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In this podcast, Roger Hardy, CEO of Coastal Contacts, talks about using online technology in innovative ways to build a global e-commerce company to do two things: drive down the cost consumers pay for eyeglasses and contact glasses, and create a superior customer service model to eliminate customers' fears about buying these products online.

If you paid $400 for a pair of glasses with designer frames, then perhaps you need to go online and checkout Coastal Contacts, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 2000, Coastal Contacts bills itself as the world's largest online optical store. Consumers can buy brand name contact lenses from leading providers, such as Ciba Vision and Bausch & Lomb, at up to half the price of optical stores. The same goes for designer eyeglass frames from Gucci and Hugo Boss.

Roger Hardy, Coastal Contacts' founder and CEO, says that his company s has emerged as one of Canada's fastest growing companies. In fact, Hardy says that 2009 was a good year for the company with revenues growing about 17 percent. He attributes much of the company's success to investments in innovative technology to handle the volume of orders and to offer unprecedented customer service. In fact, during one 18-month period, the company fulfilled more than 1.5 million orders.  "Each week we seem to set a new record for sales," Hardy says.

Bio

In 2000, Roger Hardy founded Coastal Contacts as one of the first e-commerce vision care products company. He is currently Coastal Contact's CEO . He built his entrepreneurial career for a transportation and logistics company later purchased by DHL worldwide, followed by Wessley Jessen. Since 2004, he has been a member of the Vancouver Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization. Over the years, Hardy has received many leadership awards, including BC Business Magazine's Top Forty under Forty in 2002, and The Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Business to Consumer) in 2006. He graduated from Bishops University in 1993.

Resources
Roger Hardy --- The Visionary, BCBusiness
http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/people/2006/10/02/visionary-roger-hardy

Web Sales Grew Nicely for Coastal Contacts in 2009, Internet Retailer
http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=32868

Listening to Customers - Sandbox Solutions, Canadian Business Online
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/columnists/roger_hardy/article.jsp?content=20080501_198714_198714

Production Credits
Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Tom Parish, Host and Audio Producer

Audio Editing by Doug Marcis