“Burberry Group PLC is outfitting its stores in China with the latest digital technology, including touchscreens for customers and iPads for staff, at the start of a global campaign to shake its stiff, older image and win over younger customers,” Laurie Burkitt reports for The Wall Street Journal. “China will be the first market to launch the digital retail model and other markets will follow suit, said Angela Ahrendts, the chief executive of the U.K. luxury fashion house.”
“Burberry plans to furnish its current 57 retail stores in mainland China—and the 43 stores in the pipeline—with touchscreens the size of full-length mirrors on which it can display special collections, fashion shows streamed from other countries and Burberry-produced entertainment, Ms. Ahrendts said in an interview,” Burkitt reports. “All staff will be equipped with Apple Inc.’s iPads to help consumers order sizes that may not be in stores, plus some of the 5,000 products in Burberry’s collection that aren’t stored in retail outlets.”
Burkitt reports, “Ms. Ahrendts said that China, now Burberry’s fastest-growing market, is poised to become the company’s biggest market within the next five years.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “KenC” for the heads up.]
Perfect combination of high technology and high fashion. The Chinese will lap it up by the thousands. The halo effect will be immeasurable. Now Chinese hipsters dressed in Burberry will want to have an iPad 2 of their own to go with the image.
A smashing success for Burberry and for Apple.
Great. Smug, pretentious sales staff with their smug, pretentious tablets trying to sell me smug, pretentious clothes. Whatever.
MAC is only good at marketing and you sheeple continue to lap it up. You do realize you can get a netbook running Windows XP for half the cost of a stylus- and removable battery-challenged I-Pad, don’t you?
Yeah! Zune Tang is back again. Great to have someone who can make us all laugh once in a while. 😉
ZT, do you understand how cute you are (no, I do not mean visually)?
Haha. Welcome back. Acer is looking for a new CEO to replace Gianfranco Lanci’s vacated position. You might want to try out for that job.
I always enjoy buying products from stores who have sales personnel with their noses in the air acting annoyed if I start to ask them for help and they quickly eyeball me and snappishly tell me there’s no bathroom I can use.
Smug & pretentious also describes the Chinese fashion victims who buy Burberry clothing.
And for those who cannot afford the real thing, the Chinese knock-off artists will gladly provide for.
(Speaking from my experience in Shanghai.)