Eyewear company becomes biggest optical brand on Facebook with half a million fans

VANCOUVER, May 9 /PRNewswire/ - Coastal Contacts Inc, the world's largest online retailer of eyeglasses and contact lenses, became Facebook's largest vision care brand this week (May 9, 2011), hitting the 500,000 fans mark.

Coastal Contacts Inc has seen the number of Facebook fans of its family of international eyewear brands increase from just under 10,000 in August 2010 to 500,000 - an increase of 5,000%.

Facebook has become a vital business tool for companies looking to build their brand by actively engaging with consumers of their products and services - often in real time.

Roger Hardy, Founder and CEO of Coastal Contacts Inc, believes that his company has been able to grow its fan base significantly because the social media platform enhances Coastal's Contacts Inc's existing customer experience:

"Providing our customers with value, quality and speed is at the heart of our company and we pride ourselves on going above and beyond to offer the best customer care experience in the world.  Facebook has allowed us to take these values even further so that we can respond to customer questions on our pages instantly any time of day or night.

"Our customers appreciate the customer experience they receive and I think this is reflected in the huge number of customers who engage with us on Facebook, giving us one of the largest Facebook fan bases on the planet and the biggest in the optical industry. Our goal now is to continue to exceed our customers' expectations and achieve one million Facebook fans by the end of the year."

About Coastal Contacts Inc.
Coastal Contacts Inc. has quickly become the world's leading online retailer of vision care products, attributable to a combination of fast delivery, a customer-centric approach, and great selection at the lowest possible prices.  Founded in 2000, the Vancouver based online retailer designs, produces and distributes the largest selection of eyeglasses and contact lenses on the Internet, including a unique combination of designer brand eyewear, contact lenses, sunglasses, and vision care accessories.  Coastal Contacts rapid growth and expansion services over 150 countries through the Coastal Contacts family of websites including: CoastalContacts.com, ClearlyContacts.ca, Lensway.com, Lensway.co.uk, Lensway.se, ClearlyContacts.com.au, ClearlyContacts.co.nz, Contactsan.com, Yasuilens.com, Maxlens.com, and Coastallens.com. With annual sales revenue exceeding $153 Million for 2010, Coastal Contacts is targeting annual revenue of $1 billion by the year 2020. More information about Coastal Contacts rapid growth and product offering can be found at www.coastalcontacts.com.

SOURCE Coastal Contacts Inc.