Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide ranks Vancouver based vision care provider as the largest Canadian online retailer based on annual sales.
Clearly Contacts, a subsidiary of Coastal Contacts Inc., has taken the traditional industry of retailing eyeglasses and contact lenses in an optical store, and put it on the Internet for discounted prices. This innovative move has proven to be good business, surpassing all other Canadian Internet stores in sales for 2009.
The 2010 edition of Internet Retailer's Top 500 Guide announced the top 500 web retailers in America based on annual sales. While the top spot in America this year went to Amazon.com, the top ranking Canadian company on the list is Coastal Contacts Inc. at the 110th spot.
With sales of $140 million last year Coastal Contacts Inc. lands directly ahead of Tiffany & Co, and Sephora USA Inc, and Crocs Inc as the 111, 112, and 151st spots respectively. The rapid growth of the Vancouver based company has been spurred on in recent years by the addition of eyeglasses to their contact lens offering. Over 300,000 pairs of eyeglasses have now been delivered by the online retail giant, paving the way for consumers to try new more affordable methods of purchasing eyewear.
"People ask us all the time, can you really buy glasses over the web, the response is resounding and overwhelmingly - Yes!" stated Roger Hardy, Coastal Contacts Founder and CEO.
Retail web sales for the top 500 companies on the list increased by 8.7% on average in 2009, while Coastal Contacts Inc.'s sales increased by 18% in the same year.
"The vision care products industry has been in need of a change for some time. High prices and inconsistent service levels have lead consumers to demand options. Clearly Contacts meteoric growth is a direct result of serving customers with better prices, faster service and top brand name quality that our customers love," adds Hardy.