David Jones doesn’t just sell fashion and homewares — it sells attention. Australia’s oldest department store stepped boldly into the retail media arena in 2023 with the launch of Amplify, a full-service media and marketing proposition designed to help brands connect with premium, purchase-ready consumers both in-store and online.
Yesterday, B&T was invited on a guided tour of the Sydney Elizabeth Street flagship to see just how Australia’s oldest department store is taking the concept of “retail media” and wrapping it in velvet and high-touch luxury.
Weaving digital, physical and data-driven experiences across every surface and channel in the David Jones ecosystem, Amplify is a significant player in the rapidly growing world of retail media networks.
A Premium Player in Retail Media
Positioned as a “premium destination for growth,” Amplify taps into the David Jones customer base — a five million-strong annual audience, 60 per cent of whom earn more than $200K a year, with 60 per cent believing premium brands are worth paying for. It also includes over 3 million engaged subscribers across CRM and 620,000+ direct mail customers and boasts a staggering 100 million+ visits to the davidjones.com site each year.
That blend of scale and selectivity is rare, particularly for non-grocery retail media. But David Jones is leaning in hard, offering a full-funnel solution that stretches from street-facing flagship windows and immersive in-store takeovers to AI-powered programmatic ads and personalised solus emails.
In-Store as a Stage
Walking through the Elizabeth Street flagship yesterday, it was immediately clear just how integrated Amplify is into the fabric of the store. There are over 137 digital screens across 37 stores — including hero placements at the front entrance and within high-traffic departments — displaying everything from travel campaigns to product launches. Each screen offers 25 per cent share of voice, meaning brand messages appear every 60 seconds for 15 seconds at a time.
There are also 63 bookable window spaces across 16 stores, 243 lightboxes and large-format print zones, and 38 stores equipped for lift wraps and security gate branding. Not to mention the store radio network, which allows brands to broadcast messaging inside 40 locations.
Then there are the Hot Spots: 30+ high-impact spaces within stores where brands can create custom installations, like fragrance towers, branded travel lounges, or themed fashion vignettes. For those wanting more immersive moments, pop-up activations and private event spaces allow for live brand storytelling directly to loyal customers.
The Amplify Product Suite: CRM to CTV
Beyond the bricks and mortar, Amplify’s CRM and digital offerings are built to rival dedicated media networks.
- Email: Solus eDMs have an average 37 per cent unique open rate and 3.4 per cent click-through rate, both well above industry averages.
- Direct Mail: With over 620,000 opted-in recipients, campaigns can be segmented by brand spend, category, or lifestyle group using Mosaic profiling.
- Onsite Advertising: Via Criteo-powered Dynamic Display ads, brands can buy media on high-traffic product listing pages, targeting based on browsing and buying behaviour.
- Offsite Programmatic: Using first-party David Jones data, advertisers can extend campaigns into social, video and display across the open web — allowing consistent targeting beyond the David Jones-owned ecosystem.
This multi-channel strategy is wrapped in a clean four-step Amplify process: briefing, proposal, approval, and launch, with full post-campaign reporting provided.
Why Brands Are Taking Notice
Amplify provides brands with access to a highly valuable audience through 65 million annual in-store visits across 40 David Jones stores, 100 million online visits to davidjones.com, a subscriber base of 3 million, and over 620,000 direct mail recipients. This audience is notably affluent, with 60 per cent earning over $200,000 annually and the same percentage believing premium brands are worth the investment.
With multiple engagement layers, the offer is designed to integrate seamlessly into the customer journey, whether on their morning stroll or afternoon shopping spree. And it’s working.
Destination Canada – Turning Wanderlust into Foot Traffic
To drive awareness and inspire affluent Australians to consider Canada as their next travel adventure, Destination Canada partnered with Amplify for a multi-channel autumn/winter campaign that seamlessly blended advertising with immersive experiences.
The strategy featured a striking 3D window display at David Jones’ Elizabeth Street flagship, generating over 1.2 million impressions in just three months, while a captivating pop-up installation transformed a retail space into a slice of the Canadian wilderness, drawing more than 355,000 visitors. Complementary EDM and direct mail campaigns saw impressive performance, with 46 per cent open rates and 11.9 per cent engagement, and dynamic content played across David Jones’ national in-store digital screens over 35,000 times.
The campaign delivered strong results, including over 78,000 competition entries, a significant increase in footfall, and deep engagement across both physical and digital touchpoints—proving the power of retail media for travel marketers.
Tom Ford – Driving Hype (and Sales) with a Beauty Exclusive
To generate buzz, exclusivity, and tangible sales impact for the launch of its new fragrance, Vanilla Sex, Tom Ford Beauty partnered with David Jones for a high-impact Amplify campaign that combined digital reach with in-store presence.
The strategy included a CRM-led solus EDM with strong performance, premium placement on davidjones.com, influencer-driven content amplified across paid and organic channels, editorial coverage in JONES Magazine, and digital screen exposure in beauty departments. The results spoke volumes: a 66 per cent year-on-year uplift in February online sales, the fragrance becoming the top-performing SKU across the entire beauty category, a 27 per cent increase in brand page views, and social content engagement exceeding benchmarks by 79 per cent.
Gentle Monster – A Spectacle of Eyewear and Experience
To launch Gentle Monster, a high-concept Korean eyewear brand, Amplify delivered a bold, digitally enhanced debut at David Jones’ Elizabeth Street store, combining striking visuals with targeted digital strategy.
The campaign featured a futuristic 3D visual merchandising installation, a digital screen takeover to spotlight the brand, solus EDMs and CRM activations, prime homepage and department-level placement on davidjones.com, and targeted social advertising. The launch drove over 13,000 visits to the Gentle Monster brand page, 5,400 product views, and 4,500 on-site searches, with an impressive 26 per cent product engagement rate—strong performance for a new entrant.
Since launch, 7,200 units have been sold, showcasing Amplify’s strength in scaling premium fashion and accessories brands through compelling storytelling and strategic customer targeting.
Manolo Blahnik – The Power of the Pre-Sale
For the Australian launch of the iconic designer shoe brand Manolo Blahnik, David Jones executed a high-touch omnichannel campaign designed to captivate its most fashion-forward customers.
The strategy featured exclusive VIP pre-sale events both online and in-store, a homepage takeover with hero placement across departments, targeted solus EDMs, editorial coverage in JONES Magazine, gift guide integration, and bespoke digital screen creative. In-store clienteling and personalised recommendations further elevated the experience.
The campaign delivered strong results, with 72 per cent of first-week sales driven by the pre-sale initiative and 6,300 sessions on the brand page during launch week. This campaign demonstrated how retail media can fuse performance with prestige—proving that when exclusivity is marketed right, it can drive rapid results.
Polo Ralph Lauren x Australian Open – From Tennis to Till
To amplify its partnership with the Australian Open, Polo Ralph Lauren created a themed retail experience that brought the spirit of the tennis court directly to the shop floor.
The campaign featured branded window displays with AO creative, dedicated in-store hotspots showcasing the collection across menswear, womenswear, and kids, alongside a solus EDM, targeted SEO, and a mix of paid and organic social media.
The results were standout: a 53 per cent average weekly sell-through rate and a 171 per cent year-on-year sales increase during the campaign period. This AO collaboration proved to be a grand slam, demonstrating how strategic brand partnerships can connect with fashion-conscious consumers at key cultural moments.
As the retail media arms race heats up, David Jones is betting that its blend of data, design and high-end physical presence will appeal to marketers looking to reach cashed-up, culture-conscious consumers in trusted environments.
With plans to expand and refine its offering — including more bespoke opportunities for non-endemic brands across finance, automotive, technology and tourism — Amplify is more than a side hustle. It’s a reinvention of the department store model for a new media era.
