Continuing our Holiday 2019 series, our Global Holiday Cities reports feature exciting and innovative stores, events and marketing campaigns by retailers in three cities: New York, London and Shanghai. In this report, we feature highlights from Shanghai.

Top Holiday Retail Stores, Events and Campaigns in Shanghai

Shimao Festival City Shimao Festival City, a hip shopping mall that targets young customers, has partnered with Lancôme to create an Eiffel Tower replica. Lancôme’s pink pop-up store next to the tower displays the beauty brand’s most popular products. Customers also can receive skincare samples from the vending machine if they follow Lancôme’s official account on WeChat. Shimao Festival City also added seven circus-themed installations throughout the mall, providing customers a treasure-hunt experience to explore and to use as photo backdrops. Customers can enter a contest to win an iPhone by posting pictures on WeChat and receiving more than three likes. The mall also holds a Christmas parade every weekend throughout the month of December. [caption id="attachment_101558" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Lancôme’s Eiffel Tower replica (top); skincare samples in vending machines (left); and, circus-themed installation (right)
Source: Coresight Research[/caption]   iAPM Mall The upscale shopping mall has launched a lighting festival to celebrate the holiday season. Combining technology and art, iAPM created what it calls a Vivid Lighting Forest in the atrium of the mall with hundreds of light globes and Christmas trees. Customers can touch the illuminated globes to change colors. The mall also features a winter mystery vending machine. Any registered iAPM Mall member who makes a purchase in the mall gets a mystery gift from the on-site vending machine. On the second floor, a screen allows customers to create their own 3D avatar, powered by facial recognition technology. After creating the avatar, shoppers can participate an on-screen dance game with friends and share the video clip on WeChat. [caption id="attachment_101561" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Winter mystery vending machine (top); lighting forest (center); and screen for customers to their own create 3D avatar (bottom)
Source: Coresight Research[/caption]   Plaza 66 Luxury shopping mall Plaza 66 has teamed up with Christian Dior and Cartier to install two Christmas trees, one inside and one outside the mall. Cartier’s theme this year is the sound of Christmas, and the installation includes a room to create a customized musical Christmas card, a floor piano keyboard customers can play and a vending machine. Customers who make a purchase from Cartier get a complimentary mini Christmas wreath. The mall also opened hosted several pop-up stores in December, including French fashion brands Maison Kitsuné and Canadian luxury sportswear Moose Knuckles. The pop up was Maison Kitsuné’s first store in China. In addition to offline activities, Plaza 66 also launched a marketing campaign on Xiaohongshu to drive customer engagement. Xiaohongshu users could win Christmas gifts from brands such as Diptyque and Moschino. [caption id="attachment_101565" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Cartier’s Christmas tree (top); Cartier’s mini Christmas wreath vending machine (lower left); and Maison Kitsuné pop-up store (right)
Source: Coresight Research/Cartier Official WeChat[/caption]   IFC Mall Shanghai IFC mall has partnered with Disney to host a Frozen 2 immersive exhibition, with recreations of several famous sets and characters from the movie in the mall’s atrium. There is also a giant crystal snowflake installation, along with LED panels under the floor that simulate snow as customers walk. The exhibition continues at the lower level of the mall, where customers can browse limited edition Frozen 2 merchandises and participate in Disney’s puzzle block remover game. [caption id="attachment_101566" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Recreation of set in Frozen 2
Source: IFC Official WeChat/IFC Official Weibo[/caption]   Outside there is a “Firefly Field” installation designed by Dutch studio Toer, consisting of 500 flying lights that simulate the movement of fireflies. IFC Mall also launched a Christmas WeChat mini program on December 6, which hosts a game for registered IFC members to win special holiday gifts. [caption id="attachment_101567" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Crystal snowflake installation
Source: IFC Official WeChat/IFC Official Weibo[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_101568" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Disney’s puzzle block remover game
Source: IFC Official WeChat/IFC Official Weibo[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_101569" align="aligncenter" width="700"] “Firefly Field” installation
Source: IFC Official WeChat/IFC Official Weibo[/caption]   HKRI Taikoo Hui HKRI Taikoo Hui lit its Christmas tree on December 3, introducing various holiday activities. Taikoo Hui is focusing on charity this year, partnering with NetEase Yeation, an e-commerce that sells NetEase’s private label and other branded products, to launch a special edition gift box, with all the proceeds going to charity. The mall also created a Christmas installation for customers to take pictures and interact with, as well as plenty of workshops such as how to make a DIY Christmas candle or bouquet. Sustainable sneaker brand Allbirds, which opened its first China store this year in the mall, is also hosting gift-wrapping workshops with designer Tiffany Pattinson using all recycled materials. [caption id="attachment_101571" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Christmas decorations and installations at HKRI Taikoo Hui
Source: Coresight Research/Taikoo Hui Official WeChat[/caption]