Secret Cinema is looking to unite people’s desire for immersive experiences with their beloved and binged period drama, Bridgerton. Through a partnership with Netflix, party-seekers in London are scrambling for tickets as they look to move escapism offline and into the real world.

Putting its own fun spin on a more buttoned-up past, Netflix’s Bridgerton series traces the adventures of young aristocrats as they search for love and marriage prospects. A high-production romp of a period piece, Bridgerton offers a welcome escape to pandemic-era boredom.

As brand interactions become more seamless, Amazon’s Fashion TV series Making the Cut marks a development in the world of online shopping. Swapping out on-site ordering for on-screen entertainment and competition, it hints at a future blend of reality TV and e-commerce.

How can stores lure customers post-pandemic? What’s the future of pop-ups? And how is a sense of community driving shopping journeys? In this part of the 2021 Expert Outlook, we speak to three experts about people’s varied paths to purchase and the ways they connect to retailers.