Report: optical retail sales faring well despite slow economy

Consumers of eyewear have maintained their purchasing habits over the past year despite the state of the economy in the U.S., according to a Vision Council press release.

The release described the findings of The Vision Council’s annual Vision Watch Economic Situation Survey, which examines how the current state of the economy has influenced purchasing behavior for optical goods and services in the U.S.

According to the results of the survey, 43.7% of all American adult consumers have either decreased general consumer purchases “slightly” or “a lot” over the past year as a result of the economy.

However, for the eyewear industry, consumers are still less likely to slow their purchases of optical goods and services when compared to general retail goods, the release said.

While only 11.6% of consumers have been increasing their purchases of eyewear over the past year as a result of economic changes, just 23% of American adult consumers are decreasing their purchases of eyewear as a result of the economic conditions. Just over three-fifths of all consumers claim that there has been no change in their eyewear buying habits over the past year because of economic conditions, according to the release.

One quarter of all consumers interviewed reportedly cut spending on all general consumer retail products and services across the board in response to the payroll tax increases, and about 6.5% reportedly slowed spending on optical products and services, specifically, with 8% reporting that they will cut spending on future optical products and services due to the increase in payroll taxes. Although, 36.2% claimed that the payroll tax increases has not affected their spending on retail or optical products and services at all, the release said.

The survey was conducted in April of 2013 and involved over 10,000 participants.