School Specialty Inc., a direct marketer and online retailer of educational supplies for consumers, teachers and others, has launched a new e-commerce site focused on early childhood education. 

The new site—EarlyChildhoodDirect.com—features 14 product categories, including active play products, arts and crafts supplies, furniture, and instructional products. The new web site was designed and launched with the aim of bringing together all of School Specialty’s early childhood education products into a single e-commerce destination, says vice president of marketing Rich Harney.

“The new Early Childhood Direct web site is an all-inclusive portal for early childhood educators,” Harney says. “Our objective has always been to enhance the educational experience through School Specialty’s unique product offerings, and our new site simplifies educators’ access to these products.”

The new site features expedited catalog ordering and content for teachers and educators, such as free lesson plans, worksheets and other classroom activities, the company says.

School Specialty, No. 158 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide did not disclose whether it did the work internally or relied on outside vendors to design and implement the new e-commerce site.

For the fiscal year ended 2014, School Specialty reported that the web accounted for 25.4% of total sales of $630.7 million. Based on those metrics Internet Retailer estimates that web sales reached $160.2 million, a decrease of 6.3% from $170.9 million in fiscal 2013.