US fashion chain American Apparel is to launch an ecommerce shop on eBay in September in an effort to expand its distribution base beyond its own stores.
The online shop will be accessed via a link on the eBay home page and American Apparel expects the store, due to go live on September 1, to generate several million dollars in sales within its first year.
According to reports the shop is believed to be part of a larger upcoming eBay platform for dedicated brand stores but eBay declined to comment.
American Apparel chief executive Dov Charney said: “There are more than 30,000 searches for American Apparel on eBay each month and right now those customers are not buying from us directly. I’m excited to connect that demand with our vertically integrated production and distribution platform to create a new revenue channel for American Apparel.”
The eBay shop will operate via the main eBay selling and checkout interface, with orders delivered by American Apparel. American Apparel will also control merchandise assortments and photography on the site.
American Apparel will pay a commission to eBay on all sales from the new shop.
The retailer’s sales and net profits both dropped for the fourth quarter to December 31, which contributed to a 4.6% fall in full-year sales to $559m (£346.4m). It also reported a net loss of $86m (£53.3m) for the year.
The fashion chain joins sportswear giant Sports Direct which launched an eBay store this month.
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