Rent the Runway teams up with Amazon Fashion in quest for growth

Dive Brief:

Rent the Runway is expanding its customer base through a new partnership with Amazon Fashion, where it has launched an online storefront.
Amazon customers can purchase items from Rent the Runway’s designer exclusives as well as secondhand garments retired from its rental service, per an emailed press release.
The online apparel rental service didn’t update its holiday guidance, per the release. Previously, the company said it expects Q4 revenue to land between $72 million and $74 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 4% to 5%, and full year revenue between $293 million to $295 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 1%.

Dive Insight:

A partnership with Amazon Fashion is the latest move by Rent the Runway in its quest for growth and profitability.

The company has forged a number of partnerships with retailers and even a hotel chain to ease pick up and drop off of rented items and to fuel sales. And it has tweaked its model numerous times, including switching up its subscription tiers and relaxing its requirements for secondhand purchases.

"Collaborating with Amazon Fashion brings Rent the Runway incredible brand awareness,” Rent the Runway Co-Founder and CEO Jenn Hyman said in a statement. "We believe strategic relationships like this can ignite a new engine of growth for our business.”

In September Rent the Runway laid off about a quarter of its workforce and announced a new focus on profitability. The company remains in the red, though its Q3 net loss contracted to $36.1 million, from $87.8 million in the same period in 2021.

As with Gap’s decision last year to sell through Amazon, the tie-up also expands Amazon’s apparel offer. The e-commerce giant remains one of the largest sellers of apparel in the U.S., but it hasn’t made a name for itself in higher fashion. The company closed nearly all its non-grocery physical stores last year, but opened two Amazon Style locations, to mixed reviews.

“At Amazon Fashion, we continually expand our assortment through strategic relationships with brands to inspire and delight our customers,” Amazon Fashion President Muge Erdirik Dogan said in a statement. “Rent the Runway’s collection continues to grow our offering in pre-loved and designer fashion.”