Amazon, which has been building up Amazon Fashion for years, could soon be launching its own line of private-label clothes.
The statement was made by Amazon Fashion Vice President of clothing Jeff Yurcisin, who is also the Amazon Shopbop CEO, at the on WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit on Oct. 27. He said that the company knows its customers love brands, and that is the source for most of Amazon's business.
Yurcisin then said that when the company sees gaps in its products, such as when certain brands refuse to have their products sold on Amazon, and then determines that customers still want to purchase these products, the company could look into producing its own clothing line to fill these gaps.
The statement is significant because the efforts of Amazon Fashion have mostly been focused on getting clothing brands to agree to having their products sold on Amazon, which is better known for its efficiency and low prices as opposed to more fashion-centric concepts such as curation and presentation. The apparent willingness of Amazon to launch its own clothing line for products that it could not persuade fashion companies to sell through the online retail giant could turn out to be another negotiating chip for Amazon.
Amazon Fashion has successfully courted big-name brands such as Levi's and Calvin Klein. However, some clothing brands and retailers have been hesitant to work with Amazon due to the aggressive cost-cutting measures and low margins implemented by the online retail giant.
With Yurcisin's statements, it looks like Amazon will soon be looking to sell its own versions of products that can be sold under the company's name. This would translate to higher profit margins, leading into more earnings for Amazon.
Amazon, however, would prefer not to alienate the company's partners. Yurcisin attempted to provide reassurance to the attending executives at the conference that Amazon Fashion, which attracts about 40 million customers from the United States per year, will still follow the standard practices of the retail industry.
"We work just like any other retailer - we buy at full price, try super-hard to sell at full-price," Yurcisin noted.
Photo: Kazuhiro Keino | Flickr
