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Amazon creates Allbirds look-alike wool shoe, plus hundreds of other knockoffs

Monday, November 25, 2019 by Snacks
_Amazon's inspo for Allbirds knockoff: "We'll call it, McDowell's"_

Amazon's inspo for Allbirds knockoff: "We'll call it, McDowell's"

Most concerning holiday gift ever... AmazonBasics — the low-cost versions of simple stuff, from dorm-worthy extension cords to half-price iPhone chargers. Now Amazon has taken its cheaper private label brands to a new level: Ripping off name-brand innovators and their top products. The latest victim is Allbirds.

Behold, the "206 Collection" wool sneakers... They look just like these iconic Allbirds wool shoes — they're straight-up copycat kicks made by Amazon, meant to capture Allbirds fans who want to pay half the price. Here's how Amazon tries to steal sales from Allbirds, the startup specializing in sustainably-made, simply-designed wool shoes.

  • Buy "Allbirds" Google search: Allbirds CEO Joey Zwillinger complained to Axios that Amazon's 206 Collection is sometimes the top result when you search "Allbirds" on Google — because Amazon pays for an ad to show up there.
  • "Equivalent" product, half price: Amazon defended its $45 knockoffs of $95 Allibirds as "saving customers money by offering a private label equivalent.” But Allbirds uses sustainable sourcing and recycled materials. Amazon's don't.
  • PS: Amazon is 1,000x bigger than Allbirds: That's based on their valuations — Allbirds' is $1.4B, Amazon's is close to $1T.
THE TAKEAWAY

Amazon search is how Amazon nails knockoffs... Allbirds doesn't sell on Amazon because it would be awkwardly placed next to cheaper/identical shoes like "Urban Fox Wool Runner". Amazon claimed this summer that its 100+ private label brands make up just 1% of its sales, but that's a lot. And it's growing. Here's their 4-step algorithmically-informed knockoff strategy:

  1. Search: Shoe-hungry humans still search for Allbirds on Amazon.
  2. Signal: Amazon interprets the high search volume as a signal of customer demand.
  3. Solution: Its retail team can quickly create a knockoff of their own to meet that demand with a freshly fake brand name.
  4. Repeat...
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