Abercrombie & Fitch first offered online shopping in 1998.
The company’s early web-based store was more than a basic catalog. It featured Abercrombie & Fitch lifestyle material, including A&F Film, while also beginning the transition from mail-order and store-based retail to internet commerce. The online operation was located through the company’s abercrombie.com website.
This launch came during a major rebuilding period for the brand. In the 1990s, Abercrombie & Fitch shifted from its historic identity as an outdoor outfitter toward fashion retail aimed at teenagers and young adults. The company had gone public in 1996, introduced the A&F Quarterly in 1997, and added the younger abercrombie brand in 1998.
The date is sometimes confused with later website launches. The company introduced an abercrombie kids web store in 2000 and established Hollister’s lifestyle website in 2003. Those were separate brand expansions; the original Abercrombie & Fitch web store had already launched in 1998.