Amazon Opens its First Physical High-Tech Apparel Store

Amazon.com opened its first brick-and-mortal apparel store on Wednesday, leveraging technology to set itself apart as it tries to grow its physical presence. Called Amazon Style, the new store, located in California, features machine learning technology to help customers find clothes and personalize recommendations as well as interactive dressing rooms. The store stocks men's and women's clothing, shoes and accessories, and sells apparel from brands such as Levi's, Steve Madden, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, and Champion, as well as Amazon's brand.

Customers can either shop through the app, scan items and have the clothes brought to them in a personalized dressing room that also gives recommendations based on customers' selections, or work directly with an employee without the app. Amazon customers can also shop online and then have the box of clothes shipped to the store to try on.

Total Retail's Take: The retailer has said it aims to offer a shopping experience that inspires discovery and combines the best of shopping on Amazon.com with the benefit of touching and trying on items in person. Amazon will certainly entice consumers looking for a new and unique way to shop for apparel, and will bring in customers who don't typically shop the retail giant for that product category. It remains to be seen whether the Amazon Style store will address some of the paint points found in traditional retail stores, such as navigating floor space and improving discovery. Furthermore, Amazon has had its struggles duplicating its online success into the physical world. We'll see if Amazon Style breaks that trend.