Grocery Shopping's Futures via the Atlantic
From virtual newsstands to record stores, QSR-ordering and grocery shopping, I’ve been following this trend for a while and here’s a good read via theatlantic with some new case studies to add to the collection:
The Grocery Store of the Future?
People do any number of things while waiting on the platform for the next subway or commuter train. Some pre-walk to position themselves at the best station exit for their destination. Some just mindlessly pace. The ones who used to look down the track every few moments for the next train now look at the digital arrival times every few moments instead. Some take pictures of rats.
And, as of earlier this month, some Philadelphians have been able to shop for groceries. The online grocer Peapod introduced virtual storefronts at select SEPTA stations throughout the city. While awaiting a train, users can download the Peapod app, peruse the items in front of them, and scan the barcode of anything they’d like to purchase. The groceries are delivered to their homes later that day.
Philly marks the idea’s American debut, but a number of international cities already have similar services. Woolworths has placed virtual storefronts at the Town Hall Station in Sydney, Australia, and displays from British retailer Tesco were installed last year in South Korea. If three is a trend, you just got trended.
Read more. [Image: Peapod]
reblogged from theatlantic
On the quantified self:
Your Life as Data: The Rise of Personal Annual Reports | Mashable
Every time he drinks a cup of coffee, Dan Meyer makes a note on his phone. He does the same every time he opens a beer, turns on his TV or travels away from home. At the end of each month, he spends about three hours transferring these meticulously gathered notes into an excel spreadsheet. Meyer isn’t obsessive compulsive, he just likes data. Like an increasing number of data geeks, he uses his personal life as a project — compiling small events into a sometimes elaborate, graphic annual report each January.
reblogged from smarterplanet
![world-shaker:
courtenaybird:
BBC News - App helps blind to send text messages
“[There is] a growing anxiety shared among the blind community that the widespread adoption of touchscreens for many machines and devices is making them ‘truly blind’… from copying machines to machines at the gym - is all coming with touch screens.”
“Blind people say I ‘see’ things with my fingers, but on touchscreens they are truly blind.”
This is awesome.](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzrk3iYVmZ1qzsvqyo1_500.jpg)
BBC News - App helps blind to send text messages
“[There is] a growing anxiety shared among the blind community that the widespread adoption of touchscreens for many machines and devices is making them ‘truly blind’… from copying machines to machines at the gym - is all coming with touch screens.”
“Blind people say I ‘see’ things with my fingers, but on touchscreens they are truly blind.”
This is awesome.
reblogged from morpheusmedia
reblogged from curiositycounts
Girls' Education Campaign Runs Street Ad Only Women Can See
Facial recognition lends itself to campaign targeting that omits whole segments. Very clever and a teensy bit spooky. I would love to see more research/data and results on the accuracy of having databases assert gender.
Gap, DVF, and Nordies Shut Up Shop on Facebook
Facebook storefronts seemed like an interesting proposition to a number of high-profile retail and apparel brands last year. And I applaud the brands and their agencies for their willingness to experiment with creating e-commerce experiences inside of the world’s leading social network.
However, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research, “There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop.
“But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”
The truth is, pop-up stores have worked in skate parks and other unlikely social spaces in the physical world, so why not see if online social networkers are in the shopper mindset, too?
As these brands pull down their apps and get back to their ‘question of the day’ conversational marketing tactics on the service, I imagine this story will ricochet around other retail brands and their digital agency partners this month. F-Commerce plans may get scrapped in favor of Pinterest boards or Polyvore contests and rightly so. If our job is to carve out a slice of a marketers budget to try something and see if it sticks, to be disruptive and play with technology-based innovations, then I actually hope to see more articles like this.
Good for GAP and Nordstrom. Where next?
This is great!
We sent an unsuspecting average dude from Brooklyn who had never been to a runway show before to 2 of them at New York Fashion Week. The results are … well, you’d better read for yourself.
8:16 p.m. They don’t have a seat assignment for me, so a nice lady named Haley with an iPad and a headset puts me in G-2-29. I’m in the second row! Is that good or bad? I feel like it could be worse. There is a serious-looking fashion person next to me when I sit down. She says “Bonjour,” and I laugh, which is rude.
8:18 p.m. Waiting, trying to look normal. I take notes in a notepad so people assume that I am an important and unsuspecting street-style blogger. I have not warmed up from the Moncler show yet. My legs are that type of cold where maybe I peed myself but there’s no way to be sure.
8:24 p.m. There is a beautiful and stylish mom across the runway. Her 6-year-old is a vision. He’s got messy blond hair and is wearing an ascot, blazer and striped socks. He’s eating a mozzarella stick, and he offers some to his mom. Where did he get those? Is he taunting me? He’s barely out of diapers, better dressed than me and in possession of mozzarella sticks. I’m a grown man and I should have those whenever I want. I hate him.
8:27 p.m. The show starts. It is a genuinely thrilling live event! I try to nod and really pay attention to the clothes. “Hmm, yes, shoes.”
reblogged from theatlantic
Curated Collaborative Consumption Gets Gamified
Waaa. Brain explodes as social shopping buzzwords spill henceforth but here goes: @LittleBlackBag starts by reeling you in with a quiz to establish your fashion sense (not disimilar to ShoeDazzle et al.).
Next you are presented with a mystery bag of designer apparel and accessories curated by the sites stylists. Upon the big reveal, you have a week to rummage around the site to exchange pre-selected items for things you might prefer. Once the hunting and gathering is complete, your Little Black Bag (at varying pricepoints) is mailed to you — a bit like a Birchbox, if you will.
I have to say, I love how they’ve positioned the offering: Shop, Swap, Ship:
Members get freebies for inviting friends (nice audience acquisition/growth strategy) and by keeping the swap process open for a week, they’re ensuring a healthy return rate. Clever stuff. I suppose it remains to be seen if the merch holds up but with over 50 high-end brands already inked, this is one to watch.
PS you can also follow Little Black Bag on Pinterest, which is a perfect place for them to be. Again, another very smart way to drive traffic and capture the right audience for their launch.
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
According to AdWeek, location-based targeting will redefine behavioral targeting sooner than you think. This article touches on a few examples of campaigns that really only scrape the surface of what’s to come.
