Amazon.com announced it will open fashion store where customers will receive algorithm based recommendations to try and select.
The US-based online retailer said it will open first-ever apparel store near Los Angeles this year, with a technology innovation. “We wouldn’t do anything in physical retail unless we felt we could significantly improve the customer experience,” said Simoina Vasen, a managing director.
Amazon Style shop — with 30,000 square feet — is smaller than the typical department store. Model items are on the racks, and customers scan a code using Amazon’s mobile app to select the color and size they would like. To try on the clothes, which are stored in the back, shoppers enter a virtual queue for a fitting room that they unlock with their smartphone when it is ready, Reuters reported
Inside, the dressing room is a personal space for you to continue shopping without ever having to leave. Each has a touchscreen letting shoppers request more items that staff deliver to a secure, two-sided closet within minutes.
The touchscreens suggest items to shoppers too. Amazon keeps a record of every good a customer scans so its algorithms personalize clothing recommendations. Shoppers can fill out a style survey as well. By the time they arrive in a fitting room, employees have already deposited customers’ requested items and others that Amazon has picked.
Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the most-shopped clothing retailer in the United States, according to analyst research.
Amazon has room to expand and compete with the likes of Macy’s and Nordstrom, which have opened smaller-format stores. Amazon’s physical grocery and convenience shops have yet to upend brick-and-mortar retail.
Amazon has hundreds of associates, and no cashier-less checkout like some Amazon stores. Still, using a biometric system known as Amazon One, customers can pay with a swipe of their palm.
