Burberry debuts Social Retail Store in Shenzhen, China

An interactive luxury fashion experience that blends online and offline

12.04.2021

by Julia Pott

Last year, iconic British luxury brand Burberry launched a new store concept that puts social media at its center. The Shenzhen store is designed to entice shoppers with an interactive and immersive retail experience that combines the physical and digital worlds.

“When it came to innovating around social and retail, China was the obvious place to go as home to some of the most digitally savvy luxury customers,” Marco Gobbetti, CEO of Burberry explains why the brand chose this location for its pioneering experiment.

Burberry’s store design in Shenzhen

The store, which covers an impressive 500 square meters/5800 square feet, features a total of ten rooms and a series of spaces with their own unique design.

A room in the Burberry store; copyright: Burberry

The new store’s fixtures and spaces are constructed in a variety of materials and textures, from plywood to mirror and high-gloss finishes. © Burberry

A room in the Burberry store with blue walls; copyright: Burberry

The color palette highlights beige, pistachio, pink and blue.
© Burberry

A room in the Burberry store with pink walls; copyright: Burberry

A modern dressing room with dotted walls; copyright: Burberry

Each fitting room comes with its own creative design and dedicated library of playlists to enjoy.
© Burberry

A cafe with monkey motifs on the wall; copyright: Burberry

At the in-store Thomas’s Café, quintessential Burberry motifs like Burberry’s Animal Kingdom are referenced throughout the space.
© Burberry

Interactive shopping experience centers on a WeChat mini-program

The retail space allows customers to enhance or share their experience through a special WeChat mini-program – an app in an app. In partnership with Tencent Technology, a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate holding company, Burberry implemented the concept and developed a custom sub-application within the Chinese WeChat ecosystem. “The first step in an exclusive partnership between our companies, Burberry’s social retail store in Shenzhen is a place of discovery that connects and rewards customers as they explore online and in store,” says Marco Gobbetti about the collaboration.

Customers use the WeChat Burberry app to explore the store and access product information. The app has dedicated features for each store area to provide access to digital content, unlock services, book in-store appointments or make reservations.

The more customers engage and interact with the WeChat app, the more “rewards” they can earn through Burberry’s digital “social currency” function. Store visitors use this currency to unlock new, exclusive content and personalized experiences such as select services and access to products, digital contents, or promotions.

Examples of interaction opportunities in the Burberry store

Customers create their personal avatar in the app, which “grows” the more users interact.
© Burberry

The Interactive Store Window showcases the latest impressions of the mirrored runway from the Burberry Autumn2020 show ‘Memories’. The window reflects the viewer’s shape and responds to body movement, creating unique images that can be captured and shared with friends. © Burberry

A hand holds a smartphone, on the display a picture of a woman in a patterned outfit, in the background a shirt of the same pattern; copyright: Burberry

All products are labeled with QR codes that connect to digital screens. Scanning the QR code unlocks additional content and product information within the WeChat mini-program. © Burberry

A hand holding a smartphone with WeChat content; copyright: Burberry.

A hand holds a smartphone in front of a trench coat, a woman in this trench coat can be seen on the display; copyright: Burberry

The Trench Experience is an exclusive space that celebrates the signature Burberry trench coat. Customers can unlock it as they build their Burberry social currency. The space creates unique and personal content for the customer to share on social media. © Burberry

In the Thomas’s Café customers that use the app and post pictures, add to their ‘Social Currency’ and can unlock new menu items. The Café is designed to be converted into a community space for activities including exhibitions and live performances. © Burberry

Instagram posts @ Burberry

Here is what it looks like when Burberry customers share their photos:

Screenshot of Instagram post, a woman poses in front of floor and walls with the Burberry design

Screenshot of Instagram post, a woman poses between tables in a cafe

Screenshot of Instagram post, three candy cubes on an oblong plate

Screenshot of Instagram post, a drink in a bar

Customers becoming brand ambassadors and brand promoters is an aspect of increasing importance. User-generated content enjoys rising influence over marketing messages from the brand itself. More and more, consumers look to their peers for recommendations and advice. Cool photos and shared exciting experiences incentivize shoppers more than any professionally created advertising campaign. The store in Shenzhen is not only a marketing success for Burberry, but it is also a unique way to test and learn, and to trial and assess innovation that can subsequently be taken into other Burberry stores.