Trying Cyber Retailing on for Size

The Gap’s and Lands’ End’s use of 3-D models and other interactive features on their Web sites shows the potential for selling clothes online, and retailers that aren’t paying attention could be left behind, analysts said.

The stakes are high. According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, 21% of households that shopped online last year bought clothes or music. That category followed only computers or books, which captured 39%. Those figures are expected to increase dramatically as Internet shopping gains more acceptance.

Retail chains that develop sophisticated Web sites early are better prepared to compete than those that still have a wait-and-see approach to the Internet, analysts and retailers said this week at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention.

“For the first time in apparel, Internet sites are doing more for the customer--beyond the mere convenience of shopping at home--than stores or catalogs today have been either willing or able to provide,” said Joseph Ellis, limited partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Lands’ End, the Dodgeville, Wis.-based catalog clothing retailer, introduced a feature on its Web site last year that lets shoppers build a model based on their coloring and body measurements. They can then try clothes on the model in a virtual dressing room.

San Francisco-based Gap’s Web site lets customers pull outfits together online, zoom in on items for a closer look at the fabric, and view merchandise in a full, three-dimensional rotation.

To be sure, a number of analysts at the convention questioned whether a majority of shoppers will ever feel comfortable buying fashion apparel off their computers. Yet, innovations from retailers like Gap and Lands’ End are really just the first stages of developing the Web’s potential, Ellis said.

Retailers who don’t embrace the Internet also could lose the opportunity to expand market share without the expense of opening stores, others at the convention said.

“We see the Internet as an opportunity to grow sales by reaching new markets, both domestic and international, and a powerful channel to reach the younger customer,” said Kent Anderson, president of Macy’s.com, a unit of Federated Department Stores Inc.’s Macy’s department store chain.

According to Ernst & Young , the number of retailers selling goods on the Web more than tripled to 39% from 12% in 1997.