Amazon’s Endless Clothing Aisle Continues To Grow

Amazon is growing its clothing selection — at a significantly impressive rate.

Sharing data from the investment bank R.W. Baird showing that the number of items listed on Amazon in apparel and accessories categories leaped 91 percent last year to reach 30 million items as of the holiday season, Re/code points out that that number is equivalent to what about 250 Walmart supercenters combined sell across all categories.

The outlet provides a graph from R.W. Baird that tracks the number of clothing and accessory SKUs available on Amazon going back two years, by quarter: It’s a steady climb of 1 million per quarter at first; then, starting at Q4 2014, the rate of increase only continues to accelerate to reach the 30 million figure most recently reported.

Compared to other product types sold on Amazon, the position that clothing has now reached on the eCommerce site is equally noteworthy. Another R.W. Baird visualization that Re/code shares shows the year-over-year growth of all categories available on Amazon; the 91 percent jump made by clothing and accessories ranks third, behind home and kitchen and, at the top, cell phones and accessories (both of whose growth exceeded 100 percent), but it’s more than double the rate of increase of, for example, electronics (a product category whose item count on Amazon, Re/code adds, is now outnumbered by that of clothing).

As for Amazon’s rationale in putting such a significant focus on its apparel offerings, Re/code attributes it to the fact that, while the clothing and accessories industry in the U.S. is about a $250 billion market, it’s one of which traditional brick-and-mortar retailers still own a large portion. The outlet attests, however — based on projections by equity research analysts Cowen and Company — that if Amazon stays on pace with regards to the valuable product category, it could supplant Macy’s as the number one seller of clothing in the U.S.