Amazon plans to open a fashion store it calls “Amazon Style” where algorithms will recommend customers on what to try on, with one corporate director describing it as a “magic closet”.
The ecommerce giant has set its sights on the fashion industry as its next target to disrupt, announcing it will open its first-ever clothing store this year, in customary hi-tech fashion.
“We wouldn’t do anything in physical retail unless we felt we could significantly improve the customer experience,” Amazon managing director Simoina Vasen told Reuters.
The 30,000 sq ft store will be located near Los Angeles and is smaller than a typical department store.
Customers can find clothes on racks like a normal clothing store but they will need to scan a code on the Amazon mobile app to select a colour and size that they wish to try on.
Shoppers will then enter a virtual queue for the fitting room which is then unlocked via their smartphone when they are ready.
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Each fitting room contains a “personal space for you to continue shopping without ever having to leave,” Vasen added.
Shoppers are able to request more items that staff deliver to a secure, two-sided closet “within minutes.”
“It’s like a magic closet with seemingly endless selection,” she explained.
The room’s touchscreen monitors also suggest items for shoppers to try on too, with Amazon keeping a record of every item a customer scans so its algorithms are able to personalise the recommendations.
When entering the store, customers can fill out a style survey which means that by the time a customer has arrived in a fitting room, shop workers have already deposited customers’ requested items and others that Amazon has picked.
Vasen said that the new store aims to attract a range of shoppers with hundreds of apparel brands.
“You’ll find everything from the $10 basic to the designer jeans to the $400 timeless piece,” Vasen told CNBC.
“We want to meet every budget and every price point.”
Amazon Style Shoppers will be able to pay using Amazon’s biometric palm-scanning system “Amazon One” at checkout.
