This time of year, it’s not unusual to see Amazon doubling down on its fulfillment centers and seasonal employees as it prepares for the big holiday push. What is novel, though, is the company’s latest attempt to brand itself as a high-end fashion retailer.
Over the past month, Amazon has aired a TV spot entitled “Delivering Fashion,” more than 2,500 times. The company has spent approximately $15 million on the ad, which features fall fashions from Amazon.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soS_fP8aSBM
Amazon has been aggressively building out its fashion operation over the past few years. In February, the company quietly added close to 2,000 fashion products under seven trademarked labels. That same week, the third season of the designer competition show “The Fashion Fund” debuted on Amazon. It marked the first time Amazon Video hosted an ad-supported show and integrated options to buy items seen in the series directly on the streaming page.
In 2014, Amazon opened a 46,000-square-foot fashion photography studio in London. The year before that, the company built a similar-sized studio in Brooklyn New York.
It’s not hard to see why Amazon wants to be in the lucrative online fashion game but the company has struggled to break into the market in the past. In 2012, Amazon shut down Endless.com, a five-year-old high-end online fashion site that sold accessories. This year, Amazon-owned MyHabit faced the same fate. But not all of Amazon’s fashion forays have failed. The company still operates other successful sites, like Zappos.
