Building on the success of its digitally fuelled flagship on Regent Street in London, British luxury brand Burberry has launched a similarly high-tech concept to announce the arrival of its largest Asia-Pacific store yet, in Shanghai.

Designed by the brand’s chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, the store is located over three floors in the Kerry Centre shopping mall in Jing An, one of the city’s central shopping districts. It combines state-of-the-art digital features with more traditionally crafted elements such as a Corinthian stone staircase and oak flooring.

The major draw, however, is the exterior, which boasts an illuminated façade featuring light-responsive animations. In a subtle play on the brand’s heritage, the animations change according to the weather – alluding to Brits’ perceived obsession with the weather.

Inside, 40 video screens and 130 speakers further amplify the audio-visual shopping experience. They showcase video content such as catwalk footage and exclusive product clips, which are triggered by RFID (radio-frequency identification technology) tags woven into clothing. Other technological advancements include ‘Customer 1-2-1’, which allows Burberry staff to access customers’ shopping histories on iPads in order to provide more relevant shopping assistance. The system was rolled out to more than 300 stores globally in November 2013.

The store houses both the brand’s main line and limited-edition collections for ready-to-wear and accessories – a ploy to attract local shoppers as well as international clients. It’s also the first in China to boast a Burberry Beauty room, featuring specialist beauty consultants offering personal appointments. 

For more on Burberry’s continued expansion into beauty, see April City Guides and the Couture Nails section in our 2014 Beauty Product Projections. For more on reinventing the flagship and creating immersive digital shopping experiences, see Luxury Brand Temples, The Omni-Channel Store Space and Virtual Stores & Media Facades, part of our Anywhere Retail Industry Trend.