Japanese fashion retailer Zozo to open 1st physical outlet offering styling advice

Japanese online fashion retailer Zozo Inc will open its first physical outlet in Tokyo in mid-December that will not sell clothes but offer free styling advice to customers.

Dubbed Niaulab, the store will have professional stylists and use artificial intelligence to recommend items to customers based on their fashion preferences and concerns.

The AI uses some 13 million pieces of data on outfit coordination obtained from the company's fashion app.

Reserved exclusively for each customer for more than two hours at a time, the store will accept four to five visitors a day.

Zozo aims to offer the service to around 1,000 people annually.

To be located in Tokyo's upscale Omotesando shopping district, it will start accepting reservations via the Line messaging app on its opening day on Dec. 16,

Zozo President and CEO Kotaro Sawada noted that they would take advantage of face-to-face opportunities to provide their services that can be best delivered by assessing the person's face, style, and inner character.

Zozo intends to put what it learns from the physical store to use in providing more accurate styling advice to customers who purchase clothes online.