With the ambition to make a dent in the clothing market, Amazon today opened its first physical clothing store, Amazon Style, in Los Angeles. In a twist on the traditional experience, visitors to the Glendale, California store at The Americana At Brand use an app to scan codes on displayed items from Steve Madden, Levi's, Lacoste and other brands to send them directly to a fitting room or to pick them up at the counter.
Amazon Style features hundreds of brands chosen by "fashion makers" and "feedback provided by millions of customers who shop on Amazon.com«. Scanning the QR code next to an item brings up a size and color selector, as well as details like customer ratings, and adds the item to a list for later review.
Amazon Style does not use technology”just walk out” found at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. Instead he opts for the controversial Amazon One palm recognition service. But there is an additional element of AI, like Amazon explained on the store website: “We are bringing more looks and less clutter to in-store shopping. Our advanced machine learning algorithms are continually refined to find the perfect looks for the client based on their preferences.”
Changing rooms are unlocked with the application and sports touch screens that allow buyers to continue requesting items to try on. Items found in the store can be purchased online or in store and either way can be returned to the store.
Amazon-style shopping windows
Amazon has spent years experimenting with technology in the fashion store space, most notably with the Echo Look, a since-discontinued connected camera that blends human and machine intelligence to recommend styles, color-filter clothing, and Keep track of what's in customers' wardrobes. The Echo Look linked to Prime Wardrobe, is a program similar to those offered by Stitch Fix and Trunk Club that allows users to try on clothes and return what they don't want to buy.
In March 2021, Amazon overtook Walmart as the leading clothing retailer in the United States in part due to a pandemic-related boom in online ordering, according to reported Wells Fargo. The bank's analysts estimated that domestic sales of clothing and footwear in Amazon last year they exceeded $41 billion, including sales with third-party vendors.
Amazon has been less successful when it comes to brick-and-mortar stores, recently announcing it was closing dozens of brick-and-mortar mall bookstores to focus on other areas of the retail business. Still, Amazon's physical stores have generated approximately $4.68 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 as you bet as just walk out they begin to gain strength.
