Amazon Salon: a 3.0 hair salon in the heart of London

Amazon Salon is the latest innovation launched by the Seattle giant. A 6th brand has been added to the already very active Amazon galaxy (see at the end of this article our video overview of the group’s different brands). The Amazon Salon hair salon opens in London in partnership with Elena Lavagni, a stylist well known to stars and VIPs. With this hyperconnected sales outlet, Amazon is trying new recipes to reconcile the online and offline worlds, a dream that obsesses retailers, all very fond of “data”.

The Amazon Salon is a concentrate of technology.
All images courtesy of Amazon UK.

Amazon salon: a connected hair salon

Amazon has announced on its blog the launch in London of the Amazon Salon, a connected hair salon. It will be, somewhat like Amazon Go, a very connected store in which new technologies will be tested:

• point-and-learn: simply point your smartphone at a product to find out its composition, instructions for use, etc…
• augmented reality: The Amazon Salon will have augmented reality mirrors that will allow you to try new haircuts without risk.
• 1-click shopping: all the products displayed in the Amazon Salon can be purchased on-site or delivered with Amazon in one click. Or you can scan a QR code to simplify the order.

Of course, you will be taken care of by real hairdressers. Since this is a little far from its core business, Amazon has partnered with Elena Lavagni, the owner of Neville Hair and Beauty salons (traditional ones at that). It remains to be seen why Amazon is getting into the hair business.

Amazon Salon: a testing ground for linking physical and online commerce

It doesn’t take a retail hyper-expert to guess what Amazon is trying to do with its Amazon Salon. As for the Amazon Go autonomous store, the abundance of technology aims to collect data and understand the interaction between the physical and online experience. This interaction is one of the significant growth drivers for retail, as explained in this research. 

In doing so, Amazon is trying to bring a new solution to the reconciliation of online data (e- and m-commerce) and offline data (in-store purchases), which still dominate the retail sector. For example, in the food sector, the share of physical commerce is still over 90% in most countries. Although Covid has accelerated the transition to digital, the latter is still essentially a minority.

A marketing strategy that extends to B2B

The launch of the Amazon Salon is also a way for Amazon to support its B2B strategy. An online store dedicated to beauty professionals has been launched, which attacks head-on the traditional supply channels of hairdressers and other beauty businesses.

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is the founder of IntoTheMinds. He specializes in e-commerce, retail and logistics. He is also a research fellow in the marketing department of the Free University of Brussels and acts as a coach for several startups and public organizations. He holds a PhD in Marketing, a MBA in Finance, and a MSc in Chemistry. He can be contacted by email, Linkedin or by phone (+32 486 42 79 42)