Amazon launches Luxury Stores to separate the hoi polloi from the haute couture

Can shopping on your phone be a luxury experience? It seems unlikely, but that’s not stopping Amazon’s latest attempt to get high-end brands onboard its platform. Today, the company is unveiling what it calls Luxury Stores — a new way for brands to present their wares to discerning customers on Amazon’s mobile app, with high-end ready-to-wear brand Oscar de la Renta as the first official partner.

Luxury Stores will allow brands to create what Amazon is calling a “store within a store” experience. That means giving companies more control over inventory, selection, and pricing, while leveraging Amazon’s enormous reach to find customers. The online retailing giant will also supply brands with the digital equivalent of fancy shop windows,...

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