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Amazon is rolling out Prime Wardrobe, its try-before-you-buy (TBYB) apparel service, to more consumers, though it remains in testing months after its initiallaunchJune 2017,according toTechCrunch.
The program is still only available to select Prime subscribers, but that base is growing and shoppers can alsorequestan invitation themselves.
With an expanding user base and almost a year of testing under its belt, Prime Wardrobe will likely officially launch soon. An Amazon staffer that worked on Prime Wardrobe tweeted that the service had launched, though the tweet was later deleted, and a Twitter account for student brand ambassadors at University of California, Irvine tweetedabout Prime Wardrobe, encouraging students to try it.
Prime Wardrobe differs from other TBYB apparel services like Stitch Fix in three key ways that may boost its consumer appeal.
- It’s on-demand.
- Consumers pick their items.
- It’s free to use with a Prime subscription.
Amazon is well positioned to handle returns, one of the biggest obstacles for TBYB services. US consumers said TBYB would inspire 4.9 extra purchases a month, but also almost 4 additional returns per month, and the cost of handling those returns can sink the value of the new sales. Amazon, however, has a well established logistics network that has been handling huge amounts of returns for years. This enables Prime Wardrobe to offer on-demand boxes without worrying about more returns, and could allow it to offer lower prices than competing TBYB services.