About a month and a half after French optical giant Essilor closed its $430 million purchase of Vancouver-based online eyewear seller Coastal.com, the company has started to change the way it does business.
Essilor already did a management shake-up at Coastal.com on April 29, the day that the acquisition closed. Gone were founder and former CEO Roger Hardy, who remains as an “advisor” as well as president Gary Collins.
Now comes word that Coastal.com is eliminating shipping and handling fees for its glasses sales at its Canadian subsidiary ClearlyContacts.ca.
The company announced June 19 that it is also eliminating its longtime policy in Canada to allow new users to get their first pair free (with the only previous costs for a first pair of glasses being for extras such as UV-protection, a scratch-free coating or an anti-glare finish.)
Those procedural changes have not yet been announced for Coastal.com’s other brands, such as Coastal.com in the U.S. or Lensway in Europe.
None of the prices for glasses at Canada’s ClearlyContacts.ca have yet risen to account for free shipping.
“Our mission has always been to provide our customers with the best quality products with the speed and convenience they deserve, and at a price that makes eyewear-fashion accessible, said ClearlyContacts.ca marketing manager Lawrence Scotland.
Roy Hessel is slated to be Coastal.com’s new top local executive, according to John Carrier, who is Essilor’s CEO for the Americas and is in charge of Essilor's ecommerce division worldwide.
Carrier told Business in Vancouver that Hessel had been the operational head of Essilor’s ecommerce arm for the past couple years.
That division includes ecommerce companies such as Austin, Texas-based FramesDirect.com and Shanghai, China’s EyeBuyDirect.com.
“[Hessel] has a successful track record of managing and growing the business profitably,” Carrier said.
Essilor’s major business is selling eyewear to professionals such as retailers and eye doctors.
It has about 55,000 employees worldwide and has operated in Canada for decades. Before it bought the 700-employee Coastal.com, Essilor had 1,200 employees Canadawide.
