Kate Spade Unveils Interactive Shopping Experience At Construction Barricade

Affordable luxury label Kate Spade unveiled shoppable construction barricades in New Jersey's Short Hills mall, earlier this week. This makes it possible for consumers to purchase items from the brand before the store even opens.

By taking a short personality quiz spread out across four touch screens, (the results of which can be shared on social media), the shoppable construction barricades also make it possible for the brand to gain insight into shoppers' preferences in a particular region. In addition, they provide the company with contact information for potential customers. Super cool!

According to CNBC, the digital storefronts were created in partnership with The Science Project, a firm that brings digital innovations to physical stores, and has created interactive holiday windows for Barneys New York and Saks Fifth Avenue.

"We are always looking to find solutions to improve our overall customer experience," said Mary Beech, chief marketing officer at Kate Spade. "Often ... that solution is something digital, something interactive."

The initiative is similar to the pop-up storefronts Kate Spade set up for its Kate Spade Saturday brand in Manhattan last June, which allowed passersby to browse products shown in the window displays, place orders via iPad and have those orders delivered later that day through eBay Now.

"That was a situation where we were rolling out a new brand, which was predominantly [sold online], and to bring that e-commerce experience to a physical location," Beech said in a phone interview with Fashionista on Friday. "[This time] we really needed to do new graphics because our boarding had become outdated."

The brand will open a second shoppable barricade at a yet to be disclosed location in November, which will be put in place about a month prior to the store's opening. From there, Beech said the company will look for more opportunities in 2015, though no specific rollout plan has been put in place.