- Amazon is testing a new badge for some of its higher profile clothing brands: "Top Brand."
- Similar to the "Best Seller" and "Amazon's Choice" badges, it is designed to give buyers another reason to click in and purchase.
- Amazon has been trying for years to take a bigger bite out of the apparel market
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Amazon wants it customers to buy more clothes.
The retail giant is testing a new badge for some of its higher-profile clothing brands on its website: "Top Brands." Brands like Fruit of the Loom, Under Armour, and New Balance now have some of their apparel marked with the new badge.
Search for "running shoes" for example, and the results that come up form New Balance will be labeled with the new badge. Search "t-shirt," and some options from Under Armour may come up labeled "Top Brand."
The new badge was first spotted by Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder of Marketplace Pulse. The testing was confirmed to Bloomberg by an Amazon spokesperson, who said it was to denote brands that are popular with customers.
It's unclear what exactly makes a brand a Top Brand. That ambiguity mimics the "best seller" and "Amazon' Choice" labels, where Amazon gives only a hint of what exactly goes into the formula behind the which products are deemed such.
Top Brand is not part of Amazon Advertising, and brands don't pay for the privilege of being labeled a top brand.
Amazon's incredible number of offerings can be somewhat unwieldy — especially for customers looking to buy clothing. There are many different brands, many from labels that customers may have never heard of and aren't typically carried in local department or big box stores.
The top brand tag could be a way for the company to flag those brands customers are already intimately familiar with, and so may be more comfortable purchasing without seeing in person or trying on. It may also be a way to steer customers away from the many lower-priced options to the name brand options.
Amazon has been very active in trying to carve out a larger part of the apparel space.
It has developed and launched many new private label brands, and launched Prime Wardrobe, a try-before-you-buy service with free return shipping.
