L’Occitane is gearing up to open its first ‘digital store’, transforming its flagship in Tokyo’s Shinjuku into a fusion of digital and physical shopping, complete with virtual reality experiences, according to a report published by the Nikkei Asia Review.
The store will boast a digital theater, enabling customers to take a virtual walk in lavender fields. “We want to bring the nature to downtown Shinjuku,” Andre Hoffmann, Vice Chairman and Managing Director for L’Occitane Asia-Pacific told the Nikkei Asian Review. “We feel this will be a kind of showstopper that will bring people into store.”
The new store is part of a wider strategy to build e-commerce sales in Japan, its largest Asian market. L’Occitane is aiming to double e-commerce sales by 2020. The French naturals brand has been promoting products via popular messaging apps, such as Line in Japan and is ranked as one of the top gifting brands on chat app KakaoTalk in South Korea.