Founded in 1853 as an optical shop in Rochester, New York, Bausch + Lomb has grown into a global healthcare company with over 10,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries. A pioneer in eye health and vision care, Bausch + Lomb delivers its products to end users through a broad network of authorized optical stores and distributors around the world. With this extensive partner network, the company has established a strong business model driven by field-level operational strength.
Challenges and the Need for Transformation
Bausch + Lomb faced a growing need to digitize communication with optical stores. Traditional communication methods were no longer sufficient in the face of increasing demand, negatively affecting both operational efficiency and store satisfaction.
Key challenges included:
- Manual and delayed responses to store messages received via widely used channels like WhatsApp
- Repetitive questions leading to time loss for support teams
- Campaigns, updates, and reminders to stores being shared manually and inconsistently
- Inability to measure store satisfaction due to fragmented communication
- The need for a centralized and fully integrated communication infrastructure
These challenges highlighted the need for a measurable, end-to-end, two-way automated communication system for optical stores, made possible through the collaboration with Exairon.
Solution and Implementation
By integrating Exairon’s advanced AI platform, Bausch + Lomb created a digital communication structure that handled incoming inquiries and outbound messaging to optical stores—primarily through WhatsApp.
Key elements of the solution:
- Smart automation with escalation to live agents when necessary
- Personalized outbound messages for campaigns, product announcements, and reminders
- Real-time reporting and interaction analytics for store communication
In addition, Exairon provided deep integration with Bausch + Lomb’s internal systems to enhance the user experience in the following areas:
🔹 ERP Integration: Verified optical stores gain secure access to the WhatsApp line.
🔹 Integrated logistics infrastructure: Users can query products and access real-time stock information.
🔹 Smart cart system: Stores can easily add or remove items from their carts.
🔹 End-to-end ordering: Orders can be created quickly and securely, with real-time tracking of status.
Achievements and Gains
Thanks to the solution implemented with Exairon, Bausch + Lomb achieved significant improvements in time savings and operational efficiency in optical store communications.
- Time Savings: Common store inquiries were answered automatically by the bot, allowing teams to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Faster Response Times: Stores received the information they needed much more quickly via WhatsApp.
- Two-Way Communication: Not only were incoming requests handled swiftly, but proactive notifications were also efficiently delivered.
- Data-Driven Management: Store interactions were tracked in real-time, strengthening strategic decision-making.
- Sustainable Digital Infrastructure: The WhatsApp-based structure made store communications scalable and future-proof.
Conclusion
Through its collaboration with Exairon, Bausch + Lomb achieved speed, efficiency, and quality in its communication with optical stores. The automated WhatsApp infrastructure enabled seamless management of both inbound support and outbound informational content such as campaigns and product announcements.
This transformation empowered Bausch + Lomb to build stronger connections with its store network, centralize communication processes, and establish a sustainable digital infrastructure for the future.
