Amazon is a lot of things to a lot of people, but according to a recent survey detailed by Quartz, pretty much no one views the retailer as a destination for fashionable clothing.
“Despite conquering most of retail and selling a lot of clothes, Amazon has consistently struggled to sell fashion,” the story says, noting that only six percent of all survey respondents said they shopped the website because it “offers fashionable clothing and the brands I like,” (which is down from “an already dismal 8 percent in 2017”).
“The most popular reason [for shopping Amazon], cited by 28% of respondents, was an easy/convenient shopping experience,” the survey found, while “being a Prime member (free two-day shipping is still a good sell), Amazon’s low prices, and Amazon’s wide selection” were other popular reasons.
Despite the perceived lack of fashionable offerings, Amazon still does enough business to make them the country’s second largest apparel seller, right behind Walmart. So what kind of clothing do people buy from Amazon? Basics. So many basics.
Casual tops, casual bottoms, shoes and athletic wear are the most popular categories, according to the story, with Prime (inevitably) driving the majority of sales.
“The e-commerce giant’s success selling clothing is being fueled by millennials with Amazon Prime,” the story says, noting that “members of the loyalty program are twice as likely as other Amazon shoppers to buy clothes from Amazon.”
And even if Amazon could get “fashionable” labels in their marketplace, customers still might not respond. “[The] people who shop on Amazon, as Morgan Stanley found, are looking for affordable, quickly delivered basics more than high-end designs. At least for now, that makes fashion a small corner of retail that can consider itself somewhat resistant to Amazon.”
You can read more about it at Quartz.
