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Devoted to the specialists
The Product Guide
 In order to provide all the sector experts with a useful means apt to help them choose among the wide and varied product range present on the market, Assottica has prepared the Product Guide, a concise and practical handbook which describes all the contact lenses and the maintenance systems produced and distributed by the associate companies.
Assottica Contactology Group’s customer-oriented communication activity
The Assottica Contactology Group is actively committed in a communication activity apt to sensitize people to the advantages, the potentialities, the correct application of contact lenses and maintenance systems, addressed to customers and, especially to ametropes (An ametrope: a person having visual difficulties).
Besides the communication activity addressed to the media dealing with customers and experts, the Assottica Contactology Group has also started some sensitizing and informative projects, such as "Let's see in October". 
Let's see in October
An important project promoted by the Assottica Contactology Group and addressed to customers is: “Let’s see each other in October. Face to face with contact lenses” which offered throughout October 2001 the below-mentioned services :
Toll-free telephone number and part of the website www.assottica.it devoted to the project where a team of opticians and oculists answered the numerous questions posed on contact lenses and on their correct maintenance.
Free contact lenses try-out - for all ametropes- held at over 1000 opticians’, located throughout the country, who spontaneously took part in the project.
This initiative proved to be a real success, especially for the feedback received by customers.
As regards the Assottica website, during this event 15000 pages were visited, including also, among the others, 2000 visits to the home page, more than 1500 visits to the part devoted to the project and over 3500 searches to find out the nearest optician’s to carry out the free contact lenses try-out.
 A MARKET CONSTANTLY ON THE INCREASE: MORE THAN 75 MILLION CONTACT LENSES SOLD IN 2001
Positive results of the ‘Retail Audit’ survey carried out by GfK
More than 75 million contact lenses were sold in 2001 in Italy, with an increase of 12% compared to the figures of the previous year, reaching thus a turnover of more than 265 million Euro. These are, in short, the results of the ‘Retail Audit’ survey carried out by GFK from January to December 2001 on a panel of Italian opticians representative of the reference universe both for the geographical area, dimensions and turnover.
The general upward trend is supported by the frequently-replaceable contact lenses which represent the 65% of the market, in particular for "one-day-long" lenses which have recorded an increase in units of 20% compared to the figures of 2000, as well as for monthlies whose sales have increased of 7%.
Even conventional lenses and those having a planned replacement (from three months to a year) are on the increase, with a growth in units of 15%.
A rather good increase has also been noticed in the market niches products apt to provide users with a more and more specialized answer and apt to satisfy all needs contact lenses wearers may have: toric lenses, meant for the correction of astigmatism, have in fact recorded an increase of 40% compared to the figures of the previous year.
The sales of daily and monthly multifocal lenses, meant for the correction of presbyopia, as well as of extended-use lenses (enabling an uninterrupted use for more days and more nights) which have been recently put on the market, have also been steadily increasing.
The market of the solutions for the maintenance remains quite steady, with nearly 13 million of units sold and a turnover which is of more than 95 million Euro.
The sector upward trend is not only supported by the high technological standards achieved by the manufacturing companies of contact lenses and of maintenance systems, but also by the wide product range present on the market thanks to which it is possible to adequately correct myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia choosing among different replacement modalities (daily, fortnightly, monthly, three-monthly, six-montly and yearly replacement).
“I AM YOUNG, I AM A WOMAN AND I WEAR THE CLs EVERY DAY!”
A recent survey carried out by GFK outlines the identikit of the contact lenses wearer
The CLs user is fairly young, mainly a female and wears the CLs every day and usually all day long.
This is the identikit of the CLs user resulting from the recent Prescribing Audit survey carried out by GfK Italy on a panel of opticians, on behalf of Assottica.
According to the survey 66% of the CLs wearers is not over 34 years old, 19% is between 35 and 44 years old, while 13% is over 45 years old, and mainly female (55%).
The kinds of lenses worn vary, not only in accordance with the usual needs but also in accordance with the age of the wearer. 50% of young people up to 24 years old wears dailies and disposable soft lenses; the remaining 50% prefers to wear monthlies, while the over 35 wearers choose lenses having a life equal to six months or one year as well as the rigid ones.
The above-mentioned survey also present a remarkable inclination to a frequent and uninterrupted use of the CLs. As a matter of fact, 75% of habitual wearers uses them every day (20% 3 or 4 times a week and 5% 1 or 2 times a week) and 83% of those who wear lenses every day, usually wear them all day long.
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