Macy's tests chutes, tablets in dressing rooms to repel Amazon

San Francisco

AS online giant Amazon.com Inc charges into the US$300 billion US apparel market, Macy's Inc is running for the dressing room.

Even Macy's acknowledges that there's little it can do to keep customers from shopping online for basic clothing - like T-shirts, men's jeans and tighty whities. Yet the department store chain is clinging to the idea that many consumers will want to try on other kinds of apparel, such as bikinis, bras and high-fashion items, before making a purchase.

So the company is using high-tech gadgets like tablets to upgrade fitting rooms, leaning on one of the few advantages that brick-and-mortar retailers have over Web-only stores.

"That is the one weapon they have against Amazon," said Bridget Weishaar, an analyst at Morningstar Investment Services. "When you're shopping for certain things, you're going to want…