Brands Briefing: Hanna Andersson is joining Amazon, with a 90% unique assortment

Hanna Andersson CEO Aimée Lapic told Modern Retail that the brand’s Amazon launch stems from shoppers’ desire for convenience and speed. “It’s about reaching mom when she needs something now,” Lapic explained, like a next-day outfit for a child’s School Spirit Week, for example. “We miss out on that by not being on Amazon.” By launching on Amazon, Hanna Andersson also hopes to appeal to new customers, especially. “It really is incremental growth,” Lapic said.

Hanna Andersson’s foray into Amazon coincides with its larger digital investments. The brand, which launched in 1983 with a mail-order catalog, took a hard pivot in 2020 when it closed its more than 50 stores and became online-only. In 2025, it turned its attention to wholesale, launching an exclusive line of baby products in more than 50 boutiques. But most of Hanna Andersson’s sales still come from online, in part thanks to its resale program, personal shopping service and loyalty program. Unique buyers to its secondhand site, “Hanna-Me-Downs,” have increased nearly 20% year over year.

On Amazon, Hanna Andersson is leaning into everyday staples like playwear and sleepwear, as well as gifting sets. The brand’s direct-to-consumer website will continue to be a home for elevated dresses and its popular mix-and-match family pajamas, among other items. On HannaAndersson.com, for instance, shoppers can buy more than 60 new prints of family pajamas, including holiday designs featuring the Peanuts gang and the Grinch.

Amazon will have a small assortment of Hanna Andersson’s holiday styles, given how often people shop for Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the platform. But, as Hanna Andersson sees it, it doesn’t make sense to blanket the Amazon storefront in festive PJs, versus everyday basics or high-frequency purchases. “What we learned from talking to Amazon, as well as other folks in the industry, is that people come to Amazon for a variety of different kids’ and baby clothing, and we want to have that offering for them,” Lapic said.

Importantly, Hanna Andersson hopes that Amazon can be a funnel for its dot-com business. Lapic floated that shoppers may discover the brand through Amazon but then come directly to Hanna Andersson’s website for future purchases. “We think the two channels will work in tandem together nicely,” Lapic explained.

Hanna Andersson’s entry into Amazon comes at a challenging time for the children’s clothing industry. For one, the industry is contending with falling birth rates; some 700,000 fewer kids were born in the U.S. last year than in 2007. Many parents are closely watching their money amid high gas prices and inflation, too. In an April 2025 Mintel study, 36% of respondents said price was the most important factor when buying clothing for children under age 12.

Other industry players have had their share of roadblocks. Carter’s, which recently underwent a brand refresh, closed 29 stores in the U.S. during the first two quarters of its fiscal 2026 year, per its Form 10-Q filing. The Children’s Place, meanwhile, has closed hundreds of stores in the last five years. All the while, big-box retailers such as Target and Walmart have built out their baby assortments, upping competition. Cara Sylvester, Target’s evp and chief merchandising officer, said during a recent earnings call that the company would deliberately invest in elevating the baby-shopping experience. “There is so much potential in front of us,” Sylvester said.

Speaking of babies, Hanna Andersson hopes that joining Amazon will give it a greater presence on the platform’s Baby Registry. The program includes perks such as a free welcome box for Prime members, a 15% completion discount and free one-year returns. “Amazon has a No. 1 baby registry, so we want to play in that space,” Lapic said, calling out the brand’s HannaSoft four-way stretch sleepwear. As parents value product reviews, Hanna Andersson will encourage its Amazon shoppers to write about their purchases.

Outside of its Amazon debut, Hanna Andersson is excited to organize more future in-person events. In August, it took a custom red Airstream on the road to showcase its back-to-school collection. The brand stopped in Mill Valley, California and Malibu, California. The brand also held two pop-ups this summer in bookstores in New York City and Los Angeles as part of its “Bedtime Stories” series. The New York event, with writer and illustrator Jon Klassen, reached RSVP capacity in three hours, with 400 people on the waitlist.

In other words, even though Hanna Andersson is investing in Amazon, it’s still interested in physical and experiential retail. “There’s a real magic to seeing our clothes in person, touching the fabric [and] understanding the high quality of our clothes that truly differentiates us,” Lapic said. “So, that is a big priority for us as we go into 2027.”

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