Samsung has partnered with high street coffee chain Illycaffè to bring its devices in-store, starting with a flagship branch on Londons Regent St.

These stores – branded as digitalized by Samsung – will feature the Samsung Tab 10.1, preloaded with a bespoke app featuring a menu as well as experiential interactive content: a trivia quiz, matching pairs game and a tool that enables users to draw a design using the tablets S Pen stylus and place it on a 3D model of a coffee cup, in the style of Illys Art collection of cups designed by artists.

Past and future
The two companies have been working together for around a year, with a pop-up Samsung Galaxy Studio in New York over the Christmas shopping period and at CES earlier this month, but this launch is being treated as a first step, with further tie-ins promised in future.

One obvious feature currently missing from the app is the ability to order coffee directly, which was actually available at the New York store last year. A spokesperson for Samsung confirmed that it was “looking into” this functionality.

Illy CEO Andrea Illy also mentioned the possibility of ordering tailor-made coffee recipes – similar to what is offered by rival coffee chain Harris & Hoole – and the ability to print the custom cups designed in-app.

This partnership marks the latest attempt to bring together a retailers physical bricks-and-mortar and digital presence; last year, brands including Argos and Debenhams also experimented with digital touchpoint in their stores.