We know OLED technology will hit the mainstream sometime, and we know flexible screens are in the future too... then enter Samsung, which at CES showed off a pocket-sized media player with an "unbreakable" palm-sized flexible OLED screen.
In the retail world this could very well revolutionise our in store shopping experience. Imagine stores with flexi screens forming part of the asthetic creative fit out. Videos wrapped around poles or hi-res imagery playing from the ceiling. It certainly opens up a doors for more engaging retail theatre.
What's more, I have no doubt that a clever retailer will soon adopt this technology to form labels' swing tags. So for example when you go to pick up an item of clothing the tag might show you a short video about it's origin, or content of it being worn in the catwalk and pricing information can be displayed in a more engaging way.
If Samsung can produce the flexible OLED screen for an affordable price on a larger scale I'd say we will be seeing a lot more of them in the next 5 years.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ebay's augmented reality app
A newly released update to eBay’s fashion app for the iPhone 4 allows customers in the UK to try on sunglasses before they buy.
Using augmented reality, the firm has introduced its “See it On” feature which gives shoppers an idea of how a pair of sunglasses will look on their face.
The app uses the iPhone 4’s front-facing camera to display an image of the shopper, before superimposing the selected sunglasses on top. If the customer likes what they see, they can choose to get the items shipped out using a next day courier or international delivery firm.
A number of styles of glasses have been added to the app, including Aviator, Wayfarers and rimless. Frames and lenses are also available in a variety of colours.
In a statement released today, the company said: “eBay’s fashion app makes it easier than ever to indulge in your passion for fashion anytime, anywhere, and become your own online stylist.”
Facebook Shoppers Have 7-10% Larger Shopping Carts
Shoppers on Facebook like to buy more, spend more, and shop more – at least according to the latest numbers from private shopping site Kembrel. Kembrel has seen increased sales on its Facebook-only shopping app compared to its dot.com website, indicating that the return on investment for an ecommerce organization to establish a social presence could be quite high.
The Kembrel store itself is a college-only shopping site that offers limited-time, deeply discounted deals on over 50 college lifestyle brands including American Apparel, C&C California, and Blackberry and Mac accessories.
Kembrel expanded from its web-based store to include a Facebook store earlier this year, allowing users to shop and make purchases directly from within Facebook – an industry first at the time.
Using ShopIgniter‘s Social Promotions Engine to drive traffic from its main webpage to its Facebook store, Kembrel has seen measurable success that other e-retailers should pay attention to: Kembrel has driven 20% of all transactions inside their Facebook store with a 7 to 10% larger shopping cart than their dot.com website. These larger carts were due, in part, to special promotions run on Cyber Monday.
Cherif Habib, CEO and Founder of Kembrel, has this to say about Kembrel’s Facebook store:
“Students spend more time on Facebook every day than on any other site. ShopIgniter enables us to engage our social network by running unique, viral social eCommerce promotions like limited time sales and refer a friend incentive programs.”
Retail companies looking to increase visibility using social media should take note: During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ShopIgniter’s hundreds of retail and brand manufacturer customers saw measurable successes. On average, they experienced an increase of 80% in user acquisition and a 500% increase in unique visitors related to viral/shareable coupons. It looks like targeting customers on social networks during peak shopping windows like Black Friday – and offering them incentives like sharable coupons to further leverage the social web – is an effective way to increase your online presence as a social shopping entity.
Lauren Dugan for allfacebook
Adidas virtual wall
Footwear fanatics will no longer have to trek to some massive metropolitan shoe shrine to ogle the latest products if Intel's dazzling virtual footwear wall catches on with retailers.
Unveiled today at the 2011 National Retail Federation's convention in New York, the magical spinning interactive adiVerse Virtual Footwear Wall potentially puts as many as 8,000 shoes at shoppers' fingertips in a futuristic mash-up of e-commerce and the mall.
Intel partnered with Adidas to show off what the wall might look like, and the results are pretty sweet. Designed by U.K. shop Start Creative, the wall renders products in 3-D, and allows a shopper to spin and zoom in on the shoes, and call up specs from a touch-screen display. Particularly hot models, like the company's F50 soccer shoe, have accompanying video and relevant information (like the fact that F50-clad feet scored 44 goals in last year's World Cup).
Supplemented by a supply of actual shoes that can serve as fit models, the display wall allows retailers to deliver massive inventory in a relatively small space. "We've leveled the playing field for small retailers," says Chris Aubrey, VP, Global Retail Marketing for Germany-based Adidas. "They can now act like a big flagship store in a town like New York." Not to mention the fact that the installation turns flat walls into prime selling space.
Aubrey says a prototype store will likely roll out in about a year in the U.K. -- a country that's nearly as enthusiastic about e-commerce as the U.S., but close enough for executives from the company's European headquarters to keep a close eye on how the wall is working out. "Germany itself still lags a bit," in its appetite for online shopping, Aubrey says.
Footwear sales in general are bouncing back, he says, after taking a hit during the global melt-down of 2008. "We had a very good 2010," he says. "I think consumer confidence is back."
Linda Tischler, FastCompany
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