Gap Inc. Tuesday launched dedicated online shopping in Canada for its Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic brands.
The move will surely lead many consumers to ask, “What took you so long?”
Toby Lenk, president of Gap Inc. Direct, the company’s e-commerce division, said a number of factors have delayed the brands from crossing the border to serve the chino-loving masses’ online shopping needs.
“The most common thing for U.S. retailers with U.S.-based websites is to try and ship over the border, which creates all kinds of bad customer experiences like extra duty and shipping charges,” said Lenk. “We could’ve done that years ago but didn’t want to put the customer through that.”
Canadian online orders will be shipped from a new fulfillment centre in Bolton, Ont. that the company said will give consumers better service and faster, reliable in-country shipping.
The new sites allow consumers to shop all three stores simultaneously with a common shopping cart, as well as offering free returns either online or in-store and free shipping until Oct. 31.
Lenk said the company has taken its time to perfect its online shopping experience in the U.S. before rolling it out internationally. “We didn’t want to do it quickly and badly,” he said. “When we finally got our online platform to a place where it was ready to internationalize, Canada was number one on the list. It would’ve been great if we could’ve done it sooner, but we just weren’t able to because it was too big of an undertaking and quite big investment.”
It’s an investment that Lenk expects will pay off. According to the company’s research, Canadians spent $16 billion online last year and that number is expected to grow 10-12% per year for the next few years.
“What drives online shopping is convenience,” said Lenk. “And when you remove the barriers of buying from a U.S. site, shipping over the border, and do it first-rate for Canada, we think we’ll see that market grow. Last year we did US$860 million in-store sales in Canada and we think [Canadian e-commerce] will absolutely build our overall business here.”
The advertising push behind the new e-commerce capabilities will primarily consist of e-mail alerts and in-store activation, as well as PR and grassroots promotions such as street teams.
