Amazon's Luxury Stores Could Change the Game for Apparel Brands on Amazon
In its latest effort to win over luxury fashion brands, Amazon has launched its Luxury Stores experience, which provides an invite-only shopping experience to shoppers with enhanced functionality. Oscar de la Renta is the first brand to launch on Luxury Stores, but more brands are expected to join in the following weeks.
Amazon and luxury fashion
Luxury fashion brands haven’t considered Amazon a good fit in the past. Selling triple-digit luxury apparel isn’t about offering convenience or incredibly fast shipping, which are some of Amazon’s greatest strengths. Instead, luxury fashion relies on storytelling, exclusivity, and customer service to immerse its audience into the shopping experience.
Luxury Stores is Amazon’s move to replicate that same immersive experience, and if it works, it will be a huge breakthrough in the retailer’s efforts to attract fashion brands. Here’s some of the functionality we’re seeing so far:
Exclusivity - Luxury Stores is invite-only, which mimics the exclusivity and anticipation that exists in traditional luxury fashion.
View in 360 - This new functionality allows shoppers to visualize how items will look on different body types and skin tones.
More control given to brands - Luxury Stores appears to be based on Amazon’s 3P model, which gives brands more control over their representation on the marketplace
Why this is a big deal for the apparel industry as a whole
Luxury Stores could potentially change the game for the apparel industry as a whole. There are two main challenges that face any apparel brand selling on Amazon: customer service and return rates. The functionality seen in Luxury Stores is designed to help with both those challenges. It provides brands with more control over how they’re represented and poses a possible substitute for the traditional fitting-room experience. Still, like any innovation, its success will depend on whether or not it's received well by consumers.
