Retailer responds to shopper demand
US fashion group Gap is to launch an online footwear business through e-commerce division Gap Inc Direct, which will feature brands for women, men and children.

The new business is expected to go online in time for this year's holiday season, with a wide range of designer to casual labels.

Gap Inc Direct president Toby Lenk said: 'The highly fragmented, rapidly growing online footwear market offers a tremendous opportunity for Gap to use our expertise in e-commerce, merchandising and marketing to deliver a distinct fashion point of view.'

The online footwear market is growing nearly 15 per cent annually in the US and will be a US$5.5 billion (£2.91 billion) market by 2010, according to a study by Forrester Research.

Lenk said: 'Almost two-thirds of our online customers surveyed last year said they would buy shoes online from Gap.

'Gap.com, OldNavy.com and BananaRepublic.com are all consistently among the top 10 speciality clothes sites in terms of traffic, so we believe we already have an active and loyal customer base for online footwear.'

According to Lenk, dozens of agreements with leading footwear brands have been signed already.

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