Amazon expands physical presence with clothing store

Amazon’s online commerce empire is taking another step into the real world with plans announced Thursday to open a shop in Los Angeles that would be its first bricks-and-mortar clothing store.

An Amazon Style store to launch later this year is to let customers use the retailer’s app to scan QR codes of garments, chose from sizes and colors, then have items sent to fitting rooms to try on, according to a blog post.

The move to expand its retail presence with a physical clothing store comes as authorities and competitors raise warnings over the Seattle-based firm accumulating too much control over the market.

This move would come on the heels of Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of the Whole Foods Market grocery chain for $13.7 billion (£10bn), which significantly expanded the e-commerce giant’s presence in physical retail.

Amazon’s recipe for the department store of the future includes algorithmic recommendations and what one corporate director called “a magic closet” in the fitting room.

“We wouldn’t do anything in physical retail unless we felt we could significantly improve the customer experience,” said Simoina Vasen, a managing director.

At 30,000 square feet, the planned Amazon Style shop near Los Angeles 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.

Inside, the dressing room is “a personal space for you to continue shopping without ever having to leave,” Vasen said. Each has a touchscreen letting shoppers request more items that staff deliver to a secure, two-sided closet “within minutes,” she said.

“It’s like a magic closet with seemingly endless selection,” Vasen said.

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.

Shoppers can opt out with a concierge’s help, Amazon said.

Amazon has unveiled tech to help customers choose outfits before. The company has surpassed Walmart as the most-shopped clothing retailer in the US, according to analyst research.

But it still has room to expand and compete with the likes of Macy’s and Nordstrom, which have opened smaller-format stores. Amazon’s lineup of physical grocery and convenience shops has yet to upend brick-and-mortar retail.