Amazon Style is now open at The Americana at Brand in Glendale. The store puts a high-tech spin on the typical clothing shopping experience with QR codes and special dressing rooms with secret doors that are key to the entire experience.
Let me explain.
To begin with, the store was bigger than I expected, but it was actually cut in half. Half of the store is shoppable, the other half is where clothes are stored, and employees are busy carrying items to the dressing rooms.
More on that in a moment.
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There is only one of each element on the ground. No need to search through different sizes and colors to find your fit. Everything has a QR code.
If he finds something he likes, he scans the QR code using the Amazon app on his phone. If you don’t need to try it on, you can send it directly to pick up and pay. If you need to try it on, you can send it to a fitting room where you’ll find your clothes later.
Since it takes a bit to retrieve your clothes and get your room ready, you can continue shopping and adding clothes to your room until you get a notification that your dressing room is ready.
On the ground is a mix of brands you know and Amazon’s own brands. The company is using a lot of data to supply these stores. If an item is a top seller online, it has a good chance of appearing in the store. There are also in-store brands that have never been sold in a physical location.
There are more than 40 high-tech changing rooms, many of them on the second floor. Once yours is ready, use your phone to wirelessly unlock it.
When you walk in, it’s a sizeable room. The items you chose are already placed inside, along with a few suggestions that Amazon’s algorithms think you might like.
There is also a large touch screen inside the fitting room. You can use this to request a new size or color for an item you’re trying on, or see suggestions for more items you might like and have them delivered to your dressing room.
While you wait, you can scroll through various clothing items and give them a thumbs up or thumbs down to help Amazon’s AI create a better picture of your fashion sensibilities. This will drive future suggestions on the website and in the store.
Now about those secret doors. This is the key to the whole operation.
Inside the fitting room, there is a special cabinet with double doors.
Employees quietly open the “back door” to this closet to add whatever clothes you request into the mix. They can also add some more suggestions that you might like.
For privacy reasons, while employees have the back door of the cabinet open, the front door that they can access is automatically locked. A red light tells you that the door is closed.
This is the secret door that makes the whole experience possible.
When the employee has finished filling their closet, they will hear a notification sound and the entire closet will light up with a warm glow. The touch screen also lets you know it’s time to open the door.
This experience is magical and has the potential to make or break this entire operation.
If clothing delivery takes too long, shoppers will get frustrated and won’t want to waste time coming back.
If Amazon can deliver this experience in a timely manner, it makes solo shopping a lot easier because you can try multiple fits without leaving room to search for another size.
Overall, Amazon Style puts a unique spin on the clothing shopping experience, and the technology even makes it fun. Only time will tell if buyers are ready for this technological experience.
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Source: ktla.com