Amazon declared last Thursday that it is planning to open a clothing store in a Southern California mall in late 2022.
The new brick-and-mortar store will be opened at Americana at Brand, a mall in Glendale, California. However, Amazon didn’t communicate a precise opening date. The store will sell women’s and men’s clothing, shoes and accessories. All items will be chosen by Amazon curators who use feedback provided by shoppers on Amazon.com.
The store will be around 2,787sq m (30,000sq ft). Despite being considerably smaller than other US department stores, it will offer more than double the number of styles that traditional clothing stores do because only one of each piece for each item will be displayed, with the rest in the back room. The online retail giant already sells more than 10% of all clothes purchased in the United States. With more people shopping online in 2020 due to the pandemic, Amazon’s clothing and footwear sales in the US increased by around 15%, unseating Walmart as the largest clothing seller.
Experts say its entry into malls represents another potential threat to traditional clothing stores, as Amazon may gain crucial shopper insights and data. According to Amazon, its algorithms will be able to provide shoppers with real-time recommendations as customers keep scanning the items that they like. Moreover, shoppers can also fill out an online survey to enter their style or seize preferences.
Amazon Style completely reimagines what’s possible in the fitting room, turning it into a personalized space where customers can continue to shop a seemingly endless closet of great styles.
Simoina Vasen, managing director of Amazon Style
Shoppers at the Amazon store will be able to browse items on display and send clothing items to the fitting rooms or to the store’s counter. When using a fitting room, shoppers can request other items using a touchscreen.
