Amazon opens first in-person clothing store with high-tech twist

Retail giant Amazon has opened its first in-person clothes store with a high-tech twist.

Called "Amazon Style," it uses machine learning and palm recognition to provide customers with personalized recommendations and fast checkouts in what Amazon says will be a "truly unique experience," stripping away some of the frustrations associated with traditional shopping.

"Amazon Style is our first ever clothing store where we're using machine learning technology, advanced operations to shopping for clothes in a physical setting for the very first time, making the experience more inviting, personalized, convenient, and inspiring for every customer," said Simoina Vasen, Amazon Style's Vice President.

Customers who visit the 30,000 square foot store will find just one of every item on display, rather than dozens of colors and sizes.

By scanning a QR code, they'll be able to select the variation they want and have it waiting for them in a personalized fitting room which they unlock with their phones.

"We stripped those out and put them in our back-of-house so customers can actually see a lot more selection in a lot less space. They don't need to sift from rack to rack to actually find what they're looking for," Vasen said, as she scanned a QR code attached to a shirt.

"So I scanned it. My size is preselected and I'm going to tap 'try on'. So at this point, I've added a few things to my fitting room. I would be carrying those items with me going and waiting in line for a fitting room. We wanted to simplify this for customers, so instead here I was added to a virtual line for a fitting room. I can shop hands free and I'll get a notification in the app when my fitting room's available. As I was adding items to my fitting room, our back of house employees received a notification. They are picking, packing and delivering those items to my fitting room while I continue to shop," she added.

Once in the fitting room, customers will be presented with additional suggestions and be able to order additional colors and sizes which will be delivered to a closet inside the fitting room.

Employees will transfer the clothes into the double sided locker, with the door automatically locked on the other inside to protect privacy.

Once the items had been left and the employee was gone, the door glowed with a white light, showing it was safe to be opened.

Customers are given multiple payment options: from scanning a QR code on their phone which links the payment to the card Amazon holds on file, to palm recognition which will also charge their card, to swiping a credit card in person or using gift vouchers or cash.

Asked about concerns from some that this palm-recognition and an app storing users' measurements may mean Amazon holds too much information on an individual, Vasen said this is data a customer has offered up voluntarily.

"Our machine learning algorithms are using inputs that a customer's providing to us to help them find clothes that they like while they shop the store so they can tell us their size or their shopping preferences. And we have their scans. And it's just this is just a convenience for them. To help them shop our store."

Amazon became the largest apparel retailer in the US last year, edging Walmart out of top spot.

The Seattle-based firm has been steadily building its physical store presence in recent years—but not without setbacks: the company opened a bookstore in Seattle in 2015 and went on to open dozens more plus a line of other stores which it has now shuttered.

Amazon bought the Whole Foods chain for $13 billion in 2017 and has gone on to invest more in the grocery business with a number of cashier-less Amazon Go stores in the US and UK.

It's currently also developing a number of Amazon Fresh grocery stores—all options that Vasen believes enrich each other.

"We think customers should have a choice of when, where and how to shop. We know they like shopping online. We know they like shopping offline. So Amazon Style and all of our physical retail offerings are just an example of giving them the option to do so."

—Reuters