Amazon launches in the US a new service called “Prime Wardrobe“. In the US, the concept works, for Europe Wardrobe should have become meaningless due to the recent changes for customers. And yet it will be a success.
Amazon Wardrobe is a bulk order service for clothes – customers could order up to eight pieces, return it for free and get a discount on the final billing – the more garments the customer kept, the more discount there was. Now the discount has been dropped, there are only free returns and payment on account. In Germany that is not enough to shake the fashion market, because these are banal market standards. Nevertheless, the fashion market should not be happy, because if Wardrobe is introduced in Germany, there will be shifts in market share.
Prime Wardrobe will only meet market standards in Europe
In the USA, ordering a fitting is a huge innovation, in Germany we buy on account and order anyway for fitting. What does not like or fits, is sent back. Nowadays most of the e-commerce stores offers free returns. Thus, an enclosed return label is theoretically not a big innovation. The only innovation for European customers would have been the volume-based rebate that Amazon has now abolished to market. In principle, superficially speaking, this leaves a completely uninteresting service for Europe. Experts might wonder if it makes any sense to introduce it.
The surprising answer to this question is yes, it makes sense and it will be introduced. As a rule, Amazon only designs services that can be used globally. Therefore it can be assumed that the peculiarities of the German market were considered in detail. There are two convincing reasons that speak for a Germany launch of Prime Wardrobe.
Prime Wardrobe will be the best possible implementation of the market standards. Amazon customers are currently not fully enjoying these market standards.
The last, still exciting question about the service Wardrobe remains: Why did Amazon abolish the discounts? Maybe they just became too expensive.
Also published on Medium.