Amazon.ca has launched two new stores – one for clothing and the other for shoes – that will feature several well known brands with more than 1.5 million new products, the online shopping giant announced June 11.
The company recently launched wearable tech and home automation stores, and with this latest move, the seller has more than 100 million items available for sale.
This is double the number of product offerings it had a year ago.
“We remain committed to expanding our selection and making the shopping experience easy and convenient for our customers,” said Alexandre Gagnon, Amazon.ca country manager. “Introducing Clothing and Shoes are integral to that goal”
Some of the brands on offer in the new clothing and shoe stores will include French Connection, 7 For All Mankind, Vince Camuto, Nautica, Levi’s, Nine West and Timberland.
This latest move by Amazon.ca could position the service to take advantage of the anticipated increase in the amount of money spent by Canadian shoppers online. A recent study conducted by RetailMeNot found that the average Canadian shopper is expected to spend $1,531 in 2015 – up 6.8% compared with 2014.
In spite of this increase, the study found that online shopping in Canada lags behind that of other countries, including the United States; for example, Americans are expected to spend $2,197 online this year, on average. One of the reasons, the study found, was that many Canadians are buying products from American retailers online and having them shipped to U.S. mailboxes.
With Amazon’s Canadian arm offering more products, this may make that option less attractive.
RetailMeNot found 4.8% of all retail sales in Canada are expected to be online by the end of the year. That number jumps to 12.7% in the U.S. and 8.4% in Europe.
Even chains with brick-and-mortar stores are getting more involved in e-commerce. One example is Lululemon, which recently announced a 10% increase in revenue driven in large part by a jump in online sales.
- With files from Tyler Orton and Glen Korstrom
