This week, Amazon has extended Prime Wardrobe to all members of the group, after testing the service on a monthly basis. invitation only for one year.
Premium Wardrobe is included in Amazon Prime subscriptions at no additional charge. The service is available to paid Amazon Prime members who have been tested for 30 days. six-month trial and payment of Amazon Prime Student members; and members of an Amazonian family.
Premium Wardrobe is not available for members with a Premium Video membership only or for guests who only enjoy the benefits of shipping a Premium Member.
Need more Smarts?
"This is going to be an extremely valuable service for Amazon, which will increase consumer confidence in the company's clothing buying," said Nikki Baird, vice president of retail innovation at
Aptos.
"I did not buy a lot of Amazon's clothes because of adjustment problems … and I did not want to deal with the hassle of returns," she said. told the E-Commerce Times. "As a buyer, it's something I've been waiting for before I'm ready to [purchase] wear clothes on Amazon."
Prime Wardrobe is unlikely to be a big game changer, said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research.
"If Amazon really gets good recommendations for clothing [artificial intelligence] there may be an opportunity for them here, but they would need a lot of volume to get there, and a better way to provide AIs. recommendations, "she told the E-Commerce Times.
"I'm still getting wacky recommendations for things on Amazon, based on one-off purchases that they've clearly removed from their context," Wettemann said.
Private labels appear to have been the best sellers with the service, but Prime Wardrobe also offers items from leading brands such as Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Gymboree.
The order process
Customers can choose three or more items from clothing, shoes and accessories. They have seven days to decide if they want to keep one or the other. The selected items must display the Prime Wardrobe icon.
Orders arrive in four to six business days, and the seven – day trial period begins once all items of an order arrive.
Premium Wardrobe only accepts credit and debit cards with 90 days or more before the expiration. Prepaid cards and gift cards are not accepted.
Wardrobe items back
To make returns, customers access their order online, indicate the items they keep and return, use the return label provided and the resealable box or bag provided by Amazon , and drop the box at UPS.
Prime Wardrobe sends a notification when all returned items have been received.
"Customers are looking for convenience," said Cindy Zhou, senior analyst at Constellation Research.
"The popularity of monthly" cabinet-in-a-box "subscription services allows consumers to stay ahead of trends and not think about which pieces go with which outfit," she said. told the E-Commerce Times.
Impact on competition
The brick and mortar companies have launched their own version of this service, Zhou said, citing the Nordstrom Trunk Club as an example.
The global e-commerce fashion business figure will grow from 480 billion US dollars this year to 713 billion dollars by 2022, according to
Shopify.
Growth is driven by the expansion of global markets outside the West; increase online access and smartphone penetration; an emerging global middle class with disposable income; and innovative technologies that create experiential e-commerce.
The launch of Prime Wardrobe "will put tremendous pressure on all other fashion retailers, whether they are physical or online," observed Baird of Aptos.
Yields "are a huge problem," both in terms of processing costs and opportunity costs, as customers try to inventory, Baird said. Amazon "does not face any of these pressures, at least from the point of view of costs."
The advantage of Amazon is "the basis of the leading members and their scale with the distribution of the supply chain," noted Zhou. "They can offer more choice to customers at a competitive price."
Prime Wardrobe will "force clothing retailers to wonder if they too can offer a wardrobe experience," said Baird, "and they can afford the ravages of the supply chain that it will cause ".
Richard Adhikari has been a reporter at ECT News Network since 2008. His fields of intervention are cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, the software development, the central and midrange computer. and the development of applications. He has written and edited for many publications, including Information Week and Computerworld . He is the author of two books on client / server technology.
Email Richard.