United Colours of Benetton to launch social platform
United Colours of Benetton plans to develop its own social platform, The Drum has learned, as the fashion retail brand opened a new concept store in the heart of Milan.
The 'One Canvas' concept store has been created as part of its plans to drive a new brand strategy that will evoke its 'Italian essence' with 'comfortable, functional and dynamic,' clothing.
The concept store has been divided across several collections using canvas 'walls' which can be easily re-modelled when necessary to suit new fashion lines.
Meanwhile, digital LCD screens have also been included in each section of the store, featuring full motion adverts of models promoting some of the clothing.
Through the online platform, christened 'the infinite shelf', consumers can use tablets or smartphones to highlight clothing that is out of stock through full-size images appearing on-screen, which allow customers to order those items to be delivered free of charge to their homes or collected in store.
The concept store is part of Benetton's first steps to promoting itself as the leading Italian fashion retail brand, and to capitalise on the esteem that such a heritage has within the fashion sector.
Presenting the store the company's creative director, Valentine Soster, explained that it will mainly feature affordable but stylish women's clothing as it aimed to reconnect with the female marketplace, particularly younger women.
Yet around a fifth of stock will include male clothing, a number that would increase a later season collection.
She revealed that the concept had taken a year to come to fruition, and that it aimed to be "straight forward" in helping solve its customer's fashion needs for different social occasions.
The furniture within the store has also been designed to be flexible and removable, she added.
Meanwhile, Gianluca Pastore, director of communications and marketing for Benetton, revealed to The Drum that the company was five months away from launching a new social media platform.
"We have a very interesting project in terms of social media which we hope we can present in four or five months. It will be a new kind of social media completely created by us with a new kind of language that everybody in the world can speak to understand each other, he added.
He would not be drawn further on the details of the platform but did add that the company was looking at rolling out a new e-commerce platform in the US and Japan.
A video of the new concept store can be viewed below.