Commentary

Amazon Goes After Stitch Fix

Looks like Amazon is sharpening its fashion shears, finding one more way to pick off D2C loyalists. It just announced Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe, a direct competitor to Stitch Fix. Both services send subscribers a curated box of clothing choices every month.

The Seattle-based giant has been leaning hard into fashion, from private-label lines to designer collaborations. But it’s still relatively weak when it comes to apparel.

CNBC, citing Wells Fargo data, says Amazon had about $35 billion in apparel and footwear sales last years, out of $232.9 billion overall. For comparison, “athletic apparel retailer Lululemon brought in $3.3 billion in sales last year, while Gap Inc.’s net sales were $16.6 billion, and Costco has said it generated $7 billion,” CNBC reports.  So yeah, we mean relatively weak.

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But some new research from Yotpo caught my eye, indicating that D2C loyalists may not be so willing to start finding their fashion fixes from Amazon.

Yotpo conducted its survey of 2,000 consumers heading into the Prime Day hoopla to tease out what makes D2C fashion shoppers different from the Amazon Prime crowd.

The analysis finds plenty of similarities. Both are far more likely to be women — younger millennials, between 25 and 34. Both are likely to have one child. But Prime shoppers are more likely to be employed, married and college grads.

And it found that while 71% of online shoppers do consider Amazon a place to buy apparel, far fewer – 41% –said they planned to buy from Amazon during Prime Days.

They much preferred (at 71%) buying fashion directly from brands. And among those D2C fans, 62% had no plans to make any purchases from Amazon. At all. That number, Yotpo says, more or less aligns with the 65% in its survey who see themselves as loyal to specific fashion brands.

The study also asked consumers what helps them pull the trigger on purchases. All three are insights many D2C brands already take to heart — but are probably worth even more attention as Amazon keeps spreading its fashion wings.

Some 98% say customer reviews are the single most important factor in making a purchase.

It also finds that D2C buyers are as fond of perks as the next shopper, with 93% responding that they are more likely to buy from a brand if they get rewards, including special access to products, discounts and free shipping.

And 90% are interested in loyalty and rewards programs.

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