By Anna Prior
Gap Inc. (GPS) said some shoppers in stores later this year will
be able to place orders for the retailer's expanded offerings
online as part of the company's latest push to merge online and
in-store operations.
The announcement comes as Gap, which operates its namesake
stores, as well as the Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, has its
annual investor meeting on Wednesday.
Retailers in recent quarters have been trumpeting the
integration of brick and mortar stores with online and mobile
commerce, typically referred to as "omnichannel." Such strategies
can involve having shoppers pick up online orders in stores, or
having online orders ship from a local store location instead of a
distant warehouse.
Gap, for its part, said it will begin testing its new
order-in-store capability later this year, and will be expanding
its reserve-in-store service to all Gap stores in the U.S. by the
end of the second quarter. The reserve-in-store service allows
online and mobile customers to reserve items in certain Gap and
Banana Republic stores.
Gap's performance has been a relative bright spot in the retail
industry as many other retailers have lowered this outlooks this
year, citing heavy promotions and weak traffic during the critical
holiday sales season.
By tapping hot fashion trends, the San Francisco-based company
has managed to post higher same-store sales for eight consecutive
quarters.
But Gap, like other specialty retailers, faces growing
competition from fast-fashion chains such as Forever 21 Inc. and
Inditex Group Inc.'s Zara.
The company in February warned that weakening foreign currencies
could hurt its earnings in the current fiscal year, but posted
fourth-quarter results that topped the upbeat forecast it issued
earlier in the month.
Gap also has focused on expanding outside of the U.S. and opened
its first Old Navy store in China in March.
On Wednesday, Gap said it expects sales in China--the company's
largest growth market--to reach $1 billion in three years.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
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