I have no doubt that this will be successful, but it does not necessarily negate the need for other services like Trunk Club. Amazon’s service is driven by the user rather than by a stylist, so does not provide the same thrill of having someone select things for you which allows you to discover new fashions or garments you might not have thought about buying. In essence, there is value in someone doing the curation for you.

That said, the low cost to consumer nature of Amazon’s model may prove more of a threat and put pressure on other services to reduce prices or fees.

I think Amazon just instituted a new and creative way to keep from making a profit. This formula is not without its costs.

Jon is spot-on. This is kind of like eating leftovers, or as Jon brilliantly stated it, “cosmetic wrapping around the way many Prime members already shop.”

Back to the future: Retailers have been letting customers take things home on approval for like … forever. And weren’t we just talking about Amazon and excessive returns? The trying at home for free part of Amazon’s Prime Wardrobe is a huge plus, but the rest of it sounds like too much work, especially for non-branded product. Using a voice-activated Echo Look digital assistant might be fun, but I’d choose clothing curated by a professional stylist over items selected by “advanced machine learning algorithms” any day. The beauty of Stitch Fix and Trunk Club is that they send a box filled with items that are chosen just for you by a professional stylist who understands your taste, comfort level and size. Paying a fee for this service is worth it to discerning subscribers. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon’s new service is interesting, but to this consumer, the items sent to you by Prime Wardrobe sound more like one of those mystery grab bags offered in some retail stores. I’ll give it a try and let… Read more »

Isn’t this Zappos with slightly different window dressing?

I personally have no experience with Amazon’s private label apparel brands, so it’s difficult to comment fully. Ultimately this comes down to the curation of the right product and, as Neil said, the user leading that journey does create more friction. However, Amazon having the amount of data and active users it does will obviously be rocket fuel for building its digital assistants and stylists for these purposes.

Subscription-based and curated shopping models are a hot trend that consumers are embracing. With the extensive audience of Amazon Prime members, the Prime Wardrobe program already has a huge captive market.

This will put a lot of competitive pressure on traditional curated shopping services such as Stitch Fix and Trunk Club. These companies may need to lower or eliminate some of the fees associated with their services to compete with Amazon Wardrobe.

Prime Wardrobe is all about convenience. Subscription services like Stitch Fix and TrunkClub are about convenience plus curation, with the hopes that the curation element is worth the price of admission to the “club.” For some shoppers, the curation element seals the deal — they want to be told by a stylist what looks good on them and what they should buy.

Amazon’s version of this is for shoppers who want to try before they buy at scale in the most convenient way possible — in their own home. As others have said here, this is mostly cosmetic wrapping around normal Prime shopping practices, but it does add yet another element of convenience.

Once again, Amazon is demonstrating their power to deliver merchandise to customers in the most convenient way possible. For Prime customers that want a touch of that curated element, they offer the Echo Look device. I’d say they’re betting on most Prime shoppers wanting to just buy vs be told what to buy.

Prime Wardrobe and stylist-driven services are technically apples and oranges concept-wise — or should be based on actual hierarchies and customer priorities. Ease of returns is a factor, but also table stakes.

Stylist assistance and personalization are the differentiated promises that Amazon competitors are making, though they unfortunately don’t always deliver. Like Max, I’ve had a spotty experience with Stitch Fix whose stylists didn’t read in on very specific feedback given over several deliveries (still trying). Friends of mine have had a range of experiences (including spot-on/thrilled).

On the brand front, I would argue that Amazon customers probably don’t know when they are buying an Amazon private brand — the monikers Amazon has snatched up sound so … branded. As for an Echo Look “assistant” plowing through personal style data — that could be more of a deterrent than a draw … at least for me.