Focused inSights 2024: Online vs In-Person Purchase Patterns
The Focused inSights: Online vs. In-Person Purchase Patterns 2024 report from The Vision Council offers a comprehensive analysis of how U.S. adults purchase vision products across digital and brick-and-mortar retail environments. The report compares behaviors across eyeglasses, contact lenses, plano sunglasses, and reading glasses—highlighting differences in spending, insurance use, feature selection, and consumer satisfaction. It also explores the dynamics of consumers who switch between online and in-person purchase channels and tracks trends over a two-year period, providing valuable perspective on evolving shopping habits in the optical market.
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Report Methodology
This analysis is based on a nationally representative sample of 121,288 U.S. adults, collected from January 2022 through December 2023. Soft quotas were used to align the sample with U.S. Census benchmarks for age, gender, race, education, and region. The margin of error is ±0.28 percentage points for the full sample, with higher margins for subgroups.
Key Findings
Eyeglasses Remain Primarily In-Person, But Online Shoppers Report Higher Satisfaction
About 85% of eyeglasses are still purchased in-person, but online buyers show a higher Net Promoter Score (NPS: 59 vs. 51), purchase more frequently within a year, and are more likely to choose premium features like blue light blocking lenses and anti-reflective coatings.
Contact Lens Buyers Lean Toward In-Person for Larger Quantities and Insurance Use
Roughly 58% of contact lenses are bought in-person, where buyers are more likely to purchase longer supplies and use vision insurance (82% vs. 60%). In contrast, online buyers are more frequent purchasers, with 73% planning to reorder within six months.
Sunglasses and Readers Show a Strong Online Footprint Among Multi-Pair Buyers
Online shoppers of plano sunglasses and reading glasses are more likely to purchase multiple pairs (49% and 67%, respectively), spend more out-of-pocket, and opt for bundled or specialty features such as blue light blocking lenses.
Why It Matters
This report delivers key insights for optical retailers, manufacturers, and insurers looking to optimize channel strategies and consumer engagement. Understanding how feature preferences, satisfaction, and financial behaviors vary between online and in-person channels can inform marketing, pricing, and service design decisions across the vision care industry.
Report Delivery
The report will be delivered as a downloadable PDF.
To request a presentation-ready version or discuss key findings, please contact The Vision Council’s Research Team.