TODAY, Burberry launch a bold venture into the blending of the worlds of physical experience and social media. Their Social Retail store opens in Shenzhen, China, offering an exclusive capsule collection, and a personalised multi-layered experience, powered by Tencent technology.
Burberry’s Shenzhen store
Interactions with the store’s many facets are mediated by a mini-program available through WeChat; an animal character enables the customer to accumulate social currency, which will translate to rewards, both in the program and in real-life.
The store is fitted with an interactive window, inspired by the mirrored runways of Burberry AW20, that responds to the viewers silhouette and body-movements, and QR codes that add to the customer’s experience of the clothes in front of them.
Burberry WeChat mini-program, and interactive window in Burberry’s Shenzhen store
Thomas’s Café, named in honour of founder Thomas Burberry, is cast in the tones of Riccardo Tisci’s signature work: mirrored surfaces are layered curtains met with high gloss beiges. The store’s three changing rooms echo this; each one is designed to fulfil one of Burberry’s house concepts: Burberry Animal Kingdom, Reflections and the Thomas Burberry monogram.
Thomas’s Café, and Burberry’s Shenzhen store
A whole area of the shop floor is dedicated to the celebration of the house’s iconic trench. Customers can explore the design of the coats both first hand, and digitally, simultaneously. This experience can be directly transferred to the customer’s social media: each element of participation with the store is captured in perceivable digitised content. The result is a shopping experience simultaneously physical and digital that is set to shift the path of retail.
by Connie de Pelet
The Burberry Social Retail store opens July 31