What may be considered the death to malls, Amazon is opening its first department store in a real life mall. It’s called Amazon Style, and it’ll open sometime later this year.
You’ll find Amazon Style in Glendale, just outside of Los Angeles. It’ll be next to a Nordstrom, an Urban Outfitters, a J. Crew, and an H&M . . . and incredibly, there’s even a JCPenney across the street.
Amazon has opened other kinds of physical locations in the past . . . book stores and convenience stores . . . and they’ve had lukewarm success with it.
Amazon Style may fare better. Why? In-store purchases still make up more than 85% of retail sales, and of all things, clothes are probably the most difficult to buy online, because you want to try them on, and it’s also easier to browse clothes in person.
The shopping experience will utilize a lot of tech (shocker) . . . with QR codes and touch-screens . . . but similar technology is already being used at other high-end retailers, like Nike.