Samsung Boosts Retail Presence With Illycaffe Partnership

Samsung has moved to expand its presence on the high street by agreeing a deal with coffee roaster Illycaffe that will see Samsung technology deployed in a number of coffee houses and Illy coffee served in Samsung’s retail stores.

Speaking at the announcement of the partnership at Illycaffe’s flagship coffee house on Regent Street this morning, CEO Andrea Illy said the two companies had been working for almost a year on the partnership and said that both would benefit.

They have held trials in New York and at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year, and a number of Illy stores will now be “digitalised by Samsung”, beginning with Regent Street.

Illy benefits

Illy spoke at length about how the company offers coffee “above market standards” and how it aimed to offer “sensory” experiences. As part of the partnership, tablets will be located above coffee machines, showing videos about how the coffee is sourced and made, while Samsung products will be located in the stores, with ‘Samsung Angels’ offering information about how the devices enhanced the in-store experience.

Samsung will also provide an application with information and pricing about coffees, machines and capsules, along with games and the ability to design your own cup. However you will not be able to purchase the cup yet, nor will you able to order using the application, although the Korean manufacturer confirmed this was “part of the discussion.”

This raises the question as to whether customers will even notice the technology, especially since it does not appear to make ordering or consuming coffee any easier, however Illy said there were an “infinite” number of possibilities and suggested that tailor-made drink recipes could be created using the app.

Samsung retail

For Samsung, the obvious benefit of this partnership is the greater exposure of its products in coffee houses, as well as hot drinks for its own customers, but it would not be drawn on whether retail would be one of the areas it was banking on to help continue growth as the smartphone market slows down.

“This partnership is something very special,” said Young Hee Lee, a vice president in  Samsung’s IT and mobile division. “Illy has the sensory experience maker in the analogue world, but technology is the great innovator in the digital world.”

When TechWeekEurope asked her if there were plans to expand its retail partnerships, she said there were not.

“For the moment no. We’ll be learning from this first flagship,” she said. “We are at an initial stage.”

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