Relive the highlights

The optical trade show gained its highest attendance yet, with more than 10,600 delegates meeting in London at the ExCeL Centre in late February.

A post-show delegate survey by the organisers of 100% Optical has found that 96% of respondents were either somewhat satisfied, fairly satisfied or very satisfied with the show.

The show has achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 45.95, a rise on 2022’s 42.30.

A metric used in customer experience and loyalty, the industry average NPS is 14.58, the organisers said.

Nathan Garnett, show director for 100% Optical, explained: “Most organisers use NPS as a benchmark as to how they are performing.”

He suggested 100% Optical is now “well and truly in the top percentile of events around the world” in terms of its NPS.

This brings its pressures, Garnett suggested: “It makes our job harder, because we’ve got to keep looking for the improvement. We focus on improving that score every year.”

Show spending power was up 60%, event organisers reported, reaching £4.3 billion.

Reflecting on these figures, Garnett suggested that the pandemic may have had an effect on spending figures between the 2022 and 2023 event: “In 2022, although we saw an increase in delegates, I think purchasing decisions were a little bit on hold. Eyewear seasons were still out of kilter, and we had Omicron in the winter.”

This year, however, he explained: “We’ve seen it bounce back. I think that is reflected in the increase.”

“I think it is also to do with the fact that the show is more rounded, in that we have eyewear, equipment, lenses, contact lenses and business services,” he added. “There is a good service offering on all of those different sectors.” 

Key reasons for attending the show included to see new products, understand market trends, attend education, and gain CPD points.

Plans have already begun to be laid for 2024, which will mark the 10^th anniversary of the show.

Speaking about plans for the 2024 event, Garnett shared: “The show we’ve just done was our biggest yet, and this upcoming one looks like it is going to be even bigger.”

The CPD programme, curated by the AOP, will of course return for next year’s event.

Looking ahead, Dr Ian Beasley, AOP head of education and OT clinical editor, said: “The 2024 event offers delegates the opportunity to top up interactive CPD points, meet their peer review requirement and tick off all domains early on in the final year of the cycle.”

100% Optical 2024 will take place from 24–26 February at ExCeL London. Find out more on the 100% Optical website. 

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OT’s highlight reel

Laurence Derbyshire, video production editor for OT, picked out five unmissable interviews from 100% Optical 2023.

1 100% Optical 2023 show review

With the dust still in the air, I looked back at the show that just-was: all the looks, hardware and education fresh in mind.

2 Hyperparallel OCT from Cylite

This fascinating piece of tech coming out of Australia seems to be coming at OCT from a different direction, bringing new ways of visualising both the anterior and posterior eye.

3 Prue Eyewear from MAC Eyewear

Dame Prue Leith shares her opinions on colour, which is that we aren’t showing enough of it. A sentiment I can always get behind.

4 Myah Taking axial length measurements with Topcon

Myopia management is becoming more and more prevalent, making anything that can help you take better care of your young patients that little bit more important.

5 Bird Eyewear on low carbon projects

Ed Bird is the kind of person who really wants to do what is right for the environment. He discusses the improvements the brand has made to their processes as well as some of his project outside of eyewear.

As media partner for 100% Optical, OT’s coverage of product demonstrations, interviews and more continues online. Join the conversation on OT's 100% Optical landing page.