The Campaign

Although online shopping is helping the entire retail category grows 29%, offline sales still takes over 74% of sales for China consumer brands. (Source: Nielsen) According to Nielsen, it is still young people that contribute most in offline shopping. Yet comparing with elder consumers who find offline shopping more of a place for meeting basic needs, younger generation consider offline shopping as a good “experience, and opportunity to communicate with the brand”. And this exactly matches with what Uniqlo wants to drive through this biggest store launch– They believe it is only through immersive experience can Uniqlo deliver a truly value-added customer experience.

Creative Execution

In Shenzhen, we used location-based service targeted on QQ, the most popular social media platform for young people. Whenever they approach the area, the biggest store promotion and events information will be popped up, inviting them to join this unique designing and technology carnival. For “virtual store launch”, we created an H5 invitation across QQ to announce this grand launch all around China. People could virtually “walk around”: browse products and get product information, engage with interactive games, and attend designer’s events. They can even place their orders directly! Moreover, when another UNIQLO store was about to open in another city, we put outdoor ads right outside with the “under construction” sign so that people who walk by can scan a QR code and visit the Shenzhen store virtually – through this way, they can enjoy shopping in UNIQLO earlier and experience the brand in advance.

In just a month, more than 1.6 million people visited our biggest store physically and virtually. 8 hours after the launch, our total sales reached 2 million RMB! 40% went to the store after receiving the coupon, and UNIQLO was able to recruit 5,600 new store members. Sales for our biggest store reached 133% of the target – already three times larger than the existing Shenzhen store.

UNIQLO was opening its biggest store yet in China’s Silicon Valley Shenzhen. We used media to maximize its impact of store launching and make it the coolest store in China. In store, we use technology (including AR and LBS) and designers’ events to attract and fully engage visitors, and online, we created a virtual tour and share it on the most popular social media platform to invite people from all over the country to visit.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Uniqlo hosted a fully immersive “the Biggest Store” launch, in reality and virtually! Consumers could use AR scan to browse for product information and design inspiration; digital shop assistant can help you check information through your phones. Robots are in stores too to give you directories to this giant store. Moreover, a mini art gallery is curated inside store and consumers could design for their own T-shirts! And we bring this excitement for people outside of Shenzhen too. By duplicating the same interactive experience, we created a virtual launch online!