Sears Holdings Corp. has apologized to customers after a religious group discovered that pornographic movies could be purchased by minors and others through the Sears.com website.
The family-oriented department-store chain said the videos violated its standards for online merchandise and are no longer being offered for sale.
The gaffe underscores the challenges traditional retail chains face as they try to expand online selections to counter the rise of Amazon.com Inc.
Sears Holdings, the parent of Sears and Kmart stores, lets other companies sell products through its website in exchange for a slice of the proceeds. That strategy accounts for roughly a third of Amazon’s revenue, and store chains including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. are also attempting to replicate it.
Sears attributed the sale of the sexually explicit DVDs to a mistake by a vendor partner whom it declined to name.
“We have a very clear policy that states the types of products we are not willing to sell. It includes pornography in every form,” Sears’s online president, Imran Jooma, said. The policy also prohibits offering human remains, live animals, firewood and lottery tickets.
WRITTEN BYÂ MIGUEL BUSTILLO & FULL STORY HERE
