News

Cali store using robotics to compete with online retailers

March 19, 2013

For former Amazon executive Nadia Shouraboura, jeans and robotics are proving a successful combination. An article in the Seattle Times features Shouraboura's store, Hointer, and the ways she is managing to redesign the shopping experience for her customers.

At Hointer, shoppers use smartphones to scan items of interest and a robotic system in the back delivers those items to their dressing rooms. From there, shoppers can send for different sizes and colors.

Shouraboura hopes the store is the beginning of something much bigger and might even help bricks-and-mortar businesses fight back against Internet rivals, according to the article.

"The whole idea behind Hointer is to combine the ability to try on items with the very fast and efficient model of online shopping," Shouraboura said. "There's a lot of hassle and wasted time associated with shopping, and it's just not fun. But if it's easy and convenient, it can be fun."

"We have a choice," she said. "Either create a better-than-online experience, which I believe we'll do, or lose all our customers to online."

Read more about store design and layout.