The latest on-the-ground experiment from the online marketing giant is a London shop called the Amazon Salon. Located in the Spitalfields area of the city’s East End, the hair salon will supposedly be a site for testing the newest technology in the industry.
The Amazon Salon Will Do More Than Style Hair
The experimental technology includes an app that will show customers how various hair colors and styles will appear on them through augmented reality before they make the final decision.
This venture is not similar to the grocery stores called Go that do not have any human cashiers, as Amazon Salon is not seemingly looking to spearhead an invasion into the industry. The company’s blog post said that the venue will be purely experimental and will be used to showcase new technology and products. Furthermore, no other outlets for Amazon Salon are currently being planned.
In fact, it is more akin to a marketing stunt signaling Amazon’s general intentions for the beauty and fashion sectors. These two sectors have traditionally posed a challenge for Amazon as they tried to compete against specialist stores. The arrival of this salon follows Amazon’s Professional Beauty Store which is an online wholesaler for salon and spa products for businesses.
The salon will sit on over 1500 sq. ft. and have two floors at the Brushfield Street location. The AR haircut tech will not be the only trick in the salon, as customers will also get to play with the latest “point-and-learn” tech. It will allow them to learn more about a product by simply pointing at it. It will also have QR codes that will let specific items be bought.
The Amazon Salon is not yet open to the general public, however. For now, only the employees have access with everyone else being allowed entry in a few weeks’ time.
