Amazon has opened a working hair salon in east London, and it is not what you would expect. There is no app-based booking system, no Amazon Go-style entry scanner, and the prices are mid-market for the area. The salon, according to Tech Xplore (via The Next Web), is described by the company as a place to "showcase new products and technologies" rather than a chain in waiting.
That framing tells you the real story. This is a lab that happens to cut hair.
The short version
- The salon is located in east London and opened in April, first for staff, later for the public.
- Bookings are taken by email or phone; no online reservation system exists.
- The space includes AR mirrors that preview different hair colors and shelves with QR codes for product purchases.
- A Fire tablet and wireless charger sit at each styling station.
- Amazon says it has no current plans to open additional salons.
- The salon sits alongside Amazon's recently launched Professional Beauty Store, its B2B beauty push.
What the salon actually does
Walk in and the experience blends spa with showroom. A Fire tablet and wireless charger greet you at the station. The mirrors have AR overlays so you can preview different hair colors without committing. Products on the shelves have QR codes; scan and buy. Alexa handles the ambient soundtrack.
None of this is revolutionary on its own. The novelty is the integration. A single space where Amazon tests checkout-free product flow, AR-driven styling choices, and ambient voice control against real customers.
The hardware is not the point. The data is. Every QR scan, every AR preview, every styling choice becomes a signal that helps Amazon tune the experience before pushing it into apps, or into partner salons.
Who should care
Beauty brands:** If QR-driven reorders and AR previews prove out, expect Amazon to mandate these tools in partner retailers. Brands that adapt early will have an advantage; those that resist may lose shelf placement.
Licensed stylists:** The Amazon Professional Beauty Store already sells products to salons. If this pilot succeeds, Amazon gains use to demand data-sharing or exclusive product placement in exchange for customer referrals.
Consumers:** AR try-on tools will get sharper and more common in beauty apps. The trade-off is more behavioral data flowing back to a company that already tracks your purchase history.
Competitors:** Walmart, Target, and Ulta are all experimenting with in-store beauty tech. Amazon's real advantage here is the lab environment—it can iterate faster without public failure.
Why this matters
Amazon does not need to sell haircuts. It needs a controlled environment where it can watch how real shoppers respond to its beauty-tech stack. Salons are perfect for that. Customers sit still for 30 to 60 minutes, they engage with mirrors, and they buy products on the way out.
The salon-as-lab model also lines up neatly with Amazon's Professional Beauty Store, where the company already sells products to licensed stylists. If AR previews and QR-driven reorders prove out here, expect them inside third-party salons next. Amazon gets reach without owning real estate.
For the consumer, the upside is more polish on beauty apps and AR try-on tools. The trade-off is more behavioral data flowing back to a company that already knows what you bought last Tuesday.
What to watch next
Watch whether Amazon ships the AR mirror tech or the QR-shelf workflow to its Professional Beauty Store partners. That is the leading indicator that this was never about haircuts at all.
Key takeaways
- The London salon is a tech testbed, not a retail expansion.
- AR mirrors and QR-coded shelves are the main experiments.
- Expect the winning features to migrate into Amazon's B2B beauty partnerships.
- The real asset is data, not haircut revenue.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone book an appointment at the Amazon salon?
Yes. It originally served Amazon employees first, then opened to the public, with bookings taken by email or phone rather than through an app.
Is Amazon planning more salons?
Amazon has said it currently has no plans to open additional locations.
What technology does the salon use?
AR mirrors for hair color previews, QR-coded product shelves, Fire tablets at each station, and Alexa voice control.
Why would Amazon run a salon?
It gives the company a live environment to test beauty retail tools, AR previews, and product-scan workflows that could later spread to partner salons and its Professional Beauty Store.
What is Amazon's bigger play in beauty?
The salon supports Amazon's Professional Beauty Store, which sells products to licensed stylists. The tech tested here could become standard in those partner locations.