The e-commerce giant Amazon has entered the hair salon business — or so it seems.
Over a blog post, the company has announced the launch of Amazon Salon: "a new salon where customers can experience the best in hair care and styling."
Occupying over 1500 sq. ft and two floors, the salon is located on Brushfield Street in London's Spitalfields, from where it will trial the latest technologies.
The salon will offer traditional services, including cuts and blow-dries, when it opens to the public in the coming weeks.
Elena Lavagni, owner of Neville Hair & Beauty, will provide hair care and styling services at Amazon Salon.
Amazon Salon will be offering the visitors to see themselves in different hair colors using augmented reality technology along with Fire Tablets at each styling section and a dedicated creative area to capture their new look. For people who are unsure about finally getting that fun look, this feature might come as a blessing.
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John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon said "We have designed this salon for customers to come and experience some of the best technology, hair care products, and stylists in the industry".
The salon will include a selection of bestselling professional hair care products at which customers can simply point and display all the relevant information of the product, including videos and educational content by virtue of point-and-learn technology. The service extends to where a customer can scan the applicable QR code of the product on the shelf to redirect them to Amazon.co.uk to purchase and get it delivered to their home.
However, Amazon has assured the hairstyling industry that they do not have any plans to expand their salon business at any other locations.
Elena Lavagni and her team of stylists will be providing the hair care and styling services at Amazon Salon. Elena and a highly professional team have provided hair services for Paris Fashion Week and the Cannes Film Festival and are known for using the latest technologies in hair and beauty treatments.
"I am delighted to be part of this project – the salon combines classic hairdressing services with technology to deliver a completely unique experience for clients," said Elena Lavagni, owner of Neville Hair & Beauty. "Our creative team of stylists, whose flair for hair is as intrinsic as their love for technology, will put the client at the heart of everything they do. I feel proud to use our 40 years experience in the industry to help bring this salon to life."
The launch of Amazon Salon comes as somewhat a threat to the medium and small salon owners.
Jan Mercan, who runs Hair Therapy in Blackfen, southeast London, said the move could damage small independent salons like hers.
"Amazon should stick to their online shopping trade," she told the BBC. "It shouldn't be about faceless technology - getting your hair done is about human interaction."
However, Amazon has assured the hairstyling industry that they do not have any plans to expand their salon business at any other locations. Instead, their London location will be used as an outlet for the company to indulge in its favorite pastimes of testing technology in real life.
Amazon Salon follows the launch of the Amazon Professional Beauty Store on Amazon.co.uk that gives hair and beauty businesses convenient access to Amazon's selection of more than ten thousand salon and spa products and supplies, from straighteners and clippers through to curlers and hair dryers.
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