A brand-new store opened last week in Tokyo’s Harajuku fashion district but it has a twist: shoppers are meant to walk away empty-handed.
The GU Style Studio store, opened by Asia’s largest clothier and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co., is for customers to try apparel and place orders online for later delivery.
They can also try out extra services, such as playing with clothing combinations on a virtual mannequin and creating a digital avatar.
Although the notion of showcase shopping has been around for a while, and remains somewhat popular in Europe, such stores have usually been reserved for electronics, household items and knick-knacks.
Seldom has the idea been ported over to the clothing sector. But, as the rise of e-commerce threatens to upend the global retail industry, apparel makers are experimenting with new ways of selling clothes.
“Among large specialty chain retailers, Fast Retailing has one of the most developed digital strategies,” said Dairo Murata, an analyst at JP Morgan Securities. “They are doing it all in-house, and it allows them to be more competitive.”
The line separating online and offline storefronts is becoming blurrier as e-commerce moves into physical locations and brick-and-mortar retailers shift online.
That’s resulted in new shopping experiences such as Amazon’s Prime Wardrobe, which sends boxes of clothing to customers to try on, letting them send back what they don’t like.
GU isn’t the first to open a try-on store; Inditex SA’s Zara also temporarily opened a look-and-buy outlet in Tokyo’s Roppongi district this year.
