Last week, Amazon introduced the Amazon Echo Look, a video-enabled version of the Echo that can snap full-length photos or take video on demand, catalog your outfits, and employ their team of Style Check personal stylists to help you select the outfit that looks best on you…all while gathering data on your preferences, sizes, trends, current wardrobe, colors that flatter you and so much more. And what will they do with all that data? Amazon didn’t create the Amazon Look to help you look your best, they created it to sell you clothing.
Fastest Fashion
Having access to the closets of consumers would surely aid Amazon in its goal to become a destination for fashion. They’ve already launched their private label clothing business and secured a patent for “on-demand” manufacturing of apparel that will print textiles, cut patterns and assemble garments without human assistance. Amazon’s ability to create custom clothing on-demand and ship to customers worldwide within days (or hours!) could shake up the supply chain and disrupt the entire industry—this isn’t just fast-fashion, this is just about as fast as fashion gets.
Solutions for Your Most Vulnerable Moments
Echo Look’s capabilities can suggest products to consumers at moments when they feel most vulnerable and, and therefore, more apt to buy. Think about it…you’re having one of those “I have nothing to wear!” moments, nothing fits and you’re regretting that pizza and ice cream splurge you had the night before. Alexa can fix all that and deliver the perfect outfit in the most flattering color and pattern right to your door…just in time for your big date that evening. Amazon is betting on its AI capabilities to develop a deep understanding of each user’s personal preferences, and by default, their insecurities, and deliver the right product, to the right customer, at the right moment. Creepy? Maybe. But smart nonetheless.
To Be Or Not To Be…On Amazon?
This has been a question for luxury fashion brands. While many hesitate, citing exclusivity and the perception of moving down market, eventually brands will go where their customers are—and, increasingly, that’s Amazon. Nearly half of all Americans have an Amazon Prime membership with an average spend of $1,100 annually. Although consumers are comfortable buying books, toys, and staples like paper towels and diapers from Amazon, analysts aren’t convinced that consumers will shift apparel purchases online due to the tactile nature of buying clothing and the inability to try products on before buying. There’s no question that consumers still prefer to shop for clothing in bricks and mortar stores and ecommerce brands such as Warby Parker, Everlane, and Modcloth have opened physical stores, and Amazon knows it—they’ve already dipped a toe into bricks and mortar with their branded bookstores and Amazon Go! grocery stores, could apparel showrooms be far behind?
Amazon’s impact on fashion remains to be seen, but it’s clear they’re making deliberate moves to disrupt the industry. Women’s Marketing has extensive experience driving retail and ecommerce, including expertise in marketplaces such as Amazon. Discover how to market a product on Amazon. Contact us today to learn how we can help grow your brand with our suite of Amazon marketing services.
Source: CNN Amazon Prime now reaches nearly half of U.S. households, January 2017
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