Thomas Burgemeister
April 24th, 2009, 01:05 PM
As an introduction to the LensWorld affiliate program, I want to provide you with as much useful information about the contact lens industry as possible. In another post, I will outline how LensWorld fits into the industry and why you should promote the site.
Contact lens industry size:
The size of the contact lens industry in the USA is about $2 billion at the manufacturer level (the industry size at the retail level is probably north of $3 billion).
The main retailers of contact lenses are the Eye Care Practitioners, with a market share of about 40%. However, their market share is quickly declining, with internet retailers gaining share. The current recession is accelerating the market share gains by internet retailers (people are more price conscious).
Manufacturers:
In the US, there are 4 big manufacturers: Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb and CooperVision. Johnson & Johnson (with their "Acuvue" brand) is the largest of these manufacturers, in terms of sales.
Contact lens variations:
There are currently about 130 "regular" (non special effects) contact lenses on the market. However, each contact lens offers several powers. Because of that, there are a couple million different variation of contact lenses. However, the 80/20 rule applies to this industry as well. 80% of customers purchase 20% of the variations. Therefore, most orders can be fulfilled immediately after verifying the customer's prescription.
Prescriptions:
A customer is required to have a valid prescription to purchase contact lenses. All retailers are required to verify prescriptions before sending out contact lenses within the US. Retailers are not required to check prescriptions for orders send internationally.
Most popular products:
Because of the prescription requirement, each customer can only order the contact lens that he/she was fitted for. However, the following 5 contact lenses are currently the most popular ones:
1. Acuvue Oasys
2. Focus Dailies
3. Acuvue Advance
4. Acuvue 2
5. Focus Night & Day (which is currently being expired and replaced by Air Optix Night & Day Aqua)
Please let me know if this information is helpful. Let me know if you want more information about anything or if you have any questions.
Thomas
Contact lens industry size:
The size of the contact lens industry in the USA is about $2 billion at the manufacturer level (the industry size at the retail level is probably north of $3 billion).
The main retailers of contact lenses are the Eye Care Practitioners, with a market share of about 40%. However, their market share is quickly declining, with internet retailers gaining share. The current recession is accelerating the market share gains by internet retailers (people are more price conscious).
Manufacturers:
In the US, there are 4 big manufacturers: Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb and CooperVision. Johnson & Johnson (with their "Acuvue" brand) is the largest of these manufacturers, in terms of sales.
Contact lens variations:
There are currently about 130 "regular" (non special effects) contact lenses on the market. However, each contact lens offers several powers. Because of that, there are a couple million different variation of contact lenses. However, the 80/20 rule applies to this industry as well. 80% of customers purchase 20% of the variations. Therefore, most orders can be fulfilled immediately after verifying the customer's prescription.
Prescriptions:
A customer is required to have a valid prescription to purchase contact lenses. All retailers are required to verify prescriptions before sending out contact lenses within the US. Retailers are not required to check prescriptions for orders send internationally.
Most popular products:
Because of the prescription requirement, each customer can only order the contact lens that he/she was fitted for. However, the following 5 contact lenses are currently the most popular ones:
1. Acuvue Oasys
2. Focus Dailies
3. Acuvue Advance
4. Acuvue 2
5. Focus Night & Day (which is currently being expired and replaced by Air Optix Night & Day Aqua)
Please let me know if this information is helpful. Let me know if you want more information about anything or if you have any questions.
Thomas
