Technologies

Amazon Has a Real-World Fitting Room, and It Makes Me Want to Shop

Commentary: Amazon’s concept clothing store eliminates a lot of the awkwardness of shopping.

I hate shopping for clothes. Shopping online means never really knowing if that shirt or those pants will fit. But going into the store means, well, physically going to a mall. It also means awkward moments in a fitting room where I need to get the attention of a clerk to bring me a different size or color. Often I don’t even bother, and I often go years between buying new pants.

Yet here I was at the Americana at Brand in Glendale, California, the weekend before Christmas, doing a bit of last-minute holiday shopping with my family. Mostly out of curiosity and some cynicism, I stepped inside Amazon Style, the online retail giant’s concept clothing store, and actually found myself having a fun time.

By merging its online shopping experience with a revamped, high-tech fitting room, it made me actually want to spend more time looking at clothes. For once, I didn’t feel the awkwardness or rushed anxiety that comes with trying things on in a changing room. This store is just one of two in the world (the other being in Columbus, Ohio), but I hope this is less an experiment and more the way all retailers start to think about their clothes shopping experience.

Amazon’s forays in the brick-and-mortar world have been varied and, at times, puzzling. There are the fully automated Amazon Go stores, where you grab an item and are automatically charged when you leave. Amazon also has its own supermarket concept which sits alongside its chain of Whole Foods Markets. Then there were the bookstores and pop-up shops, which the company shuttered this year.

Amazon declined to comment on its future plans for the Amazon Style store.

Like Amazon’s other stores, the key to the experience lies in its shopping app. At first glance, Amazon Style looks like any other clothing shop, with a few knick-knacks in the front and sections for men and women’s clothing.

But upon closer inspection, there are some subtle differences. Each article of clothing appears once – there are no different sizes. The prices are the same as what you’d pay online, although there are discounts if you spend more. Flanking one side of the store are a row of fitting rooms – with more rooms taking up the entire second floor.

It’s those fitting rooms where Amazon Style really sets itself apart. Rather than randomly find an empty room, I use the app to scan a few articles of clothing that I want to try, and tell it that I want to «start a room.» An employee then gathered the selections and put them in a fitting room. After about seven minutes, the app notified me that one was ready and directed me to a specific fitting room number, which I unlocked using my app.

Once inside, I saw the various shirts and jackets I scanned hanging on a rack or neatly folded on top of the shelf below. In addition, there were a few extra items added based on what Amazon thought I might like. Curiously, there was a Calvin Klein shirt on top of the pile, a «sponsored item» that was essentially a pop-up ad come to life (I didn’t bother to try it on).

On the wall to my right was a large touchscreen that displayed my selections and offered recommendations for other items I might like. I could also request different sizes and styles and have them delivered to my fitting room.

Rather than have a store clerk knock on my door and hand me the clothes, the items are delivered through the closet to the right of the clothes rack. It takes a few minutes, but when the items are ready, the closet door locks and a red light flashes. Inside, the back of the closet opens up, allowing an Amazon Style employee to hang the new clothes. Once the red light goes off, I open the door and there they are.

The touchscreen and the fitting room take the best parts of the physical shopping experience and the online and mash them into an effective hybrid. It’s so simple, yet removes so much of the hassle from the shopping experience. I came into the store on a whim, but left with a white Adidas jumper.

It actually has me looking forward to the next time I need a new pair of pants. Maybe in 2024?

Technologies

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 20, #443

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 443 for May 20.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle reminds me that I haven’t had a meal in a fancy restaurant in some time. Maybe it’s time to make a reservation. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Oh, of course!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Elegant eats.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

SITE, FINE, SINE, DINE, PEAS, TEEN, PEER, STEEP, DEER, SEED, SEEN, POET, TREE, NOPE, SEES.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

SOUP, SALAD, CHEESE, ENTREE, DESSERT, APPETIZERS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FINEDINING. To find it, start with the F that’s three letters down on the farthest row to the left, and wind across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 24, #713

Hints and answers for Connections for May 24, #713.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle has a fun variety of categories. The purple one appeals to my English major heart. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Goo-goo.

Green group hint: Not shirts.

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Acclaimed writers.