Photo: Amazon.com
Amazon.com is already having success convincing consumers to buy a wide variety of clothing on its site. Now, according to news reports, it is looking to build on that performance with its own line of intimate apparel.
The e-tailer is currently selling bras in European markets under its Iris & Lilly private label. The line, which includes bras for under $10, could be an indication that Amazon plans to pursue market share in the U.S. where similar price points are at the lower end of the market.
Such a strategy would have Amazon going head-to-head with the likes of Target and Walmart for price-conscious consumers while undercutting department stores and specialty retailers such as Victoria’s Secret that have standard retail prices around $40.
Victoria’s Secret, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, had a tough 2016 with sales falling at the chain for the first time in seven years. The retailer was slow to adjust to consumers, particularly younger women, switching to sports bras and bralettes that are said to be much easier to size.
The Journal article pointed to the success Amazon has had in the apparel category. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed last September by Morgan Stanley AlphaWise said they had purchased clothing from Amazon’s site over the previous six months, well ahead of second-place Kohl’s at 37 percent.