How the Pandemic Prepared Us for the Quasi-Dystopian Experience of Amazon Style

There are many ways shopping has evolved during the pandemic, from curbside pickup to online grocery and contactless payments. But it’s Amazon’s latest retail experience—a high-tech clothing store that is slated to open later this year in Los Angeles—that is perhaps the clearest manifestation yet of how much consumer behavior has changed since March 2020. The store, Amazon Style, will showcase only display items. Instead of clawing through racks, customers will scan QR codes to see sizes and colors as well as additional product details like ratings. Once a shopper finds something they like, they can send it to a fitting room or pickup counter. Within the changing rooms, touchscreens allow shoppers to browse additional items or to request more sizes and styles. Amazon said it is using technology from its fulfillment centers to ensure no one in a fitting room has to wait too long for their requests. 8 Ways Shopping Will Evolve in 2022 The Amazon Style experience A central part of the experience is recommendations. Much like on its website, Amazon’s algorithms “produce tailored, real-time recommendations for each customer as they shop,” so when a consumer enters their fitting room, they will find the items they requested along with additional options. Per a release, this more personalized experience helps customers find new designers—and the selection at Amazon Style will be “frequently updated” so customers are exposed to even more new items each visit. “We’re so excited 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 to ensure a great fit,” wrote Simoina Vasen, managing director of Amazon Style, in a blog post. Amazon fashion To be fair, Amazon has long held ambitions in fashion through efforts like its Prime Wardrobe service, which opened to all U.S. Prime members in June 2018, as well as its Trojan Horse-esque Echo Look device, which brought cameras into users’ closets and was discontinued in July 2020. Amazon also hosted what it called a “Big Style Sale” in Summer 2020 when it had to delay Prime Day. “Amazon has experimented with a number of programs to drive awareness for its fashion and apparel category, not all of which have been successful," said Chelsea Gross, director analyst at research firm Gartner. Nevertheless, Jason Snyder, global chief technology officer at experiential advertising agency Momentum, pointed to figures from Wells Fargo, which show Amazon was expected to hit $45 billion in shoe and clothing sales in 2021, which is more than 30% of all apparel sold in the U.S. That means its expansion into brick and mortar is not surprising—especially as it continues to open grocery stores and Amazon Go locations and push into airport retail. New retail models More than anything, Snyder said the hybrid in store-ecommerce shopping approach really speaks to the moment. “In the fatigued pandemic world, the timing might be right,” he said. “If this retail model came into being without social distancing and the need for face masks, conversations about a dystopian, automated lack of human engagement would ensue. However, now, more than ever, consumers might be willing to embrace the reduced friction.” That’s true of even pay-by-palm technology Amazon One, which will also be part of the Amazon Style experience. “Today, using technology to avoid touch and keep a distance is incidentally crucial to our survival,” Snyder added. “Maybe, hopefully, one day soon, that will change. But until then, these new retail models might help get us one step closer to reconnecting with physical space.” Brick and mortar The in-store experience also helps Amazon inch toward the world's largest retailer, Walmart. Gross noted Amazon Style enables the ecommerce pioneer to show off its private label assortment—and it lends credence to speculation Amazon hopes to one day open its own department stores. But it’s also a defensive response to The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, the antitrust legislation aimed at companies like Amazon that recently cleared the Senate. The legislation forbids platforms like Amazon from favoring their own products and services over competitors. “Self-preferencing is a hot issue right now,” said Gross. “Legislators want to determine how much control a company has over the products sold on its platform … [but] many of the concerns over brand bias disappear in a brick-and-mortar environment.” FanologyPV and Amazon Prime Video Launch Fanimation Week to Celebrate Adult Animation