Amazon Style

While in Columbus, Ohio celebrating the Fourth of July with extended family, Don stumbled upon an Amazon Style shop when he went to the LEGO store to ask them to put another stamp in his LEGO passport (yes, that is a thing). Have you heard about these? Amazon has two boutiques in the nation (the other is in Glendale, California) where you can try on clothes and shoes. In true Amazon fashion, though, it takes a traditional retail experience and ups it a technological notch or two.

The next day I asked Don to take me so I could check it out for myself. Let me preface this post by saying, I have only signed up for Prime for two trial periods -- the first to see the first three season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and currently to watch the last two seasons. I will be cancelling my current membership in a couple of weeks. 

When we first walked in a lovely woman clearly heading out to her break paused to welcome me and introduce me to the concept of the store. Though she must give the same spiel hundreds of times a day, she said it cheerfully and encouragingly. Having just purchased two pairs of jeans, a pair of pants, two tee-shirts, a long-sleeved tee, and pajama bottoms for $113 from the Eddie Bauer outlet in the warehouse district of Columbus, I was not in the market to actually buy anything. On the other hand, I was curious about their full shopping experience.

The store is set up like a higher-end boutique with a warehouse on its back end. Yes, a bit of an oxymoron.  

There is one of each item on display. Each item has a QR code on its hanger. You scan the item and it asks what size and (if applicable) what color you want. 

This is where the magic really begins. While you continue to shop, elves (okay, Amazon employees) find the items and deliver them to your dressing room through a secret passageway. You can continue to shop, and I suppose items will continue to be added to your room. The store did not feel busy, but this process did take longer than I had patience for. The initial message said it would take 5-9 minutes, then it shifted to (paraphrasing) "your order will be ready soon." Just as I left the store to find Don in the nearby LEGO Discovery Center, the message switched to my room was ready.

Using my Smartphone (yes, they assume all of their customers have a Smartphone) to unlock the room. I was greeted with this site: the dress I requested, plus a couple of more items they thought I might be interested in -- just like they do when we visit their website.

I did try on one of the other dresses, but the other two were complete misses. In hindsight, I wish their other options included shorts with pockets to go under the short dress. Perhaps then I would have purchased the dress and shorts.

From the monitor, you can ask for a different size, or additional items to be brought to the room. 

For people who hate playing the guessing game of will I really like the item, these stores have the potential of being a game change. As for the long delay, according to their website, you can shop at home and schedule a time to try on the clothes. Not having to deal with returns has a lot of potential.

As for me, I did not buy the cute dress. Looking at the picture, it is not as short as I thought it would be, but still short enough it needs shorts -- ones with pockets would be ideal because the dress does not have pockets. At $33.99, it is not a bargain.

One caveat to the one version of each item rule is in the kids' section -- in that area they have lots of different sizes and colors and you can grab, pay, and go. They just make the adults wait. Of course, with this being Amazon, you can just look at the item, order it, and have them deliver without trying it on first.