Is Amazon's Fashion Strategy Evolving?
Amazon's fashion strategy I believe is evolving. While I'm no fashion expert, I can't help but notice that with Shopbop's 20th anniversary sale, it is getting a mini-advertising revolution in NYC. Billboards, subways, etc. You can't go 20 feet without seeing an ad for Shopbop.
Recall Shopbop was founded a small Wisconsin retailer in 1999. It was purchased by #Amazon in 2006 and as far as I can see, has not been a central focus.
Recall just a few years ago, there was a big push for "Amazon Fashion". While that is still around, I find it hard to see it will be used as anything but a traffic driver in certain instances (celebrity specials) given the fact that people are mostly buying underwear and socks on Amazon.
The big problem however is that unless it's off price items, most major marketplaces have struggled with fashion. In that sense, Amazon is perhaps channeling the late Jack Trout - a brand can only be one thing in the mind.
A few questions I have for Shopbop going forward:
Will Shopbop expand beyond contemporary fashion and move more in a direction going forward outside fashion?
Is Shopbop interested in building a marketplace?"
Will consumers care if they kind of know it's Amazon?
Will Shopbop be used as a vehicle to challenge Farfetch more?