experienced a slight increase.

Key Points:

• Exam Revenue: +3% year-over-year.
• Number of Exams: +1% year-over-year.
• Implication: More patients are getting exams, but spending per exam has increased, possibly due to advanced services.

Notable Quote:

"We saw a slight increase in exams this year. We're seeing a 3% growth year over year for exam revenue and a 1% growth in the number of exams." — Elise Hinkle [34:13]

---

Strategic Insights and Recommendations

Enhancing Capture Rates

The data underscores the importance of improving optical conversion rates—the ability to convert exam patients into product sales.

Key Insights:

• Potential Growth: A 5% increase in frames, lenses, and contact lens sales could add $1.4 billion to the market.
• Practice Impact: An average practice could see an additional $33,000-$34,000 annually, with two-thirds contributing directly to profitability.

Notable Quote:

"If you owned a practice and you could just increase your capture rate by 5%, that extra money, two thirds of that money drops right down to the bottom line, the profitability of the practice." — Elise Hinkle [39:59]

Consumer Behavior Trends

Elise Hinkle highlights shifting consumer preferences and budget sensitivities impacting purchasing decisions.

Key Findings:

• Insurance Importance: Increase in consumers prioritizing in-network providers (77% in 2024 vs. 70% in 2022).
• Online Purchases: Growth in reasons for buying eyewear online—speed of delivery (26% to 37%) and greater product selection (27% to 37%).
• Spending Patterns:
  • Decrease in consumers spending over $200 on eyewear.
  • Increase in budget buyers (<$100) from 35% to 40%.
  • Luxury buyers remain steady at ~26-31%.

Notable Quotes:

"We're seeing an increase from 35% to 40% of people buying products with less than $100 out of pocket." — Elise Hinkle [50:39]
"People are more budget sensitive, they think that they're going to maximize their budget by having an in network provider." — Elise Hinkle [46:34]

Adapting Practice Strategies

To align with consumer trends, practices should:

• Expand Frame Boards: Increase budget-friendly options.
• Enhance Presentation: Clearly communicate the value and benefits of higher-priced products.
• Leverage Data: Utilize Vision Council's insights to make informed decisions on inventory and marketing strategies.

Notable Quote:

"We have to be better at presenting options and making it easier for them. They're not going to beg us to spend the money." — Eugene Shotsman [51:18]

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a consensus on the critical need for optometric practices to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and leverage data-driven strategies to enhance profitability. The insights provided by Ashley Mills and Elise Hinkle offer a roadmap for practices to navigate the evolving landscape, emphasizing the importance of attending Vision Expo East 2025 for further learning and networking opportunities.

Final Thoughts:

"The data never lies. We have to listen to what our consumers are telling us and make informed decisions to grow our practices effectively." — Eugene Shotsman [52:19]

---

Notable Quotes Summary

• Eugene Shotsman [04:27]: "Vision Expo East has moved. It will be in Orlando, Florida, February 19th through the 22nd."

• Ashley Mills [13:29]: "This isn't, I think it will feel much more experiential than transactional... ways for people to meet people, see people connect and also just engage."

• Elise Hinkle [20:36]: "We have a ton of data... probably pretty clearly in the like 60 million records somewhere along the way of transactions."

• Elise Hinkle [28:32]: "We are seeing like a 2.7% growth for the whole market combined together going up to $68.3 billion industry in 2024."

• Elise Hinkle [34:13]: "We saw a slight increase in exams this year. We're seeing a 3% growth year-over-year for exam revenue and a 1% growth in the number of exams."

• Elise Hinkle [39:59]: "If you owned a practice and you could just increase your capture rate by 5%, that extra money, two-thirds of that money drops right down to the bottom line, the profitability of the practice."

• Elise Hinkle [46:34]: "People are more budget sensitive, they think that they're going to maximize their budget by having an in-network provider."

• Elise Hinkle [50:39]: "We're seeing an increase from 35% to 40% of people buying products with less than $100 out of pocket."

• Eugene Shotsman [51:18]: "We have to be better at presenting options and making it easier for them. They're not going to beg us to spend the money."

• Eugene Shotsman [52:19]: "The data never lies. We have to listen to what our consumers are telling us and make informed decisions to grow our practices effectively."

---

Final Remarks

This episode serves as a crucial touchpoint for optometric professionals aiming to stay ahead in a dynamic industry landscape. By attending events like Vision Expo East 2025 and leveraging comprehensive data insights from the Vision Council, practitioners can make informed decisions to enhance their practice's growth and profitability.

For more information on the topics discussed, visit Power Practice.

Transcript

[Ashley Mills]

Foreign.

[Eugene Shotsman]

Welcome to the Power Hour. I'm your host, Eugene Shotsman. This is Optometry's biggest and longest running show. We are in our 13th season on the air. Please make sure you're subscribed on YouTube.

[Elise Hinkle]

Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get.

[Eugene Shotsman]

Your shows, just so that you know every time an episode drops. And on that topic, I really enjoyed today's episode. So this is my semi annual conversation with the Vision Council where we cover typically two things. Number one, Vision Expo and number two, industry data. And I'm going to talk about the data in a moment because it was actually an incredibly valuable conversation, literally hot.

[Elise Hinkle]

Off the presses reports.

[Eugene Shotsman]

But first, are you going to Vision Expo East 2025? If you're listening to this episode and you're still undecided, my hope is, is that in this episode we will help you decide one way or another. I peppered Ashley Mills, she's the CEO of the Vision Council, with fast paced questions. And again, my hope is that in the first 15 minutes of this episode or so, you have an idea of how the Vision Expo experience is changing for the Orlando show and what you can expect if you go. Ashley talks about all the new and shiny things as well as major upgrades that they've invested into the show for the attendees.

[Elise Hinkle]

All the stuff that's going to be great, all the stuff that they're, that.

[Eugene Shotsman]

They'Re working on, and hopefully you'll get enough here during the show to determine.

[Elise Hinkle]

If Expo is right for you this year.

[Eugene Shotsman]

For me, I'm going, I'll be taping a few Power Hour episodes from the, from some of the Innovators booths.

[Elise Hinkle]

So if you're going, I'll see you there.

[Eugene Shotsman]

And in the second half of the show, we talk with Elise Hinkle.

[Elise Hinkle]

She is the VP of Research and.

[Eugene Shotsman]

Insights at the Vision Council. And yet again, we lean into her massive data set on three things. Consumer transactions, EHR data from thousands of practices and surveys that people fill out. And we use all of that to figure out what is the market telling us and what do we need to know at this exact moment. And let's just be clear, this is not old news. The show was actually taped before the big data reveal is even made to the entire industry. So if you want to know what happened to the consumer in 2024 regarding purchase of frames, lenses, contact lenses, and also what happened with exams in 2024, you need to listen in. I'm not going to give you the punchline right now, but I will tell you there's A really clear and somewhat alarming conclusion that we have to draw. And this conclusion requires action from you. If you own a practice, if you work in a practice, whatever. We have to change our behavior in 2025 so, so that we can learn from 2024 and not repeat our mistakes. Because the data is telling us this clearly. Okay? And you know I love data. I know many of our listeners do as well. So hopefully you enjoy this episode. And I wanted to offer a quick reminder that if you have any episode ideas for future episodes, content suggestions, questions, or any way that I can be a resource, please reach out to me directly. If you go to Eugene Shotsman.com and drop me a note again, that's Eugene Shotsman.com or you can do that on.

[Elise Hinkle]

The Power Hour website.

[Eugene Shotsman]

I truly enjoy being a resource for you and I truly enjoy your feedback. And now let's go to the show.

[Ashley Mills]

Ashley Mills, Elise Hinkle, welcome back to the Power Hour. We're excited to have you and so much to talk about. As I said during the introduction, the the big thing that we're going to get to towards the end of the show is you got a big report that's coming out, or maybe the second half of the show is you have a big report that's literally coming out today when the show is airing. And that report is going to talk to us about overall market sentiment, market estimates, and how did we do in 2024. So we can make really good decisions about 2025. But one of the things that we really need to talk about is what we're going to do in 2025. And I think a lot of people are trying to decide, are we going to go to Expo? Are we going to go to the new Vision Expo East? At the time that this episode is dropping, you can still, I think you can still get a hotel, right? This has been a pretty, maybe that's like an indicator of how many people are preregistered and how excited the community is about the show. So I guess maybe that's my first question. Ashley, maybe not the most insightful or deep question, but are the hotels sold out or not? Because then we know if people are going or not.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, people are going. You can still get a hotel and you can still register and we would love to have you. So Vision Expo east has moved. It will be in Orlando, Florida, February 19th through the 22nd. I'd invite all of you who are interested. If you would like to still access free registration, go to the Vision Expo website or you can type in vee2025.com and then forward slash TVC and the vision Council would be happy to offer you complimentary registration. If you're coming from Southeast Florida from Miami. I can also offer you 50% off the very nice and brand new Bright Line, the train running between Miami and Orlando. You just have to be registered for the show and use the code all caps Vision. And yes, you will be able to find a hotel. Our main hotel blocks have sold out, but we still have rooms at the Rosen Inner Point Orlando, the Hyatt Regency Orlando and True by Hilton. And for the the hotels that aren't connected directly to the convention center, we have constant shuttle buses running from all of our hotels. So you will have absolutely no trouble getting to the show and we can't wait to welcome you there.

[Ashley Mills]

So what are the big and so it sounds like there's already a lot of buzz because I'm hearing the main hotel blocks are sold out which means that there's a lot of people who have pre registered. And it seems like what I've been hearing in the industry is there's a lot of buzz. Although it's a different month. So because it's a different month, that's one difference. What are some of the other differences that people can expect?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, one reason to come to Vision Expo, we all know that everyone is very busy. Your listeners are trying to manage practices and optimize staff time. This is the show that you can come to and accomplish everything you need to do in a handful of days. All of the exhibitors that you need to meet with are there. From the high end luxury designers like Anna Corinne Carlson to the the clear vision opticals of the world. Moto, Tom Davies, Sarah Wet Kering will be there. Dita, everyone's there. Plus on the eye care side, Zeiss is going to be there in grand fashion, host an amazing beer garden experience and all you know, we have Topcon all. I guess all of that is to say this is the place to do all of your business in a short amount of time. And we also of course offer 240 hours of continuing education. So your team can also come and make sure they're getting their education. You can do it easily and you can do it all in Orlando. That's nothing new. What is new is everything we've added this year to really look at how practices can boost margin. So obviously there'll be tons of opportunities for networking, but we've added dedicated networking just for our conference attendees, either on the healthcare or the fashion side. That is hopefully to give you an opportunity to come out of education and have a group of peers that you can talk to about what's working for them and what isn't. In addition, we're launching new pavilions to start talking about ways to expand the business and maybe get, get your sales up a little bit. So we've launched an over the counter pavilion so you can talk about how incorporating non RX into your practice might be a margin booster and revenue driver. We also have a indee lab speakeasy. If you're looking for how you can partner with some of the new labs that are coming online, there are a lot of them and hang out and have a conversation about how to build some strategic partnerships. That's some of the new things we.

[Elise Hinkle]

Also do the first one.

[Ashley Mills]

So talking. So the. I mean I've had other guests on the show who have talked about the value of being able to collaborate with other practices and kind of form little study groups and to compare notes and see what. So talk about the first one because I think you, you said it quickly, but I want to make sure the audience understands the gravity of this new thing that's going to be in Orlando and February.

[Unknown Speaker]

So of course we have our continuing education program. So anyone registered for conference will be invited to these networking events that are dedicated for conference. So we have the healthcare side of the equation and then we also have those who are coming to talk about buying and fashion. So between treatment, expansion of practice, different RXs that you're looking at and then also different product lines, there will be dedicated places for you to talk with peers about that. And then we'll also have all of the programming that's not for continuing education credit. We have a really robust main stage this year, so you can transpot a little bit and see what's coming out and what's new and take that back to your practice and implement it.

[Ashley Mills]

Yeah. And what do you think are going to be some of. So you, you talked about the OTC stuff and about kind of the independent lab stuff. What do you think are some of the trends that are really going to be highlighted? At least, you know, without giving too much away that you think if somebody wants to learn about X and that X is, you know, kind of on the horizon or kind of been something the industry has been toying with, where have you made the investment to help highlight those trends?

[Unknown Speaker]

I can give you a couple examples. Myopia is not a new trend, but it's certainly something that every practice needs to be addressing. And equipped for. And I believe it's your data that told us that that's the leading search on Google or it's outpacing growth.

[Ashley Mills]

Yes, in growth.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. So, I mean, so we're offering a brand new Myopia Control symposium. That's a three hour session covering financial, clinical and marketing strategies around myopia management. We know the patient is interested and so we want to equip all of the practices attending our show with the ways to incorporate it and optimize both care and the business side of delivery. We have a new technology showcase, some of the new things that, I mean, we're waiting for nuance to finally be available. But incorporating products that are wearables that treat or can help a patient with both vision and hearing continues to trend. We also saw the launch of Aptero to really again start looking at ways that existing technology can very discreetly and efficiently help your patients manage, in this case with Aptera low vision through their phone.

[Ashley Mills]

Yeah. And it seems like almost everybody is doing something with AI these days. It's almost like, you know, one of the, one of the jokes that I, I heard around my office is that, well, you know, some of our clients are folks who are exhibiting an expo and it's almost like a necessary now to just like take the old booth design and slap like now with AI on the old booth design, whether you're making glasses or you have software that serves the industry. But all kidding aside, I know that all of the exhibitors or many of the exhibitors have made significant investments in technology over the course of the last year. So how do you think that'll come out in the show?

[Unknown Speaker]

We have it front and center on our main stage. On Friday, February 21, there is a session called the AI Shaping Eye Care Today and Tomorrow. So not just in the conceptual stage of understanding AI, but really gets into how it can revolutionize and transform clinical workflow, patient care and practice management. So something that you can absolutely learn from and take back and put into practice immediately.

[Ashley Mills]

Yeah. All right, so you've been talking about this and I think the word seems to, the encapsulating word seems to be experience. So the experience in Orlando is going to be a little bit different. Obviously it's warmer than New York would be at this time of year. You've talked about some of the different amenities or offerings, I guess, inside of the, on the show floor and on the stage and in the ces. What else experientially, is somebody like, give me a little bit more of a visual Download so that I can picture it right now. So if, if I am a listener who's sitting on the, on the sidelines and saying, well, you know, maybe I'm not going to go, that I can actually make that decision and maybe change my decision.

[Unknown Speaker]

If you have one, two or three days, this is the show for the optical community. This is the event that is in existence to promote the growth of the entire optical industry. So you're already part of kind of a catalyzer in success, growth and fortitude for all of optical. How that will look when you get there. It's a totally different layout in Orlando. The hotels are attached. You walk right across into the exhibit hall. When you walk out of the exhibit hall each afternoon, you will walk right over to the Rosen Hotel where there will be a pool party taking place. You will, you will come down the elevator and the OWA Champagne breakfast will be in your hotel. It is very much built around community and the value of this community. And there will be multiple, multiple ways for people to meet people, see people connect and also just engage. This isn't, I think it will feel much more experiential than transactional. And there are, there are, there's no shortage of things going on. So opening night party, open to everyone. Several different music genres, DJs, bands, all of that's open for everyone attending our show. We have a new cafe that's French themed. We're able to do cooler things experientially with food and beverage at the show. There are daily happy hours and networking events both on the show floor and at all of the flagship hotels. So I just, I feel like the connectivity will really be there. And isn't that one of the reasons that people bother to travel and go to events? It's to feel like you're part of, of your community. And it will, it will definitely be there and you will feel it in Orlando.

[Ashley Mills]

Well, and I think you're absolutely right because it seems to me like people go to shows for three reasons. And in my mind, you know, there's. One of them is to transact, right? And just show up and you sell or buy or whatever, whatever is happening. Another one is to connect with people and the third is to learn. And in my opinion, you know, the hardest thing, honestly after you leave a show is to take action on what, on what you do. And oftentimes the driver of action is the experience that you had and how memorable some of the things were. So, you know, the transactions, yeah, sure, that's easy. You know, you take A purchase or whatever. But it also seems to me like previous shows that in, whether yours or. There's different events in the, in the industry that are really focused on transactions. There's good deals, people go to shop. If I need something, I'm going to go to that show, I'm going to shop and that kind of thing. I think what you're describing though is a really, really big focus on the other two elements as well, which is that, yeah, people can buy, right? And I'm sure there's going to be great vendors who give great specials and it's going to be an opportunity to lock in some, some good, some good discounts. But it also seems to me like experientially you're trying to make this super memorable and super effective from a connecting with people standpoint and also from a learning standpoint because you can learn from others in lots of different ways. You can watch them on stage where you can have those types of curated conversations, whether it's a happy hour or at a followup and that kind of thing. And so I commend you guys for doing all of this work and, you know, really supporting and really developing this new experience for the industry. Is there anything else you want to add about the show before we start talking about data here?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'll just leave you with. In addition, we've really upped our programming game on the main stage and are thrilled to welcome Venus Williams as our keynote on Friday afternoon in the exhibit hall. We feel like Venus really embodies the spirit of our industry, which is one of innovation and function and performance and also, you can't overlook fashion with Venus. But she really, she's going to, she's really going to speak with extreme focus on the importance of vision and her success. And I think she's going to be a really great energy builder for the whole show floor and she is definitely our keynote. But that, that stage will be packed with programming all day long. So something really honestly for everyone, no matter how many, how many days you're able to get away, you can certainly make the most of, of of it at Vision Expo.

[Ashley Mills]

I'm, I mean, Venus Williams sounds great, but I'm surprised you didn't say that. You know, the main draw is the four or five power hour episodes that are going to be filmed live on the, on the, on the show floor. So, you know, I mean, I guess I understand. No, that's fant. Thank you, Ashley, for sharing all that. And I asked for the audience, I really did ask Ashley to compress all of the things that we need to know now into, like, 10 to 15 minutes so that we can make a really sound decision. Are we going? Are we not going? And are we going for one day, two days, or three days? And is it an experience that we want to take part of? And, Ashley, I think you've done a phenomenal job summarizing it. Thank you so much. And after the break, we're going to talk a lot about industry data. So this is kind of a two for one episode where we get to leverage the Vision Council for the amazing event they're about to go put on, but then also for the data points, the millions and millions of data points that they've been collecting. And we'll talk about how that data is going to impact what you do in 2025.

[Unknown Speaker]

Thank you, Eugene.

[Allie]

Hi, this is Allie at the Power Practice. Every month when we talk to clients, staffing comes up as one of the biggest challenges. Finding the right people, avoiding costly hiring mistakes, and trying to build a team that actually sticks around. It can feel like an uphill battle. Right? What if you could finally take the guesswork out of hiring? That's why we're so excited to bring you Hire Smart by Wonderlic and the Power Practice, a hiring solution designed specifically for eye care practices. Here's the game changer. Hire Smart doesn't just measure cognitive ability, problem solving skills, and learning speed. It also gives you exclusive insights into a candidate's work style, adaptability, and even how they'll fit into your practice culture. Imagine making a confident, informed decision before you even make the hire. And the best part, we've made it affordable and easy to use so you can start building your dream team right away. If staffing has been stressing you out, it's time to turn things around. Visit thepowerpractice.com and click on Hire Smart to get started. Let's help you hire Smarter and stress less.

[Ashley Mills]

All right. And we're back on the Power Hour with Elise Hinkle to talk through the data. Now, Elise, remind me your role. What is your official title at the Vision Council?

[Elise Hinkle]

I am the Vice President of Research and insights at the Vision Council.

[Ashley Mills]

Okay, so that sounds like a big role, but I don't think people quite get how big, because what do you guys actually resource? What is the source of all of the data that you gather? How many data points do you have?

[Elise Hinkle]

So we have a ton of data, and the data that feeds into our reporting, we have a few different important data sources. One is transactional data. We get Anonymized feeds from patient management system data that's been cleaned up and normalized as much as possible so that we understand what's going on in our practice down to the billing code level. So we have a lot of detail.

[Ashley Mills]

How many practices or how many, how many transactions maybe?

[Elise Hinkle]

Well, how many transactions, I don't know. We get new data each month, but I would say we're probably pretty clearly in the like 60 million records somewhere along the way of transactions. So a ton of patient transaction data, we get somewhere around 2700 practices feeding into that data pool each year. So we're getting a really good sample of especially the independent locations. This is primarily coming from independent locations throughout the US So that's one of our foundational data sources. Along with, we also have credit card data. So knowing like what, how much was spent on a credit card. So we don't know what was purchased like we do with the patient transaction data, but we know sort of how much someone swiped their card for at a, with again, a sample of credit card data throughout the U.S. and that's another, oh, I don't know, probably at least like 20 million plus records there that we get. We also get that data updated monthly. And then our other big sources are like location data. So we've done a ton of work trying to nail down how many optical retail practices or independent practices there are in the US So that's one of the things that feeds into especially our market estimates. And then finally we also do a ton of surveying. So we have a consumer tracker survey that connects with, in the US 4,000 people every month to ask what their recent behaviors were related to eye care and eyewear. So we have, we have a data on that every month with 4,000 new American adults. We're doing a smaller version in Canada right now with 500 respondents a month. And then we also do a lot of ad hoc surveying as well. So we'll survey. We do regularly survey practice providers as well. So practice owners or folks who work in eye care practices as a sort of tracker twice a year to sort of see what things look like from the practice perspective. Also run additional surveys and produce reports that are of interest to our members, like a report about, you know, how consumers make decisions about eyewear, eye care, or what's going on with, you know, what do consumers know about myopia or et cetera. So those are sort of our more ad hoc reports that we do about 6 to 10 of those a year as well as all these regular reporting with these other data Sources.

[Ashley Mills]

So you've got these millions and millions of data points that are feeding in. And again, I'm restated for the audience. We got surveys, we've got credit card transactions, consumer credit card transactions, and then we've got practice management system data, anonymized practice management system data for thousands of practices. So interestingly enough, you know, for me, this, I kind of couldn't help but wonder, is there anybody with more data about the industry than you?

[Elise Hinkle]

Certainly not that I know of. I mean, so the big companies probably have more, more data than I do about, you know, individual records that go on within their own business. So, you know, corporations, if you want to send us your data, we're open to it. But I think outside of that, there's probably no one else with like a really comprehensive as comprehensive view of the industry, both from the practice perspective and the consumer perspective.

[Ashley Mills]

And I don't think that I could convince anybody at the top of either of those companies to come on the show and open their books and tell me and tell me everything that's going on and what they're seeing from a consumer standpoint. And obviously that data is very biased. Yours seems a little bit more balanced. So in my opinion, this is probably one of the, and this is one of the reasons why I look forward to having you on the show on a regular cadence is because I love making data driven decisions and I encourage constantly in our business, you know, every single decision we're trying to ask a question, even if it's a small decision of hey, we, we, we want to change the button color on a client's website or a big decision of, you know, should a client acquire this location or not acquire this location? All of those were always asking the question of what data did we use to make this decision? And the second question we're asking is what impact do we expect this decision to have based off of previous data? So I think this is why it's so important to be so abreast of what the data is telling us in the industry because we truly have to think through all the implications. And I like having this episode early enough in the year to where we can still get a head start on using data about 2024 to make decisions in 2025. So I'm going to kind of no further.

[Elise Hinkle]

With no further delays.

[Ashley Mills]

I really want you to get into the latest data that you all have available for us in 2025.

[Elise Hinkle]

Yeah, so our absolutely hot off the presses just released today data is our big annual market insights reports. And so that has data on what happened the previous year in the market, specifically relating to exams, frames, lenses, contact lenses, Plano sunglasses, and readers, both in terms of how many units were sold and sort of the value of the market. So this is always our big deal report of the year where we talk about the overall market size and how things have changed year to year. And so what we've seen in 2024 is that we are seeing like a 2.7% growth for the whole market combined together going up to $68.3 billion industry in 2024. But we are seeing overall some declines, especially on the kind of like prescription products. We saw a little bit of year over year decline from 23 to 20, and we saw actually some substantial growth on the, especially the Plano sunglasses side of the market. So it's kind of a mixed story this year about, you know, what happened last year. Looks like some things went really well and other parts kind of remained kind of stable year over year and some saw some small declines as well.

Okay, Elise, so you're telling me that the industry grew a few percentage points in 2024, but you're also telling me that there was an overall decline in prescription product. Talk about that decline and quantify that for us a little bit.

Yeah, so overall when we're talking, I'll talk about value first. So sort of the, when we, when we talk about value in the market, we're talking about how much consumers spent plus managed vision care reimbursement. When we're talking about the prescription products, when we're talking about the non prescription products, we're just talking about consumer spending. So what we saw for frames in terms of a value decline, we saw year over year a 5% decline in terms of the frames market for lenses, it was largely stable year to year, showing about a 1% decline year over year. So lenses held a little bit more stable than frames did this year. And then contact lenses, you know, they had a great 2023 and generally that pattern was holding most of this year until Q4 was really tough for contact lenses. This is the worst Q4 we've seen in the last three years for contact lenses, resulting in overall a 2% decline year over year for contact lenses. So that's in terms of value. So how much was spent in the market on the volume? So how many units were sold? We still see a decline in frames at 4% there. And for lenses, so fewer lenses were sold, minus 3% decline there. And then contact lenses, negative 5. So the story is, you know, generally for these products that I think in some cases, like frames, we're especially seeing people kind of shift to the budget category. So they're spending less on their frames than they were in the past. And you know, that's what we're seeing across the board. Like generally the demand is similar, but not quite as high as it was last year.

Okay, so. And maybe just do one more time the distinction between units sold and total dollars spent. Because I think are we losing? Just do it one more time so that I can wrap my mind around it.

Sure, sure. So frames, the value, the sales dropped by 5% and the unit sold dropped by 4%. So those kind of. The decline was sort of in line. Although there were more frames sold in 2024 than there were in 2022. So, you know, we are seeing some over, you know, two year growth, but we're not seeing the one year growth for lenses, the value. So the sales declined negative 1, so 1% Dec. And in terms of units for lenses sold, it was a minus 3% decline. So that means that people are buying a little bit fewer lenses, but on the fewer lenses they're spending a tiny bit more. And then for contact lenses, we saw the value drop about 2% in terms of sales and the units dropped 5%. And so they also dropped lower in terms of units than 2022, but there was a big growth from 22 to 23. So it sort of seems like contact lens have kind of leveled out a little bit this year.

And is this, is the Decline heaviest in Q3 and 4 or was it spread all over the year?

It kind of depends on the product whether or not it was spread year to year or spread throughout the year or just in the quarter. Quickly looking at this data here, when I have it by quarter, I mean contact lenses is what really saw the decline in Q4 just sort of like kind of fell off a cliff in Q4. And right now this number is fresh to me too. So we're still digging into the whys of that a little bit. But you know, overall, kind of thinking this story is a little bit around like regression to the mean that there's some economic uncertainty in the marketplace and so people are, you know, buying fewer, fewer products, or especially in the case of contact lenses, maybe stretching to make their product last longer, wearing them less often or wearing them potentially longer than prescribed. But we, but yeah, I would say overall the other markets we saw lenses have a strong Q1, but overall the frame and lenses sales otherwise have been pretty consistent with normal patterns quarter to quarter just a little bit less volume or sales revenue. Oh yeah.

What about. Is there any exam data to normalize this?

Yes, that's what I was just going to talk about for exams. So actually exams, we saw a slight increase in exams this year. Interesting. Yep. So we're seeing a 3% growth year over year for exam like revenue and we're seeing a 1% growth in terms of the number of exams that happened at eye care practices. So, you know, people are spending a little more out of pocket perhaps now with exams than they were before. You know, it could be with sort of special imaging or whatnot that are different options for an exam to, you know, have a little bit more revenue than they did in years past. So that's where we were likely seeing that revenue growth from. But then just, you know, a 1% increase in exam. So it basically means that more people are going to the optometrist but likely buying fewer product from them.

And do you have a sense of whether those exams are typically. Are there. Is there a distinction between medical exams and what we'd call just kind of standard refractions?

Yeah. So we don't have sort of that level of detail in the data. It's not always sort of coded in the way that we would be able to do that analysis easily in our patient transaction data. So this is where generally we're talking about like a comprehensive eye exam, but not necessarily being able to tell the difference in every case of those exam counts if they're just a basic refraction or if it's, you know, the more sort of medical.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Elise Hinkle]

You know, so this is, this brings up probably when I think about. And I had no idea what the data was before I brought you on the show and in fact you told me you couldn't tell me until today. So the reality is that this actually my really big focus with, in talking with our clients and talking with the industry, we've had this really big focus. And the show, I'm going to say last week was the show about. We had a guest on who talked about his experience with exam only so and so one of the reasons I brought on that particular guest is because I think that capture rate is a struggle point for the industry. And it certainly looks like the capture rate is we have more exams. Right. But we have fewer dollars and units in product sales. What does that mean? That means that we're letting revenue walk out the door. And my, and I, I. This is in it. It's like, you know, the past two shows, both Gary Gerber and Jamie Rosen both have talked about how this is a. Continue, that this is a huge area of focus. Focusing on your optical conversion rate is such a big area of focus for the optometric community for 2025. And it's like, we've, you know, and I'm a huge proponent of that mindset as well, but it. Your data absolutely confirms it. We have to fight just a little bit harder. We had to fight a little bit harder in 2024 for the budget, for. For our share of the budget of the consumer than we did in the previous year. And this trend will continue unless we get better, because it's not like consumers are saying, oh, inflation is no longer a problem for me, and I'm willing to spend money on just about everything. I think consumers are still saying we're feeling the squeeze. So if that's what the consumer is typically saying, then the reality is that, you know, we have to work just a little bit harder in our optical to. To be able to convert that patient from just an exam to an exam, plus, you know, plus unit sales. Right.

So, yeah, I would just add that. So on Jamie Rosen, who's our incoming board chair for the Vision Council, he has also talked to us about sort of the importance of you that capture rate. So we did some calculations about what the market would look like if the capture rate were better. So I think you'll find that really interesting that if we grew the volume of frames, lenses, contact lenses and exams, like, if we grew those, or I'm sorry, frames, lenses and contact, if we grew those by 5% in terms of the number of units sold, we would see an increase in the market of $1.4 billion. Wow. And, you know, and it would grow, go from a 2.7% year over year growth for the whole market to a 4.8% growth year over year for the market. So that kind of capture rate, you know, has a waterfall effect on everything.

Okay, so hold on one second. So how many optometrists are there?

Well, so we have fourth, just shy of 44,000 practice locations in the U.S. which is how we track it. Yeah. And so we're seeing, on average, the Practice revenue for 2024 in our data set was $906,000. And if they sold 5% more units, then it would be an increase in that practice just of 33, $34,000 a year. But then, you know, when we multiply it up by all of those practices, that's where we get those numbers in the billions for the industry.

And that Makes perfect sense. And if you think about that additional $30,000 in a $900,000 practice, and what's interesting about that is that one third of that is going to be cost, but two thirds of that is not going to be cost that you have to incur because you're already spending money on the optician, you're already spending money on the rent. You're already spending. So it's really 2/3. So that extra $30,000, if you could just increase your capture rate by 5%, that extra. That. That extra money, two thirds of that money drops right down to the bottom line, the profitability of the practice, which is kind of an incredible thing to think about. Because if I think about that point, you're that out of that $1.4 billion, think of how much proc. Because all of that is incremental, think of how much more profit that is for the optometric community. So if two thirds of that drops straight to the profit. Drop straight to the profit line of the optometric community, of the practice owners who are listening to the show, extra, like almost a billion dollars in profit for the industry, wealth for the industry. So they can invest in more locations, they can invest in better patient care, they can invest in, you know, better equipment and more treatment modalities and all those types of things. It's just a kind of a really interesting point that your data truly supports this.

[Eugene Shotsman]

Completely.

[Elise Hinkle]

I would say it's not an overlooked opportunity. We all know we need to. But just quantifying how important this is for the average practice. We're all selling frames, lenses, contact lenses. The reality is that if we could just do a little bit better, that would. Your data absolutely supports that. The patient isn't going to make it easier for us. So we need to get better, and we need to be able to serve the patient more holistically.

[Ashley Mills]

Yeah.

[Elise Hinkle]

And 5%, I think, is, you know, very modest. You know, so, like, if you're looking at, let's say, selling a thousand frames a year, you know, that's just an increase of 50 frames. You know, those are all. That is a very modest increase, but can like you said, have a big impact on the bottom line.

Increase of 50 frames. If I can sell an extra two, that's, you know, roughly. Yeah. Four frames a month. A frame a week. Exactly. Yeah, that's something. And it's a really, really interesting point. Okay, so this is. I think this is really great and interesting, informative information. Let's talk about other data points that you have or other surveys or polls that you've done just so that the audience knows that in addition to this overall market estimate stuff, you know, I guess what's the conclusion of that study? Let's talk about that and then maybe let's touch a little bit about on some of the other studies you've done.

Sure. So I would say, you know, we're using this data to then also our report includes a forecast for 2025. So we're looking at expecting like our frames volume to sort of hold for this year. Based on the past data that we have and what we're expecting in 2025, we're looking still probably with contact lenses to be a little bit on the decline, Maybe a negative 1% for contact lenses this next year. And we're expecting this sort of exam counts to be relatively stable this year. So that's kind of what our data is telling us about what's going to happen in 2025. But I will say there's a number of things that we're keeping our eye on, you know, sort of the, the issue with a new administration and tariffs and imports, you know, that's going to potentially have an effect not only on our industry, but overall on potentially on consumer spending. So that's something we're keeping a close eye on both our government relations team and my research team who keeps an eye on consumer spending. Some of the other reports that we're coming out with this year include a report on AI use in the industry. So that will be out, I think, in time for Vision Expo East. So that's something we're keeping our eye on as well as, you know, some other trends in the market that we're paying attention to include like remote eye exams. So not only like exams done on like a phone when, when the patient or whatever is at home, but also when an eye care provider is joining an exam remotely from a different location. We're seeing about 3% now of consumers telling us that they're joining, that they're going in person for an exam, but that their provider is joining remotely. So that's also something we're sort of keeping our, our, our ear to the ground on and tracking that over time. But the other data that we have recently published includes a report on consumer choices about how. So this is a trended report. We did a similar survey back in 2022. So this is a look two years later, what are people telling us about how they make decisions about their eye care and their eyewear? And then in a couple weeks ago, we released a report on information from folks who work at practices who buy frames and trying to understand a little bit more about what they're buying and what their frame board makeup looks like, et cetera. So happy to talk about any of your other. Yeah.

So let's talk about the consumer choices for a few minutes. So what did you learn? What did you find?

Yeah, so overall, we're seeing patterns, you know, hold pretty steady from 2022. But some of the interesting things where we saw growth related to when people are choosing an eye exam provider that we're seeing. So in 2022, 70% of folks told us it was important to them that the practice was in their insurance network, whereas in 2024, we see 77% of folks saying that that's important to them. So we're seeing an increase in people wanting to make sure they stay in network with their managed vision care provider. So, you know, having coverage for their exam is top of mind for folks.

Which leads, which I mean perfectly ties in with. Consumer is more budget sensitive.

Yep.

And because they're more budget sensitive, they think that they're going to maximize their budget by having an in network provider. Okay, that's interesting. And supports consumer sentiment as much as. Absolutely true. Okay.

And something else. So we asked people, like, why they made a purchase in person. And for those who made a purchase online of eyewear, we asked them about that too. So I think some of the interesting things there around the eyewear is that we saw an increase from 2022 to 2024 in terms of what people are saying that they're looking why they bought online. And one of the cases was speed of delivery. So we're seeing that in 2022, 26% of people said that that was the reason why they bought online, whereas 37% of folks are saying that now in 2024. So sort of, you know, trying to look at that speed of delivery as well as very similar numbers, 27% to 37% on greater product selection. So people are really seeing a difference online when they're shopping online, they're going online because they want a greater product selection for their prescription eyewear.

So I'm going to make sure I got this right. So patients who are buying online are saying they're buying online because they believe their glasses can get to them faster. Glasses or contact lenses can get to them faster than buying it in person at an optometrist, at an ecp, and they think that online there's a better selection than what's offered to them at their ecp yeah, that's what people are.

Telling us when we ask, like, why did you buy online? I will say the top two reasons are better deals and convenience, which were holding pretty steady from 22 to 2024. So those other two, the speed of delivery and product selection, that's where we've seen the. Over time.

Interesting. What's the number one reason why people buy from an. From an ecp? They tell you.

Great question. I'd have to look at the report in full. But we do see, you know, primarily that people are saying, like, I received an updated prescription is often, you know, one of the reasons they're buying.

That makes sense. Right? Because that. That means that they went to the. Because they got an updated prescription, they ended up getting the glass because they were already there.

Yeah.

Okay, that makes sense.

Yep. So we also see insurance coverage, like the distance from their home and previous experience with the location are some of the key factors that drive purchases.

Interesting.

But we're still seeing that same in network increase happening for eyewear as well as the exam. So 28% of people said reason why they bought in person in 2022 was because the location was in network. 36% said that in 2024.

Wow.

[Ashley Mills]

Wow.

[Elise Hinkle]

Yeah, that's so. I mean, this is. It's painting an interesting story, which is that patients who are buying from us are buying because they're there and because they have a good experience with their ecp. But we have to work harder for the. For the sale. And also the consumer is more price sensitive. That's. I mean, that. That data continues to ring true as a. No matter how you spin the Rubik's Cube, I think we're putting the big picture. Looks like, hey, the consumer has. Feels like they have less disposable income. Whether that's true or not, that's how they feel. And so they are making decisions a little bit more closely with their wallet in mind.

Yeah, absolutely. And we're seeing that in our monthly consumer tracker survey where we ask people about how much they spend on their eyewear. And it's been a very clear pattern since the end of 2022 that the, you know, the line that is showing people spending over $200 out of pocket is declining and has held pretty steady. And the number of people buying products with less than $100 out of pocket is taking up that same amount of space. So they started both at 35% in 2020, at the end of 2022, and now they're sitting at 40%. Are the budget buyers and 30 or 31% are the more luxury buyers. So that's a real shift we're seeing in the market over the last two years.

Yeah, right. And again, to the typical optician, practice manager and ECP listening to the show, that doesn't mean that the consumer is not going to spend it. What that means is that we just have to be more, we have to be better at presenting options and making it easier for them. They're not going to beg us to spend the money. They're going to. We have to make sure that they understand how it's in their best interest to spend what they need to spend in order to have a, you know, not just a medical device but a fashion accessory on their, on their face for 16 hours a day. I mean, again, you know, they're probably, they're, they probably also have six streaming services at home and they, and those feel like a good deal because I use them a couple hours a week or a couple hours a day in some cases. But I'm not willing to spend more than $200 on eyewear that I'm going to have on my face for 16 hours a day for the next year. I mean, come on, I think we can do better as an industry. At least that's my opinion.

I think so too. What we see in our frames buyer survey, really quick to touch on that, is that we see of the frames board people told us on average that 23% were the value or budget segment of frames and about half were the mid market and about 26% were luxury. And so I think like rethinking your frame board, sort of those shares might be worthwhile as we're seeing, you know, this increase toward the budget shopper. So just something to consider for the folks, you know, in charge of that at their practice.

Yeah, that's great. And has that trended in a particular way or is this the first time you guys did it?

This is the first time we've had this data. So I don't have any trends on that right now.

That's a really interesting one. So 23% our budget, about half the frame board is mid range and then 26% is luxury frames.

That's right, yeah.

Interesting. And is there any data on perceived success or sell through or anything like that in that, in that frame buyer report?

We don't have anything about sell through. We do see that like there's a median number of about 600 frames on the frame board at a practice, which seems pretty big to me at least. But it does range overall? Like we see most practices in that range of somewhere between 200 and 700. That's over half of the practices have that sort of on their frame board. But we don't have anything about sell through rate. But we do know, like from this survey that people like the criteria that frame buyers are thinking about when they're buying product. The top of the list is consumer demand. And so that's sort of top of mind for folks. They're saying they're buying square and rectangle frames for the most part in terms of shapes.

Interesting. What are the least popular frames?

Yeah, I think it's geometric and aviator. But let me check real quick. All right, so we see the styles that eye care providers believe are most popular among their customers. So hoping this is based on data that they're tracking in their practice. But 81% are saying square. They could choose multiple options here. 63% say rectangular, 47% say cat eye, 35% round, 26% geometric and 15% aviator.

Interesting. Well, so Elise, you and I could talk data all day, and I think that for the sake of our audience, we should, I think we've, we've summarized the point and kind of beat it to death. But I'll say it again, is that, you know, you guys have an incredible, an incredible wealth of data about the market. And so, and the data never, you know, it's. The data is our link to the consumer at a. And you know, the consumer is going to tell us what we need to do. And that's why I thought it was so important to bring you on the show early in 2024 so that we can listen to what our consumers told us in 2025 or in 2024 so that we can, we can make good decisions for 2025. And I appreciate everything that you've shared with us. Thank you for giving us some early insights into this report that's dropping today and very much appreciate you being on the show. Elise and Ashley as well. Thank you for all both of your contributions to the Power Hour and for everything that you do in the industry.

Well, thanks for having it on and looking forward to our next conversation.

Absolutely. Same here. Thanks for listening to today's Power Hour episode. The Power Hour is actually owned by the Power Practice. Power Practice is, is a premier consulting group who helps practices achieve freedom of time, confidently solve practice issues and grow their practices. They do this by having coaches and OD consultants, people who have actually done it, been there, and they're ready to help. You want to learn more, go to powerpractice.com there's a bunch of free tools there. You can also get a whole bunch of information and decide whether it's right for your practice. Again, if you're looking for more time, you're looking to solve complex likes, practice issues, or grow the power practice might be right for you. Go to powerpractice.com to find out more.