In our luxury web design series, we analyse the online offerings of the leading luxury retail brands. This series will provide invaluable insights for businesses looking to tap into the luxury retail space. In this article, we analyse the Burberry design across their app and website. We’ll be evaluating everything from user experience to mobile optimisation and retail integration. What is one the biggest luxury retail brands doing online and, most importantly, is it proving most successful with their consumers?

The Burberry Brand Identity

Burberry was established in 1856. It had a guiding principle; clothing should protect people from the British weather. If you can believe it, Burberry was the brand of choice for hardy explorers. With the creation of their trench coat over 100 years ago, Burberry design became synonymous with the iconic classic.

Burberry has come a long way from those humble beginnings. Now they are internationally recognised for their cashmere scarves and famous check pattern. However, they still maintain their quintessentially British character. Their clothes are much loved for their quality materials, sharp lines, and earthy colours.

Below, we take a look at Burberry’s online offerings. We break down how they channel the Burberry brand identity and engage their digital audience with their luxury website design.

Burberry Design Website Review

Burberry Design: A Classy App

Rating 3/5

Burberry has created an app, but only customers with an iOS 10 or later device can enjoy this aspect of digital experience. Android users currently dominate the market, therefore Burberry’s scope is limited. In August 2024, Android was the mobile operating system for more than 53.51% of UK consumers. Evidently, Burberry is missing out a huge number of potential customers. Even more so when you look at worldwide figures for the same period. Android accounts for a whopping 71.7% of the market share, with iOS devices representing just 27.71%. Whilst exclusivity often equates to luxury, Burberry is missing an opportunity here. One that their competitors, including Gucci, Chanel, and YSL, are not.

Android limitations aside, they have created a beautiful application. Following the brand’s signature colour palette of black, white, honey tones, and their new signature royal blue pop, the app fits perfectly within Burberry’s wider digital world. It also delivers far more personalisation capabilities than their online website. Users can explore personalised stories and shop recommendations curated with their preferences in mind.

Burberry Design: User Experience (UX)

Rating 4 /5

When browsing multiple items, Burberry makes full use of the screen width, creating a pleasant, uncluttered viewing experience. After clicking on an individual item, the page is split into three. One third is a static hero image, the middle third is vertically stacked images that you can scroll through, and the third hosts clear sizing and additional product information. This more unique viewing option does shake things up for the user and differentiates Burberry from its competitors. However, a slight drawback is the zoom function which isn’t as manoeuvrable as most users would expect. The custom, instructive cursor detail is neat though.

As any luxury web design should, the Burberry design offers a perfectly functional user experience. Without unnecessarily reinventing the wheel, it takes a lot of imagination to create a unique and engaging navigation design. However, by interspersing their site with small but perfectly formed visual elements, Burberry catches the user’s eye and keeps them engaged.

Burberry Design: Visual

Rating 4/5

Burberry’s home page engages all their customer bases, highlighting their most recent collections and new arrivals. Providing an intoxicating mix of classy hover animations, sharp photography, and an expansive hero video to immediately engage the user.

The colour palette is strictly in line with the brand, making smart use of the black, white, and honey which they are famous for. The recent Burberry rebrand saw the introduction of an occasional royal blue pop. However, it still makes for a very neutral platform. Bolder use of the royal blue colour wouldn’t go amiss.

In 2010, Burberry was the first brand to live-stream a fashion show and since then they have continued capitalising on the engaging potential of video. Live-action video snippets have become the norm for luxury web design in retail. 

However, Burberry takes its offering to the next level. Their ‘Made in the UK: Trench’ section utilises seamlessly embedded video snippets along with high-quality photos to bring to life the intricate construction of their iconic coat. Highlighting the 180 hand-sewn stitches that create the perfectly rounded collar in an engaging way is a tricky job. However, Burberry has executed this perfectly.

While Gucci’s website is classically minimalist, Burberry makes greater use of text in their white spaces. Their copy introduces their collections with aesthetic continuity throughout the site. 

All in all, Burberry applies consistent, understated details across their website to create a sense of familiarity for the user. The Burberry brand identity is consistently conveyed, and their design choices create a sense of trusted tradition. This is the foundation of any luxury retail brand.

Burberry Design: Mobile Optimisation

Rating 3.5/5

Burberry’s eCommerce customer journey is simple and unobtrusive for the casual browser. Beyond the homepage, there are minimal calls to action and instead, the focus is on colour options, sizing availability, and price. It couldn’t be easier to find items in nearby stores, with a pop-up window and map providing clear and accurate information. If anything, they could push for sales a little more than they currently do.

Another understated element of their eCommerce is using an image of an outfit, as opposed to the individual item, as the first product image you see when you hover. Straight away customers can see how to style the item, are offered a complete outfit choice, as well as matching items. With just one image, Burberry achieves much of what a shop assistant and clothing display do in-store.

A Consistent Burberry Brand Identity

Burberry’s website is not as forthcoming with its calls to action and personalised shopping experiences as some of its competitors. These are definitely areas that could be improved. However, their careful visual design using consistent form and colour makes for a seamless online experience which delivers powerful brand identity. Their excellent use of animation and video is crucial to engaging their customers and puts the fun in perfectly functional luxury web design.  

Looking to emulate the classiness created in the Burberry design? Our team can help you with all  aspects of your luxury app development and website design. 
Explore our recent projects and learn more about what we can do in luxury website design. Don’t hesitate to contact the KIJO team to discuss your requirements.