Amazon struggles with women's private label apparel brands

Though Amazon is second only to Walmart as the top apparel retailer in the U.S., according to a report by data-research firm Jungle Scout, its private label apparel brands are not performing well, especially in womenswear.

Apparel accounts for 88 percent of Amazon’s private label brands, yet only makes up 1 percent of all private label sales. In an analysis of 74 Amazon private label brands, Jungle Scout confirmed that 82 percent of women’s clothing brands sell less than 100 items per month. Nine out of the top 10 worst performing private label brands are women’s and girls’ labels. The only women’s fashion labels that retail well on Amazon seem to be casual items, such as loungewear and underwear.

Amazon's menswear out preforming womenswear

Conversely, Amazon’s private label menswear brands tend to perform three times better than the womenswear category. There are only 13 private label brands in men’s clothing.

Despite the fact that apparel is not performing well, Amazon’s private label brands do perform well overall. Amazon Basics, health and household brand Presto, Amazon Essentials, clothing brand Goodthreads and the Wickedly Prime food brand, were shown to be amongst the top selling private label brands. Jungle Scout’s report also revealed that most consumers search for the private label brand name, showing a strong sense of brand recognition amongst shoppers.

“Clothing, furniture, and high-end products have difficult selling on Amazon. We believe it is because these are more ‘hands-on’ products. Women want to try on their clothing before they buy it. Furniture needs to be sat on, felt, and visualized. High-end products require more social proof and other hands-on experience,” said chief executive officer and founder of Jungle Scout, Greg Mercer, in the report.

Amazon has reacted to the common issues with online clothing retail; the retailer launched Prime Wardrobe a few months ago to allow consumers to try on clothing items prior to purchase. Shoppers select between three and eight clothing or accessory items, which are then delivered to their home. The shoppers then have a seven-day window to try on the clothing and make a selection before purchasing or sending the items back.

Amazon is using Prime Wardrobe as a tool to expand visibility on their womenswear private label brands including activewear brand Core 10, basics brand Daily Ritual and wear-to-work staples brand Lark & Ro.

Photo: via Businesswire.com