By Alistair Barr and Phil Wahba
SAN FRANCISCO, March 8 (Reuters) – Luxury department store
operator Neiman Marcus is shutting its eBay Inc
store, a setback for the e-commerce company, which has
been trying to lure large retailers to its online marketplace.
Neiman launched a store on eBay.com in 2011 for its Last
Call outlet brand. It was one of a slew of large retailers that
eBay has attracted to its online marketplace in recent years, an
important part of the e-commerce company’s effort to compete
more with Amazon.com Inc. [ID: L2E8J7HR0]
However, Neiman spokeswoman Ginger Reeder said on Friday
that the company’s Last Call products will be sold exclusively
through the Last Call website and in its physical stores in the
future.
“We parted on good terms with eBay,” she added. “We are
always trying new partnerships, and this is one where we felt we
learned a great deal and were able to reach a broader, global
audience of fashion buyers.”
Neiman Marcus may have dropped its eBay store because it
already gets enough customer traffic to its own websites and
stores, said Scott Tilghman, an analyst at B. Riley Caris.
He added that eBay also takes a cut of each sale from the
retailers and other merchants that sell on its marketplace, and
that may have put Neiman off.
“There’s a cost associated with it,” Tilghman added.
Meanwhile, Amazon may be having more success wooing fashion
brands. Earlier this week, 10 Crosby, a brand by designer Derek
Lam, launched a store within Amazon.com.
