Personalized progressive lenses: a premium advantage of modern optics?

The evolution of progressive lenses reflects the move upmarket in the optical industry. Faced with more demanding and better-informed consumers, manufacturers are doubling down on innovation to offer lenses that are ever more precise, personalized, and connected to their use. From custom measurements to posture calculations, lifestyle analysis, and 3D modeling, personalization is becoming a key differentiator for independent opticians. In a context of increased competition, focusing on personalized progressive lenses means combining technology, visual health, and commercial added value.

The principle of personalization: beyond correction

Conventional progressive lenses correct presbyopia by integrating several vision zones (near, intermediate, and distance). Personalized lenses go further: they adapt these zones to the wearer. By taking into account physiological parameters (pupillary distance, pantoscopic angle, wearing height, gaze dynamics) and behavioral parameters (digital use, posture, type of activity), each lens is calculated to correspond to the person's morphology and lifestyle.

Technologies like Essilor's Visioffice X or the Zeiss i.Terminal mobile allow this data to be measured with millimeter precision. Laboratories then use algorithms to adjust the lens geometry, thereby reducing optical aberrations and the pitching effects (the sensation that vision is unstable) often associated with progressive lenses.

This customization not only improves vision quality, but also comfort. According to an internal Horizons Optical study , 89% of custom lens wearers reported immediate adaptation, and 100% in less than 24 hours.

An upgrade that redefines the strategy of opticians

The customization of progressive lenses is part of a move upmarket that is transforming the business model of opticians. By offering a premium product, professionals are setting themselves apart from low-cost platforms and standardized brands.

This offer is often accompanied by an enhanced customer experience: digital measurement, 3D simulation, explanatory screens, virtual fitting… All these tools highlight the professional's expertise and justify a higher price. Custom-made lenses are currently priced between €650 and €1,000 per pair depending on the brand, compared to around €400 for classic progressive lenses.

For opticians, this strategy allows them to retain a more demanding clientele, often aged 45 to 65, who are attached to quality and personalized follow-up.

New technologies and key players

Major players in the optical industry are investing heavily in R&D around personalization. EssilorLuxottica , Zeiss Vision Care , Hoya , Shamir and Rodenstock are multiplying innovations to offer ever finer precision.

These innovations draw on advances in metamaterials , 3D modeling, and AI-assisted vision. They serve a dual purpose: to improve visual quality and position opticians as experts in custom-made products.

Personalized progressive lenses represent a revolution in the relationship between optician and client. By enhancing precision, comfort, and experience, they transform the consultation into an act of expertise.

For professionals, this trend represents a strategic opportunity: to assert themselves in the face of market standardization, while restoring meaning to the human dimension of the profession. In the coming years, personalization could become the new standard for high-end optics.