These high-end brands are a little hesitant to sell on Amazon mostly because it is known as a "discount store". They are afraid that it will hurt their brand image. If consumers are looking to buy a sweater online, they would see a $300 Ralph Lauren Polo sweater right next to a $30 no-name sweater. This helps consumers with providing a cost perspective in their search to buy a sweater. Not to mention, consumers can't even feel the fabric to test out the quality or feel of it. It gives them too many alternatives to choose from.
In this day and age, people have alternatives wherever they go. For example, if i'm looking to buy these Ralph Lauren Heels
that cost $695.00 on the RL website, I could easily search on Amazon for the same style for less $$$.
However, online shopping is becoming more and more prevalent in today's society, and I think the high-end brands need to jump on the trend or their competitors will. They need to trust their brand image and engage in the sweep of the clothing market by Amazon.
If Ralph Lauren is able to reserve some sort of control on how their merchandise is displayed on the search page, I think they should definitely start selling on Amazon. Ralph Lauren is a trusted and well-established brand, and it should be able to sustain customers interests no matter which portals shopping will go through. If high-end brands keep this mindset, they can definitely profit from it.
More people seeing their product = more $$$.
