Over the past five years, Amazon has made a series of moves aimed at the fashion market that go far beyond print advertising. Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos has long seen a presence in the fashion industry as critical to the company’s long-term ambition to surpass $200 billion in sales.
There was the company’s Met Gala sponsorship in 2012 and the subsequent opening of large photo studios in New York and London in 2013 and 2015, respectively, which Amazon said would help the company add more than 500,000 images of apparel to its e-commerce sites every year.
Over the same period, Amazon executives have spent countless hours meeting with designers and brands across the pricing spectrum, trying to convince them to sell their products through the site. While some have agreed, many still feel Amazon will never be a fashion destination.
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Its front-end experience is not currently optimised for merchandising emotional products, while its association with discounting turns off luxury brands. Although practical items like socks and trainers might be top sellers on Amazon, many still question whether the site will ever be capable of conjuring the dream required to sell thousand dollar dresses and bags.
Even so, getting consumers to buy luxury products on Amazon.com is just one small piece of the company’s wider fashion strategy. Thanks to dozens of initiatives, both public and private, Amazon is close to unveiling something much bigger: Global Supply Chain by Amazon, a platform that’s set to disrupt the fashion industry like never before.
Continue reading this story on Business of Fashion about Amazon’s plans to go from selling apparel to fashion, and their new Global Supply Chain project.
(Source: Business of Fashion)