Japanese online fashion retailer Zozo to open physical store in Tokyo

TOKYO Kyodo Japanese online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. will open its first physical outlet in Tokyo next month in mid-December to offer free styling advice to customers, the company said.

The new store will not sell clothes, but it will have professional stylists who recommend items to customers based on their fashion preferences and concerns.

The store will be reserved for more than two hours at a time. The company said it will accept four to five visitors a day for the time, with an eye to offer the service to around 1,000 people annually.

The Japanese word niaulab means to suit or fit, and the store is named niaulab. It will have more than 700 items and use artificial intelligence to make suggestions.

The AI uses 13 million data items on outfit coordination from the company's fashion app, according to Zozo.

The store will open on December 16, in Tokyo's upscale Omotesando shopping district, and will start accepting reservations via the Line messaging app on December 16, the same day the store is scheduled to open.

A good fit can only be delivered by the person's face, style and inner character, according to Zozo President and CEO Kotaro Sawada at a press conference in Tokyo on November 9.

He said that we want to take advantage of face-to-face opportunities to provide our services.

Zozo wants to give more accurate styling advice to customers who buy clothes online, based on what it learns from the physical store.