The fact that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the honorary chairman of the current Metropolitan Museum of Art/Costume Institute exhibit. Amazon is using its big bucks and retail know-how to woo high-end designers to sell their wares on the site. Not only has the company upped its profile by featuring designers like Michael Kors and Vivienne Westwood, it has also hired 3 full-time, size eight shoe models to keep the production lines going and get new items up on the site quickly.
The New York Times reports on one of Amazon’s strategies to make the online shopping experience easier:
Instead of static product images, for example, models spin and pose to show off the clothing. The model’s body measurements and the clothing measurements are provided to help with sizing. And shopper-friendly advice — does the size 8 shoe run big or small? — is prominent.
Amazon has been great at selling cheap books, electronics, and all things Kindle, but it has never really been able to crack the fashion nut. It owns Zappos.com and runs a couple other sites devoted to fashion, like Endless.com and MyHabit.com, which will get a big boost in inventory from Amazon’s recent fashion foray. Bloomingdales and Macy’s may want to strategize with ex-Borders execs (or current Best Buy or Target) to figure out how to fight the beast.
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