The news: Saks will stop selling on Amazon to focus on more promising growth opportunities, according to a Reuters report. The retailer is prioritizing traffic to its own channels as it searches for ways to escape bankruptcy.

Zoom out: The unraveling of the Saks-Amazon partnership shows how difficult it is to make luxury ecommerce work, even for companies with Amazon’s scale and Saks’ cachet. Luxury labels’ fear of brand dilution made many reluctant to associate with the ecommerce retailer, limiting product selection and, consequently, the storefront’s appeal to shoppers.

Implications for retailers: Few companies have successfully cracked the luxury ecommerce code. When shopping for pricey goods, consumers still favor physical stores, where they are welcomed with high-touch experiences and have the ability to touch and try on items. We expect online channels to account for 18.7% of US luxury sales this year—a share not far off from 2020 and which is not expected to change much over the next three years.

Retailers intent on turning luxury ecommerce into a profitable enterprise should look to LuxExperience (formerly Mytheresa), which has successfully cultivated high-net-worth clientele with exclusive products, events, and “money can’t buy” experiences. Alternatively, online resale is another area of opportunity, as shoppers look for ways to score deals on their favorite brands or recoup some of their investment.