Amazon has opened its first traditional clothing store, Amazon Style, in the greater Los Angeles area, signaling its ambitions to make an impact in the apparel market.
Visitors to the store at the Americana At Brand Mall use an app to scan codes across the displayed items to send them directly to the fitting room or send them directly for pickup for purchase, eliminating the need to carry a set of clothes.
The store does not have Just Walk Out technology. But there are regular staff to help you. The store focuses on reducing the hassle of trying on clothes.
Amazon Style features hundreds of brands chosen by fashion makers and reviews submitted by millions of customers who shop on Amazon.com.
Scanning a QR code next to an item shows up specific sizes and colors, as well as details like customer reviews and adds the item to a list for later viewing.
Amazon Style does not use the cashless Just Walk Out technology found on Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods sites, and instead opts for the palm recognition service Amazon One.
But on the store page, Amazon says: We’re bringing more looks and less clutter to in-store shopping. Advanced machine learning algorithms are constantly improving to find the right look for you based on your preferences.
Fitting rooms are opened using the app. Staff collect the fitting room and let you know when your clothes are ready to try on.
Each fitting room is also equipped with a touch screen that allows customers to order more items to try or rate the items they have chosen.
Items in-store can be purchased online or in-store, and in either case, they can be returned in-store.
Amazon is showing off its retail strength
Amazon has spent years experimenting with technology in fashion, most notably with the Echo Look, a connected camera that combines human and machine intelligence to recommend styles, sort clothes by color, and track what’s in customers’ wardrobes.
The Echo Look is linked to Prime Wardrobe, a program that lets users try on clothes and return what they don’t want to buy.
In March 2021, Amazon overtook Walmart as the top apparel retailer in the United States. This is partly due to the pandemic-related boom in online demand.
Analysts estimated that last year’s sales of clothing and footwear via Amazon in the United States exceeded $41 billion, including sales through third-party sellers.
And Amazon has been less successful with traditional stores. It recently announced the closure of dozens of bookstores and pop-up shopping kiosks within malls to focus on other areas of retail.
However, Amazon physical stores generated nearly $4.68 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
