Amazon has announced Amazon Prime Wardrobe, a new service that lets Prime members try on clothes for free. The beta program lets Prime members pick between 3 to 15 items from more than a million of fashion options with no upfront cost.
TechCrunch reported that participating brands include Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Adidas, Theory, Timex, Lacoste and others. Members receive an Amazon Prime box and can try on clothes for up to seven days. Once they’re done, they can then schedule a free pick-up or drop the resealable box with its pre-paid shipping label to a nearby UPS to return whatever clothing they don’t wish to keep.
“Subscription retailers will have to take notes from Amazon’s ability to deal with mass volume, their knack to turn data into curated offerings, and learn from their best e-commerce practices in general,” said Mohannad El-Barachi, General Manager of SweetIQ. “As for traditional retailers, this is more proof of how important it is to address your customer pain-points of consumers. Ecommerce has always lacked the convenience of being able to walk into a store, pick what you want, try it on, and leave. Prime Wardrobe addresses that brick-and-mortar advantage — but I predict this will always remain an issue for online-only shopping. We’ll always need physical stores, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon takes its consumer insights from this experience to create the ultimate in-store experience, like they are doing with their NYC bookstore.”
El-Barachi added that the true lesson for all retailers here is that innovation remains key. Keep giving consumers what they need and making the shopping experience as seamless and as enjoyable as possible and you will succeed both online and offline.
Customers who keep three or four items from the box get a 10% discount, and keeping five or more items nets a 20% discount. Members only pay for what they keep with no upfront cost. Amazon Prime Wardrobe is free for Prime members with no extra fees.
Amazon Prime Wardrobe is similar to other fashion delivery services such as StitchFix and JackThreads that let customers try on items and only pay for what they choose to keep.
MCM Musings: One of the biggest struggles for online retailers is providing the in-store experience online. Now we’re seeing that more and more retailers are trying to make the experience similar without the hassle of going in-store to try on or make returns. This new program could be a win for Amazon to attract and retain new Prime customers.