What is Amazon The Drop?
Amazon’s Marketplace is undisputedly a leader in many areas of the e-commerce world like household, books, and electronics. In certain areas, however, the giant is weakly positioned, and consumers don’t use it as the “Everything Store” expects them to. One example is the fashion market, which is dominated in the USA and internationally by other competitors in the online sector. To improve sales in this category, Amazon developed the so-called “The Drop. Amazon “The Drop” is an influencer fashion platform on which well-known and wide-ranging online influencers publish a fast-fashion collection that changes every 30 hours (at the latest).
How Does Amazon the Drop Work?
The fashion platform “The Drop” works differently from the usual Amazon strategy and the sale principles. On Amazon, a seller or vendor offers his/her products directly or indirectly on the sales platform, and this is then permanently available unless the product is manually deleted or comes out of stock. The Drop, on the other hand, is designed differently. Here, the fashion items are only available for a very short time. This new Amazon platform is based on the following four principles:
The Drop – “Designed by Influencers.”
Unlike “classic” fashion products, The Drop is not a big label or a well-known fashion designer. These articles are conceived and designed by famous influencers and international trendsetters.
The Drop – “Global Styles”
No industry is as fast-moving and internationally influenced as the fashion market. Whether in New York City, Paris, Tokyo, or Milan: in many major international cities, there are new trends regularly, which often exist only briefly. Thanks to the many global influencers, Amazon “The Drop” is supposed to pick up every fashion trend and make it available to buyers on the platform.
The Drop – 30 Hours Available
Since trends in the fashion sector are developing extremely fast (and are also passing away again), Amazon has conceived The Drop just as short-lived. Each new “The Drop collection” is therefore available for a maximum of 30 hours, until it “drops” again, as the fabrics are also limited. As soon as an order is received during the active phase, it is produced “on-demand,” i.e., individually. In this way, with the Drop, this way, Amazon also expects to reduce the amount of garbage that characterizes the fashion industry.
The Drop – Basics “Staples”
As with many fast-fashion products, Amazon The Drop also has some basics that are available permanently. Internally referred to as “staples,” these fashion items, which are always available, are intended to complement the 30-hour products ideally.
Why Did Amazon “the Drop” Come to Be?
Amazons goal with “The Drop,” is to win the fashion market or at least have a broader presence in it. Companies like “About You,” “Zalando” or “ASOS,” enjoy higher customer confidence in the fashion sector compared to Amazon, something that Amazon does not pass unnoticed since this industry is one of the most lucrative ones. According to an estimation from this very study, over 780 billion dollars in sales of fashion articles will be achieved by 2022. So, it’s no wonder that Amazon acknowledges the potential of this category and puts the effort in positioning the company as high as possible.
How Can You Register on “the Drop”?
There are three different ways to register on the fashion platform “The Drop”
- To register as an influencer
- To propose/nominate an influencer
- To register as a manufacturer/supplier
All three paths can be completed using a simple online form. The exact selection conditions for joining “The Drop” are unclear, but it is assumed that as an influencer a large number of (active) followers are needed for the account registration/activation. How to use Instagram professionally is explained in our Instagram Workshop. (We explain how to use Instagram professionally in our Instagram Workshop.)
Conclusion on “the Drop”
The basic idea behind Amazon’s new fashion platform is appealing in any case and shows that the e-commerce giant can continuously upgrade itself. The idea of cooperating as a platform with well-known influencers is nothing new, but rather a “proven” plan, especially in the fashion sector. It is still not known whether “The Drop” will appeal to fashion-savvy buyers and thus make Amazon generally more attractive for this market, but the plan is already in motion, the Amazons Instagram Account for this project was launched around the end of May 2019 (https://www.instagram.com/amazonthedrop/), the platform was able to build up almost 5,000 subscribers with 14 contributions. As a specialized Amazon full-service agency, into markets naturally serves several clients in the fashion industry, and therefore novelties like these are doubly exciting for us. In any case, we will continue to monitor “The Drop” and, if off course, inform you about further developments in our blog.