Samsung Opens Virtual Department Store Made Up Of Miniature Showrooms

By Mikelle Leow, 01 Sep 2022

The latest Samsung shopping experience, complete with window shopping and showrooms, exists in your hand. The South Korean tech giant is flipping the script on declining department stores by taking them online—in just a few taps, you can browse and buy directly from its Instagram profiles.

To build this virtual real estate, Samsung and advertising agency BBH Singapore commissioned designers and miniature model artists around the world to create tiny sets flaunting its home appliances and televisions. The artists include Ruchika Nambiar, Robb & Jess of Jessica Cloe Miniatures, Briar Nielsen, Hannah Lemon, and Anna Wright.

Recreating styles of maximalism to grand millennial and dark academia, the endearing Model Homes project also honors consumers’ love of interior design.

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The experience bucks the usual transactional purchasing process to make way for more emotional and social interactions. At the same time, it incorporates the convenience of in-app payment systems so customers can shop seamlessly.

“E-commerce is typically approached and viewed as purely transactional. But that’s not how people behave online,” notes Sascha Kuntze, chief creative officer at BBH Singapore. “People no longer ‘go shopping’; they are always shopping.”