Gap Launches Web-Only Maternity Line
Apparel retailer Gap Inc. yesterday said it is expanding its product line to include GapMaternity, a new collection for work, home or weekend expected to sell only online at www.gap.com.The new line comprises 16 Gap styles designed for pregnant women, the San Francisco company said.
"Our customers expressed interest in maternity clothes from Gap," said Ron Beegle, executive vice president at Gap. "By making it available online we've made it easy to shop for the ultimate maternity wardrobe."
It is likely that this online-only launch is a test measure to gauge the consumer reaction to Gap's foray into maternity clothes.
Gap, which has 1,700 stores in the U.S. and catalog operations, will take full advantage of its multi-channel presence. Consumers can see the outfit options and place orders at the gap site. Dissatisfied customers can return the maternity outfits either directly to gap.com through a pre-paid sticker included in each order or to any Gap store.
Gap's current online operations include sites like gap.com, gapkids.com, bananarepublic.com and oldnavy.com.
