According to the Amazon 2014 report by research company L2 Think Tank, Amazon is making a concerted effort to “seduce prestige players and become a top-of-mind destination for affluent consumers”, however the high-profile watch and jewellery brands are reluctant to sign on.
“While few prestige brands officially distribute on Amazon, high margins make luxury a ripe category,” the report stated. Some of the jewellery and watch brands that currently trade with Amazon include Alex and Ani, Fossil, Guess Watches, Kenneth Cole and Citizen.
It was suggested that Amazon’s decision to open a 40,000 square foot photo and video studio in New York to produce high-quality product imagery was further evidence of its push into the luxury sector.
“You are seeing more sophisticated imagery on the product pages,” Mabel McLean, research lead on the report, told trade publication JCK. “If you look at watch brands that have chosen to sell on Amazon, in many cases the imagery is better than what is offered through the traditional brand sites.”
The study also noted that the website’s Luxury Watch boutique provided a money-back guarantee and extensive warranty options to ensure authenticity.
However, the report indicated that a large number of luxury companies were “holding out” on Amazon, citing LVMH and Estée Lauder as examples of retailers that have “strict no-engagement policies” with the online platform.
It was stated that only 8 per cent of watch and jewellery brands were using Amazon to sell their products, despite the fact that one in four online purchases in the US are made through the website.
“They [Amazon] already have the demographic,” McLean told JCK. “It’s more of a question of getting brands on board so they can sell the inventory themselves.”
L2’s Amazon 2014 intelligent report involved a study of 27,517 Amazon listings of 315 brands across six categories, including watches and jewellery, beauty, fashion, hair care and colour, home care, and personal care.
Amazon is said to be the largest online retailer, having achieved US$67.9 billion (AU$77.9 b) in sales in 2013 – US$49.6 billion (AU$59 b) more than the second-largest online retailer, Apple.
The Seattle-based company began trading as an online bookstore in 1994 before diversifying into other retail categories such as electronics, apparel, food, toys, jewellery and watches.