Amazon is taking another swing at traditional retailers with the announcement of Prime Wardrobe, a program that lets Prime members try on clothing items and shoes shipped to their home before they are charged for their order.
As part of Amazon’s Prime membership, Amazon shoppers will be able to order clothing, shoes and accessories, and then take up to seven days to decide if they want to keep them. Any unwanted items can then be returned to Amazon via the reshippable box and prepaid mailing label without incurring a charge.
“Prime Wardrobe is a new service that brings the fitting room to you, so you can try the latest styles and find your perfect fit before you buy,” says Amazon in the announcement it released yesterday.
According to Amazon, the program is still in beta and has not officially launched. Anyone interested in the program was given an option to receive an email once the program becomes available.
To take advantage of Prime Wardrobe, shoppers must order at least three items. But Amazon is sweetening the deal by offering discounts for keeping all items. Shoppers who choose to keep three or four items receive a 10 percent discount. That discount goes up to 20 percent for five or more items not returned.
Amazon says more than a million items on its site will be eligible for Prime Wardrobe, and listed a number of brands, including Calvin Klein, Adidas, Timex, Hugo Boss and kids’ clothes brand Carter’s.
Earlier this month, in a study conducted by the e-commerce platform Navar, 95 percent of online shoppers said they would be loyal to retailers that provided a positive experience with returns.
With Prime, Amazon already has a built-in loyalty from its members. If things go as planned, adding Prime Wardrobe to the mix will most likely only heighten that loyalty by giving shoppers both the fitting room experience and a seamless return process, without additional costs.
This latest program was announced in the wake of Amazon’s news on Monday that it would be acquiring Whole Foods for nearly $14 billion.
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