Amazon Has New Plan to Dominate Online Clothing Sales

Amazon will soon let customers order clothes and have them delivered to their homes—without paying for them first. The New York Times reports Prime Wardrobe represents the latest in Amazon's ongoing process of eliminating every barrier to shopping online. It works like this: Amazon Prime customers can order three to 15 items of clothing at a time without actually buying them and will be charged only for the items they keep. Customers have seven days to return the unwanted items in a resealable box with a pre-printed shipping label before they're charged, according to USA Today. And the Verge notes customers won't even have to go to the post office to return the unwanted clothing, because the service includes free scheduled UPS pickups.

To sweeten the deal, Amazon will give customers 10% off if they keep at least three items. If they keep at least five items, the discount is 20%. Other online clothing retailers have long offered free returns to customers, but few only charge customers for the items they keep and those that do—such as Stitch Fix—choose the clothing they send to customers. It's unclear when Prime Wardrobe will be available, but Amazon has already taken over the books and electronics markets—and is working on the grocery market—and analysts expect it to be the biggest apparel retailer in the US by the end of the year. (More Amazon stories.)