Carol Spieckerman's RetailWire Blog

June 22, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Amazon.com is looking to go upscale with its clothing and shoe business, staging a relaunch that has its sites set on "rivals such as Yoox and Net-A-Porter," according to a Financial Times report. Is Amazon ready to do for clothes what it did for books and numerous other categories online?

MY COMMENTARY:
When Richemont snatched Net-a-Porter up in April, that said a lot about the investors' faith in haute's online future. On the other side of the value spectrum, as Walmart and others retrench with basics and as J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Macy's pile on undifferentiated proprietary brands, a gap has opened up for an online venue that features recognizable brands in an easy-to-shop environment. This isn't a risky move, it's an entry into a proven market of shoppers that have mastered online.

My only concern is that Amazon's exploding brand and product portfolio across multiple categories already makes searching the site an exercise in overkill--the rarely-mentioned chink in Zappos' armor as well (and they focused on one category). I would encourage Amazon to run this as a separate operation unless they are comfortable with "Burberry" bringing up recipe books, fruit baskets and gardening tools!

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Amazon Plans Haute Couture Takeover

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