For years, Amazon has worked to attract luxury brands in a bid to broaden its consumer base and elevate its fashion credentials. Its dedicated platform, Amazon Luxury Stores, debuted in September 2020 as a mobile-only experience, launching exclusively with Oscar de la Renta.
Over time, the initiative expanded to include brands such as Sergio Hudson, Rodarte, and Altuzarra, as well as European availability and collaborations with resale and rental services like Hardly Ever Worn It, What Goes Around Comes Around, and Rent the Runway.
Amazon and Saks Reboot Luxury Retail Partnership Amid Industry Shifts
Despite these efforts, Amazon Luxury Stores has struggled to gain traction. The platform has offered a limited selection, and its hard-to-find landing page and highly transactional experience clashed with the nuanced storytelling luxury brands prefer. Amazon’s core focus on low prices, Prime shipping, and algorithm-driven product visibility hasn’t aligned well with the luxury sector’s desire for controlled branding and exclusivity — deterring many designers from jumping onboard.
That dynamic could be changing.
The recent merger of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus into the newly formed Saks Global group — which also includes Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Off Fifth — has brought Amazon and Salesforce into the fold as key partners. Salesforce is focused on bringing AI capabilities to the group, while Amazon’s involvement centers around e-commerce.
This new structure helps ease previous concerns among designers who feared that appearing on Amazon might jeopardize relationships with high-end retailers like Bergdorf Goodman. With everyone now under the same corporate umbrella, such worries are increasingly irrelevant.
As Saks and Amazon relaunch the Luxury Stores platform, the timing is notable. Several luxury e-commerce platforms have downsized or shuttered, leaving fewer online avenues for designer brands to sell outside their own websites. For independent designers, this presents a valuable opportunity.
“In today’s retail climate, non-traditional platforms like Amazon can offer crucial visibility,” says fashion executive Ramírez. “It’s about meeting the customer where they are — and Amazon is still one of the most powerful retail touchpoints.”
Saks on Amazon campaign imagery
Still, inclusion in the Amazon-Saks storefront will remain opt-in, meaning larger luxury labels with extensive distribution networks may not participate. However, smaller or emerging brands — especially those sitting on surplus inventory — might see this as a much-needed solution. One designer told Vogue Business, “We have all this extra inventory — we need to figure out the best way to move it.”
That sentiment is especially relevant in light of Saks’ recent vendor policy change, extending payment terms from 30 to 90 days. While frustrating for brands operating on tight margins, many admit that walking away from Saks would do more harm than good.
To support the relaunch, Saks will promote its Amazon storefront through an editorial campaign — including dedicating window displays at its flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York to products available on Amazon. It’s a striking symbol of the increasingly blurred lines between traditional retail and digital commerce.
A Saks on Amazon window display. Photo: Courtesy of Saks
As the landscape evolves, collaborations like Saks on Amazon could redefine how luxury is discovered and sold — combining reach, speed, and scale with curated storytelling.
