Taking on Stitch Fix, Amazon.com has added a styling service to its Prime Wardrobe subscription service.
Prime Wardrobe allows members to order a box with three to eight pieces of clothing, shoes and accessories to try on at home. Once the items arrive, members have seven days to try on the items. They only pay for the items they keep while returning unwanted pieces for free.
For $4.99 per month, Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe adds one styling per month. Instead of choosing what items to have sent, users create a profile of their preferences, like style, brand, fit and budget. Amazon then uses “a combination of technology innovation and a personalized human touch to curate items for you based on the information.”
Members can preview the recommendations and choose the items Amazon ships.
Amazon has launched the styling option launched for women and will soon expand it to men. Many brands on Amazon’s marketplace, including Levi’s, Loeffler Randall, Calvin Klein, Stuart Weitzman and J Brand, are participating.
The leader in the stylist-driven subscription space is Stitch Fix, which boasted an active client list of 3.1 million consumers in its recent third quarter. Others include Nordstrom-owned Trunk Club and RealReal.
While securing more labels over the years, Amazon has faced challenges driving fashion sales. Many believe it’s because the platform is overly transactional. Prime Wardrobe, launched in beta in July 2017 and rolled out last June, solves the try-before-you-buy hurdle, but a few reports indicate it hasn’t gained much traction.
Writing for Business Of Fashion, Cathaleen Chen said Personal Shopper could help Amazon encourage more high-end brands to sell through the site “as the service’s separate interface ensures luxury labels won’t be listed alongside toilet paper and batteries.”
The style recommendations may also better support the sense of discovery and aspiration required for fashion browsing.
“This is the solution that makes the company competitive with Stitch Fix,” Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at Forrester Research, told Digital Commerce 360. “We’ll see if it actually ends up being that good.”
- Prime Wardrobe – Amazon.com
- Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe – Amazon.com
- Is the Stitch Fix Model the Future of Amazon Fashion? – Business Of Fashion
- Amazon offers Prime members an alternative to Stitch Fix – Digital Commerce 360
- Amazon launches a new styling service but Stitch Fix is prepared – Adweek
- The stylists then Amazon Takes On Stitch Fix With Launch of Personal Shopper – Women’s Wear Daily
- Are Stitch Fix and Trunk Club toast? – RetailWire
- Will Amazon Prime Wardrobe change how Americans shop for clothes? – RetailWire