Bausch & Lomb (B+L) has launched an initiative, What Women Want, designed to help promote contact lenses and increase retention among female wearers.
Explaining the campaign, professional affairs consultant for B+L in the UK, Vinni Virdee, told the British Association of Optometrists’ publication, Optometry Today, “We wanted to be in a position where we could help eye care professionals better understand the relationship that their patients have with their contact lenses, why they choose to go into contact lenses and consequently, why they may drop out of them. By being able to establish that and helping eye care practitioners to better understand that, we are able to help practices create more patient loyalty and build a more sustainable business for the future.”
A previous study found 64% of contact wearers in the UK are female, 68% of whom have only ever bought their contact lenses in-store and, of those, 39% do so because of good customer service.
Through focus group research with people in their 30s upwards, B+L has now found women change the reason they choose contact lenses as a vision correction option during their lifetime, with many making “sacrifices and trade-offs” to wear lenses. Focus group participants also identified value for money, rather than cost, as being important.
A 10-point plan had been developed through combining mystery shopping and focus group findings, said Virdee. “[The plan] looks at various points within the patient journey, not just when they are in your practice, but also before they have come in too. We will help eye care practitioners and practices implement the 10-point plan and then move forward with that patient relationship.”
