Burberry’s Virtual New Era:what a move to transforming the Fashion Frontier

Xingwei Li
Marketing in the Age of Digital
4 min read4 days ago

In the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing, Burberry stands out as a trailblazer, utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) to create immersive experiences that captivate and engage modern consumers. This blog delves into Burberry’s innovative use of VR over the past year, examining how it has transformed the shopping experience, enhanced brand loyalty, and set new standards in the luxury fashion industry.

Burberry’s Virtual Flagship Store: A Glimpse into the Future

Think of being able to buy apparels and accessories from Burberry through the comfort of your living room. Specifically, in November 2023, for its customers, the company applied VR technology in the form of the virtual tour of the Burberry flagship store in London. This virtual tour is available on Burberry’s website and works with most VR headsets; it lets users move between zones, engage with products, and watch specific videos.

“This initiative allows our customers to immerse themselves in the Burberry world from the comfort of their homes, making luxury fashion more accessible and engaging.” — Kiera Darnton, Chief Marketing Officer at Burberry.

Enhancing the Customer Experience!

Burberry’s VR store isn’t just a new experiment; it’s a strategic digital marketing move that has significantly increased customer engagement and satisfaction.

Immersive Shopping Experience

Customers can browse through the virtual store, zoom into the products, and even take a look at fashion shows and some backstage moments. As stated on Stlpartners, by observing the data trend, it is highly possible that the use of VR technology will play a crucial role in the future data traffic.

Personalized Interactions

The interactive aspect of the VR store enables the brand to recommend specific products and services based on the customers’ preferences and how they interact with the VR store. According to Forbyets, 65% of customers who visited the VR store felt more connected to the brand.

Global Accessibility

The VR store has increased Burberry’s audience since consumers from all over the world can now visit the brand’s flagship store virtually. According to Jing Daily, within the first month of its opening, the VR store was visited by users from 50 plus countries.

Achieving Marketing Objectives in Style

Burberry’s innovative use of VR has not only enhanced the shopping experience but also achieved several key marketing objectives:

Increased Brand Engagement

The fusion of real life shopping experience and the latest online technology drastically elevated Burberry’s digital marketing strategies, particularly to the younger generation who are into technology and new, exciting elements. In fact, more customers are shopping from the Burberry VR store and the time they take within the environment has increased.

Boosting Sales

By providing a unique shopping experience, Burberry has seen a 15% increase in online sales since the launch of the VR store, as reported by internet retailing platform, the customers can ‘feel’ the product and even purchase it from the same platform and this has boosted sales.

Building Brand Loyalty

The VR store is unique and captivating, the interaction between the customer and the brand is significantly higher. Higher number of sessions and session length led to the higher conversion rates and customers’ loyalty.

So…Is VR a Worthwhile Investment?

Burberry’s success with VR demonstrates the potential of this technology to revolutionize the retail experience. Here’s why investing in VR is a smart move:

Enhanced Customer Experience: Since VR is an immersive technology, it provides an incredible experience for shopping by helping a brand differentiate itself from other brands. The integration of VR in customers’ experiences allows the customers to interact with the products in a way that is more profound, thus leading to satisfaction and brand preference.

Data-Driven Insights: Marketing through using VR assists brands to obtain information on customer behavior and the kind of marketing that they want. Information on how clients shop at the virtual store, the kind of products they interact with and the length of time spent in the store can be useful in future campaigns.

Overall, as the technology advances, VR will become an indispensable tool for the retail industry, and the companies that embrace it, such as Burberry, will gain a competitive advantage. Marketing in VR today helps brands to adapt to the future developments in the technology and shifts in consumer behavior.

What about some challenges and considerations?

The application of VR technology consumes much time and resources to be implemented properly. This means that brands need to ensure that their VR interfaces are well-designed, smooth, and accessible. Further, it is important to know about the latest trends in technology and update the VR content more frequently to attract the customers.

Conclusion: Step in to Burberry’s New Era

The incorporation of Virtual Reality by Burberry is not merely a low-risk strategy but has served as a strategic success in increasing customer interaction, sales and global visibility. With the adoption of VR, Burberry has provided a great example of how fashion brands can use this tool in the future retail marketing to create engaging and appealing to the consumer experience.

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Xingwei Li
Marketing in the Age of Digital
0 Followers

Passionate learner => Digital Marketing, Fashion enthusiasts