Bricks, bits and mortar
The app sends a message over the internet to a robotic system in the stock room.
This locates a pair in the correct size and uses tensioned cables to drop it
into a basket in one of the shop’s six large dressing rooms. When Babbage tried
it, the whole process took less than the time to walk to the fitting room,
around 30 seconds. If the jeans fit, customers can simply put them in a bag,
swipe their credit card through a reader and walk out the door without ever
interacting with another person.
“Soon, every item in the world will be sold like this,” Nadia Shouraboura says. “It will be
bigger than Amazon.” In her upcoming stores, she plans to flog men’s shirts and
shoes, too. Eventually, she hopes to launch a sister shop for women called
Hointress. After all, some women hate shopping, too.
