Burberry launches a new retail experience in Shenzhen, China, that mixes virtual and IRL: a luxury social store in partnership with Tencent. The Chinese tech giant, owner of WeChat, with which Burberry has been collaborating since November 2019 for their social media strategies.
The boutique was inaugurated this morning, July 31st, in the Shenzhen Bay MixC, the technological centre of the city, a 539 square meters divided into 10 spaces. Each space characterized by neutrals colours, from naturals elements to the Burberry codes: Starting from the Trench Coat, dedicated to the iconic outwear piece that made the history of the brand, to the Thomas Burberry Monogram, which protagonist is the new logo created by Riccardo Tisci, and Nature and the Burberry Animal Kingdom, that inspires the Thomas’s Cafe. This section is dedicated to the ritual of the British and Chinese Tea Time, where the clients can share their opinion on the menu, thanks to new technology. A communal space for activities, workshops, exhibitions and live shows.
The Tencent technology registers the social media interaction and translates them in a physical space throughout a dedicated WeChat program which the clients can use to unlock exclusive contents for a personalized retail experience. You can also create your avatar, a special character that evolves with each social activity or in-store, that allows you to interact with the brand.
By entering the store, the clients meet an interactive window: a live sculpture inspired by the mirrored runway Memories. The window reflects and responds to the movement of the body: an experience that you can capture and share with your friends on social media. In the luxury social store are available the latest Burberry collections and some exclusive pieces like the Burberry Shenzhen capsule collection, featuring the Monogram Thomas Burberry jackets made with regenerated Nylon ECONYL®. All the products have a QR code that unlocks exclusive contents that allow the client to gain social currency. The store also features three fitting rooms bookable online throughout WeChat, each one with a dedicated music playlist and interior design.
“It was this idea that luxury couldn’t be just top-down. It had to be an engagement with your customer base, and there was a real passion there to tap into it,” says Mark Morris, Burberry’s senior VP of digital commerce. “This store is about trying to connect your online life with your in-store life so that one adds value to the other”.
