The Gap intends to become the first clothing retailer to run a worldwide Net-based shopping service, The Financial Times has reported.

A number of clothes brands currently take orders over the Internet for their home market, but none has yet gone global.

The FT quotes The Gap's chief financial officer Warren Hashagen as saying its experiment with a US-only online store had been "very, very encouraging".

Mr Hashagen adds that he expects the company to extend the service throughout the world early in 1999.

The Gap has clothes shops in six countries, which sell its own-brand casual designs.

Last year, it recorded sales of $6bn (£3.7bn).

The company has not yet said how many countries it intends to serve through the Internet.

But it will not be left to expand the online market on its own for long.

According to the FT, the Swedish fashion group Hennes & Mauritz is also planning to get in on e-commerce while it remains in its early stages.
 

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