More BrandsThanks to the contribution from contact lenses, the optics market held steady during the first quarter of 2013. Although sales of spectacle frames and sunglasses registered a slight year-on-year decline, the improvement in contact lens and lens care product sales helped the overall market to deliver a stable performance. The total value of the optics market edged up by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the latest market report from German-based research outfit GfK.
Sales of spectacle frames slipped by 0.2%, while those of sunglasses sold through opticians declined by 0.5%. Despite the negative result for the latter category, it is still an impressive performance considering the drop seen in department stores and specialist retailers. It should also be noted that the first quarter is not typically a busy season for sunglasses and sales during the period are not key to the segment’s performance for the entire year, GfK said.
The decline in frames and sunglasses sales was countered by the uptick in contact lens and lens care product sales, with both categories registering an improvement on an annual basis. In the case of contact lenses, the value of the market grew by 1.1% during the first three months of this year. The increase was smaller in the lens care products segment, where sales inched up by 0.6%. Although the figures are quite modest, they indicate a stable demand in these categories. In the final analysis, it was their combined contribution that kept the overall optics market in positive territory during the period under report, GfK pointed out.
