Amazon launches luxury channel with Oscar de la Renta

Brief:

• Amazon on Tuesday announced the long-rumored launch of a luxury fashion channel, Luxury Stores, readily available by means of the Amazon app, just to U.S. Prime members and only by invite, according to a business press release.
• The very first storefront is from Oscar de la Renta, featuring pre-fall and fall/winter 2020 collections consisting of ready-to-wear, bags, fashion jewelry, accessories, a brand-new perfume, and, quickly, childrenswear. “More brands will introduce within Luxury Stores in the coming weeks and seasons,” Amazon said.
• Through the “store within a shop” setup, brand names offer their collections directly and make their own stock, choice, and prices decisions. Amazon offers merchandising tools “to produce and individualize content,” and the app employs an interactive “View in 360” feature that enables consumers to more quickly view the information of specific styles.

Insight:

A luxury fashion play from Amazon has been rumored given that the start of the year, before the COVID-19 pandemic preoccupied the world.

Months on, with supply and need in all retail classifications shaken by the ongoing illness outbreak, the e-commerce giant has moved at last. But its entry into this stratum of retail puts brands in a bind, according to Martin Ekechukwu, CEO of marketing and marketing firm WHTWRKS. On the one hand, Amazon Prime has the customers they want and the tools to reach them; on the other hand, Amazon is predestined to retrieve the information it obtains from the collaboration for its own sales, Ekechukwu said.

“If you’re a high fashion retailer and you’re offering Amazon your finest stuff– embarrassment on you,” Ekechukwu said by phone. “You should always keep your best things in a house. That’s why you’re not going to find Gucci on Amazon, you’re not going to find Louis Vuitton on Amazon. The high-end fashion information points– Amazon is going to sop it up with a biscuit.”

The e-retailer could also be aiming to capture sales from consumers who routinely purchase everyday items like diapers or T-shirts, however, are all set for a higher-end product, according to Ekechukwu

Top fashion labels might have little option, nevertheless, according to Kristin Bentz, president of KB Advisory Group. More youthful consumers in specific see Amazon as a way to an end, a way to select up a sought after item and have it in 2 days, or perhaps 2 hours. The pandemic’s forced restrictions and even closure of shops make Amazon a much more crucial potential purchase channel, she said.

“You’re going to have this democratization of apparel and people aren’t going to care any longer,” she said by phone. “Even if they do get a vaccine, unless you’re doing appointment viewing, you’re not going to get that rush that you get from remaining in the shop.”

Whether labels like Balenciaga or designers like Virgil Abloh consent to sell through Amazon remains to be seen, Bentz said. However the younger crowd is not likely to be charmed by Oscar de la Renta, and Oscar de la Renta’s clients aren’t always going to patronize Amazon, she stated, noting that Walmart’s tie-up with Lord & & Taylor three years ago is an apt comparison.

“Amazon requires luxury– that’s the missing piece of the puzzle for them since Walmart is on their video game and they’re coming for them,” Bentz stated. “That Oscar client doesn’t shop on Amazon. It’s the peak of luxury, so I see what they’re attempting to do. I find it interesting and sort of eyebrow-raising that they start with Oscar, however, Oscar needs them more than Amazon does.”

As Amazon notes, there will be more labels to come. And, with style shows likewise rushed by the pandemic, anticipate Amazon to utilize its studio operations to produce one, Ekechukwu said, noting that Hermès has currently demonstrated how that can be done. “Amazon is attempting to develop some style reliability. You can almost wager they’re starting the process.”