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AUTUMN/WINTER 2016 EDITION 06
INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 ISSUE 06
CONTENTS
03 The Home, The Store, The Person
07 Amazon Echo and Alexa
11 Connected Customers Need a Connected
Journey By Neil Caddick
15 Ralph Lauren - Polotech
18 Vinaya
21 Tesco F&F Auto Replenishment
23 Body Labs
27 49ers Stadium App
29 Wrapping Up
Rob Smith
Managing Director
Blueleaf
01 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016
WELCOME TO OUR LATEST
INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
REPORT, ALL ABOUT
CONNECTED COMMERCE.
Connected Commerce. What does it mean? What are the
possibilities? This IGR focuses on this rapidly growing area of
commerce. What makes a good connected experience? Who is
using technology such as voice recognition, beacons and RFID
effectively? Are we still at the gimmick stage or is it useful for
the majority of consumers? There’s a lot to explore in this area
and only one thing is certain - it’s very exciting times for retail,
especially if you have a physical presence as well as online.
One of the key elements to recognise is that I hope you enjoy our latest report. I’m always
the technology to power these experiences is open to feedback so please drop me a note with
not only possible, but the price of the sensors your thoughts to rob.smith@blue-leaf.co.uk, I’d
and connections has fallen so significantly love to hear from you. I’ve been flattered by
that it can be cost effective to deploy the feedback received so far so please be kind
connected initiatives. The combination of this but also be honest; we want our reports to
and consumer adoption of things that are keep helping and inspiring you.
very useful to their journey is key for a great
connected experience. Thanks and enjoy.
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
02
CONNECTED COMMERCE / THE HOME, THE STORE, THE PERSON
HOME
THE
STORE
THE
PERSON
THE
Before we dive into the examples in this report I want
to explore the fact that there are three main ways
where you or your devices will ‘connect’. These are the
home, the store and the person. There’s a lot of spaces
in between, like the office, your car and general public
spaces but there’s no doubt that the three primary ones
are home, store and yourself in terms of retail commerce.
03 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016
CONNECTED COMMERCE / THE HOME, THE STORE, THE PERSON
THE HOME 25% of consumers in
Let’s have a quick tour of the home and the UK currently own
what’s possible.
at least one smart home
Connected appliances: monitoring of device. 36% of consumers
appliance performance, filters, emptying water
and so on, all useful utility-based services. Same say the main barrier
for energy consumption, heating etc, not quite as
to adoption is cost to
commerce-focused though.
purchase, followed
Connected storage: things like pantries,
cupboards, fridges, these have a lot of potential for
by 25% who say it is
restocking / auto reordering. They also have a content knowledge of products.
play, eg recipes based on their contents.
Source: Data Select,
Ambient sensors / listening: things like survey of 7,000 consumers.
Amazon Echo, featured in this edition, also form part
of the furniture and the lifestyle.
While there’s a lot of opportunity for retail in the
home, we need to be aware that for many people,
the home is a very private space. So bombardment
of advertising messages within the home (unless
through a device like a TV) is unlikely to work. The
commercial opportunity is more around utility and
lifestyle than direct purchase.
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
04
CONNECTED COMMERCE / THE HOME, THE STORE, THE PERSON
THE PERSON
The person is a really interesting part of the
equation. We’re all individuals and so we do
things in a great variety of different ways.
Who we are: body shapes, preferences,
location, wealth, there’s a great many things that
can connect and drive with sensors and data.
Activity: where we go, how we get there, how
THE STORE active we are and what we consume is all a gold
mine of information to use for retail and beyond.
The store is a whole other matter. There’s a lot of
opportunity to personalise a shopper’s journey. There’s a lot to explore in the store and many
powerful ways to continue our quest for a
Payment: seamless payment via mobile frictionless journey towards getting what
device could even get to the point that as you we want. In a world that is angled towards
walk out of the store with the goods you are experiences rather than things (at least at time
checked out. of writing) retailers will need to work hard to
make the purchase an experience in itself and/or
align experiences to purchases as enablers
According to a recent Connect of experiences.
Commerce report conducted
by DigitasLBi, 35.1% of fashion Right, let’s dive in.
purchases are spontaneous. So
imagine the potential here.
Finding: apps/augmented reality could easily
move you from the front of the store to exactly
where your items are located, or could have
them ready for you to try on based on your
proximity to the store.
Choosing: the potential here includes
virtual mirrors allowing for assistants to bring
different sizes or for you to talk with friends or
ask opinions and get recommendations on the
fly or make suggestions based on your diary for
upcoming events.
The DigitasLBi report also discovered that
37.1% of online purchases are not made alone.
05 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016
AMAZON ECHO
AND ALEXA
It’s taken a couple of years,
but Amazon’s Echo smart
speaker and its accompanying
Alexa personal assistant
have finally jumped across
the pond and landed on UK
shores, ready to revolutionise
the way consumers act in
their own homes.
07 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016
CONNECTED COMMERCE / AMAZON ECHO AND ALEXA
Amazon’s Echo device is a smart speaker system,
able to connect via Bluetooth to your music
devices. But more significantly, Echo is voice-
controlled and wi-fi enabled, meaning you
can vocally ask it to play your Amazon Music
playlist without connecting it to a device or even
pressing one single button.
The physical technology is a 9-inch Echo smart
speaker, weighing just over a kilogram (smaller
Echo Dot speakers are also available). The
speaker packs in a 2.5-inch woofer and
1.0-inch tweeter and comes with Amazon’s
very own lovely assistant – Alexa – who is most
certainly the brains behind the operation. She
lives in the cloud, powered by Amazon Web
Services, and has the ability to do a lot more
than just play your music.
Her name is her ‘wake
word’, say it at the
beginning of a request
and, always listening,
Alexa will come to life.
She can order your favourite pizza from Just Eat,
tell you the height of the Gherkin, set a timer,
create a to-do list and even request an Uber.
Officially launched in the US in 2015, those
who own one rave about Alexa’s abilities, with
over 40,000 Amazon reviews, 85% of which rate
the gadget four or five stars. The e-tail giant
also threw some serious marketing dollars at
the technology during the Super Bowl earlier
this year, with a series of adverts starring Alec
Baldwin. Echo is expected to be very popular
in the UK too, despite it being quite creepy that
Amazon is listening in to the conversations its
customers have in their own homes - something
which has raised privacy concerns.
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
08
CONNECTED COMMERCE / AMAZON ECHO AND ALEXA
What Amazon managed Forrester’s ‘Data Smart Home Devices Forecast
2016-2021’ predicts 7.1 million households in the
to prove with its Echo US alone will have a smart home device this year
and that number is set to increase to 8.7 million
product is there is in 2017 (5.9% of total homes) and a whopping
20.2 million in 2021 (16.3% of total homes).
definitely an appetite
for voice-controlled Hive and Phillips have seen the onset of this
trend for some time and have already signed
devices in the home. with Amazon, meaning consumers with the
smart home technology can ask Alexa to turn up
But what is special about this AI-powered personal the heating or turn off the lights, negating the
assistant is that she continues to learn and gets need to visit the necessary smartphone apps to
better as third-party developers create more do it yourself.
services to integrate with her. Amazon encourages
this through its Alexa Skills Kit, which can be
accessed by developers wanting to build new
‘skills’ – Amazon’s name for a voice-app. Just Eat,
Uber, National Rail, The Guardian, Sky Sports,
Jamie Oliver, Skyscanner and Fitbit are just a few of
the companies who have announced partnerships
with Amazon Echo on launch in the UK.
Where Echo and Alexa get really interesting is
with the Internet of Things. Users can set up Echo
to become the powerhouse for a smart home.
09 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / AMAZON ECHO AND ALEXA
And of course, Alexa will happily place an In fact, Google is due to launch its competitor
Amazon order on your behalf, using the default speaker/home automation device, Google Home,
1-click payment settings in your account. very soon. The concept of asking your smart fridge
to order milk, or having a casual chat with your
Amazon clearly wants these devices in people’s oven over temperature settings is finally here.
homes. It’s probably the most intelligent real-
use case of a smart assistant on the market, And with an intelligent central device, like Echo,
yet Amazon is only charging £149.99 for the you can begin to connect your smart home into
device, and it even knocked off 50 quid for Prime one frictionless ecosystem, so you only have to
members during the first two days of pre-orders. have that meaningful conversation with
Alexa removes the need to use your smartphone one device.
to place your usual sushi order or check the time
in Hong Kong, and speaking out loud is much
more natural than using devices like laptops,
SUMMING UP
smartphones or even smart watches.
This truly is a game-changer. The real appeal here
is the price. Given the money UK consumers are
While Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, has been
willing to fork out on Apple goodies, an affordable
around for four years, there isn’t a real need
£149.99 is sure to encourage widespread adoption
to talk to your iPhone – Siri became more of
of this product in the UK, as it has over the pond.
a novelty value and the technology wasn’t up
This presents countless opportunities for retailers
to scratch to be able to shout “Hey Siri, play
and it also changes consumer perceptions on the
my music” from across the room. Meanwhile,
affordability of smart tech in general. This opens
modern TVs with voice commands from the
the floodgates for sure.
likes of Samsung, LG and even Amazon with its
Fire TV, make it much easier to search through a
complex smart TV than using a remote, and this For relevant Amazon Echo and Alexa links visit
is actually normalising the behaviour. InspiringGreatRetail.com
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
10CONNECTED CUSTOMERS
NEED A CONNECTED
JOURNEY. NEXT
GENERATION RETAIL.
Technology is changing consumer behaviour. It’s no surprise
smartphones are paving the way for the connected consumer with
smarter retail apps, smoother e-commerce sites and interactive
digital campaigns all delivering better experiences. It’s not smooth
sailing though - siloed thinking still remains and retailers have a long
way to go to deliver a connected journey for today’s consumer.
11 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / NEXT GENERATION RETAIL
SHOPPING IS CHANGING
Over the last decade, we’ve transitioned from As the online and in-store experience becomes
‘showrooming’ to ‘webrooming’ and back again - evermore ubiquitous, there’s a need, and a
and now smartphones enable customers to shop demand for richer personalised experiences -
or engage with a retailer, whenever, wherever but to deliver this the right infrastructure needs
they are. So much so that customers rely on a to be in place and for most retailers, there’s
unified mobile and in-store experience, using some catching up to do. The CRM, e-commerce
their smartphone to access inspirational content, platform, in-store beacons and retail technology
recommendations and personalised experiences. need to work seamlessly together to deliver
the kind of experience that today’s tech-savvy,
connected consumer demands.
71% of in-store shoppers who use
smartphones for online research Those retailers that embrace the concept of a
say their device has become connected consumer do so across all customer
more important to their in-store touchpoints. It’s not just in-store, it’s across
all marketing and purchase channels to create
shopping experience. a rounded, integrated, connected customer
Source: Google Insights, Digital Impact journey. The fuel behind this is content and
On In-Store Shopping, October 2014 how it’s used across all platforms - from the
catwalk to social conversations and in-store to
e-commerce. Content delivers consistency and
So, if the bricks and mortar shoppers are using
messages that drive engagement and action.
their smartphones to find inspiration, research
The challenge is bringing it all together.
products and seek out promotions whilst in-
store, doesn’t the retailer need to revisit how this
CONTENT DRIVES INSPIRATION -
real-time, personalised shopping experience can
AND ACTION
be created seamlessly?
In recent years there have been a number of
retailers embracing the concept of the connected
Shoppers would be more likely consumer. They engage with their customers and
peers, reinforcing the behaviours today’s savvy
to shop in stores that offer
consumer is already showing.
personalisation (85%), product
recommendations (64%) and
recommendations based
on peer-group purchases (54%).
Source: Google Insights, Digital Impact
On In-Store Shopping, October 2014
Neil Caddick,
Chief Commercial
Officer, The Filter
blueleafCONNECTED COMMERCE / NEXT GENERATION RETAIL
For example, Burberry is held up as a digital this are Mr Porter and sister company Net-a-Porter
leader within retail and back in 2011, they began with the Yoox Net-a-Porter group favouring ex-
to connect digital engagement to sales more fashion editors to lead the way in this strategy.
inherently. The ‘Tweetwalk’ campaign took
their London Fashion Week show and tweeted The emphasis then becomes engagement and
exclusive backstage photos, streamed live keeping consumers interacting with the brand,
footage to its Facebook page and handed over its the content and the products. In an e-commerce
Instagram account to its most followed user to environment this becomes an even greater
deliver more exclusive photos. What’s more, they challenge - delivering the connected journey that
enabled their fan base to buy products in-store the customer expects - right there, right then.
before general release. Whilst this was primarily For example, Mr Porter delivers editorial content,
a social campaign, it was the start of a significant inviting readers to ‘get the look’ alongside in-
shift in their digital strategy. By 2014, Burberry depth interviews with high profile celebrities.
reported that channels that linked the store and The result is instant purchase intrinsically
online grew faster than any other channel. linked with richer, inspirational, magazine-style
content. It closes the gap to purchase and
drives up revenue for the retailer, and on the flip
Customers increasingly moved
side, the customer gets a completely seamless,
between offline and online connected journey.
throughout their purchase
DELIVERING A BETTER
journey, reflected in the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
contribution to digital sales of If connected commerce is about delivering a
orders via iPads in store (over better through-channel experience, how do you
achieve this? The right mix of infrastructure and
25%) and ‘order online, collect technology are a must to deliver a digital-first
in store’ (over 20%). strategy. Consumer behaviour is changing fast
and expectations are high - retailers need to
Internet Retailing, November 2014 deliver a unified, intelligent customer journey.
The challenge is bringing it together across all
Other retailers have embraced forward thinking systems and channels. This isn’t just a trend,
digital strategies, taking editorial style content ever it’s a reality right now. What’s your digital retail
closer to the e-commerce channel. Champions of strategy for the connected consumer?
13 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016RALPH
LAUREN -
POLOTECH
This example is really the other way around. Instead of
them using connected commerce to drive sales of goods,
Ralph Lauren are trialling selling goods that are connected.
And they’re not the only ones, Under Armour are doing the
same thing and no doubt Nike and a number of others are
cottoning on to the possibilities with connected footwear etc.
15 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016XXXXX/XXXXX The trend here is clear. Selling goods that add utility to your life and enable you to have less friction. It’s a pain and it’s time consuming to enter your activities into MyFitnessPal or other apps, so the easier the better. Even better if it’s enhanced with additional information like heart rate and breathing. That’s what PoloTech from Ralph Lauren does. It has a sensor box built into the shirt (so no attaching or slipping or positioning) and it connects to your iPhone (obviously). It’s not just the stats though, they’re also used to guide the wearer through a workout and then suggest the next workout based on how you did on this one. As consumers value ‘wearability’ and prioritise personal style over more technological features, strengthening consumers’ perception of wearable technology as customisable personal accessories rather than ‘techy’ gadgets will be key to boosting adoption. Sara Ballaben, Technology Analyst, Mintel blueleaf
CONNECTED COMMERCE / RALPH LAUREN - POLOTECH
This is a great value add as it’s not just a shirt but There’s a lot of potential within this area for
a guide at the same time. It’s got about 10,000 retailers. How can all retailers take advantage
different possible workout combinations as a of sensors and data to figure things out?
result. Now serious runners and cyclists will have Sensors will appear to monitor wear-time or
been doing this for a while with Garmins or Polar usage and suggest replacements or better
kit monitoring their heart rate and recovery. suited gear based on behaviour. It’s not just
But as technology prices drop, items like this will the utility though, there’s a level of status
become more commoditised, opening up more associated with wearing this kind of gear for
advanced methods in a simple way. a certain demographic and retailers can take
advantage of this.
Conductive threads woven into the
black nylon compression shirt and a
lightweight module that snaps into
the shirt around the left rib cage relay
information to a Bluetooth-connected
SUMMING UP
smartphone. Gone are the days of tech for the geek,
we now have tech for the jock. Technical
The readings track a range of stats,
clothing has come a long way in terms
including heart rate and variability,
of both design and cost in recent years.
breathing depth and recovery, intensity
Now it has the high-end of the high-
of movement, energy output and stress
street’s stamp of approval, we can
levels, steps taken and calories burned. expect to see it a lot more.
The free app, available through iTunes,
offers live fitness monitoring, reporting
and a “push rate,” which measures For relevant Ralph Lauren - Polotech links visit
exertion, power and effort. InspiringGreatRetail.com
Source: Forbes Magazine
17 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016I’ve been tracking Vinaya for
a long time and I’m pleased
this edition gives me the
chance to write about it.
I think they’re occupying a
space that’s very underrated
as they’re bringing
three things together:
fashion, technology and
individualism. What the
heck am I talking about?
Vinaya’s CEO
and Founder,
Kate Unsworth
blueleaf 18CONNECTED COMMERCE / VINAYA
STAY CONNECTED, NOT DISTRACTED
That’s one of Vinaya’s marketing lines and it really
sums them up. They make designer wearables like
People will become resistant to all
rings and bracelets. These items include sensors
and vibration that connect to your phone. What’s
the data streams and metrics – they
special is that they only alert you that something is want more valuable, actionable
going on (email, text etc) based on a highly curate insights. So fitness generation two
list of people and things, which you control. is about data, about recombining
data to make sense of it and
creating something actually useful
We want to break unnecessary digital for users.
habits to reduce stress and increase
productivity. I was inspired to launch Riaan Conradie, Computational Biologist
and Founder of LifeQ
Vinaya after leaving my job as a
technology consultant. I’d send work
emails in the middle of the night and One of the biggest problems I’ve always had with
was addicted to social media. Most of notifications is the lack of control. Every email
us feel overwhelmed by our digital lives, or no email. Every Facebook alert or very few.
The ability to curate and control what diverts my
and the journey for me was to
attention is important to me and a problem that’s
re-establish boundaries. been poorly solved so far.
Kate Unsworth, CEO and Founder,
Vinaya in Drapers
19 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016XXXXX/XXXXX Combine this with the trend of people wanting to experience life and not be continually distracted, and you’ve got something really interesting. Add in the fact that the products they’ve designed are, as far as I can tell, pretty fashionable to the point whereby most people wouldn’t know they’re ‘tech’ and the proposition continues to intrigue. They don’t look like an Apple Watch or a Fitbit, which you can spot a mile off. MENTAL WELLBEING Their new product, Zenta, which is currently in the works, is one that will track even more. It will track stress levels related to your calendar, breathing, sleep and so on, to get a complete picture of your health and mental wellbeing. Note, it is not trying to track fitness and activity so it’s avoiding being a me too, I hope. You can see how this connected world can go into retail too. There’s a lot of products that can match certain lifestyle patterns and help relieve some of whatever is bothering you - and the data is gold dust for personalised recommendations and preferences. SUMMING UP For me, Vinaya is inspiring great retail because they’ve come up with something that hits a new market, that is growing very quickly around mindfulness and wellbeing. They’ve executed it well and have not forgot the all-important appearance and fashion characteristics of the product, which is often overlooked. You can also see how they could help a retail ecosystem develop. For relevant Vinaya links visit InspiringGreatRetail.com blueleaf
TESCO F&F AUTO
REPLENISHMENT
This is a really nice, simple application of connected
commerce that makes a huge difference to both
consumers and the retailer. Tesco has started using RFID
tags to drive auto replenishment in its F&F fashion range.
It’s clever stuff. As the stock comes into the Having accurate stock information is a
store it’s all automatically counted through the
driver for our whole business. The RFID
warehouse shutters, so they know what’s in
store and in the stock room. It then also knows partnership with Nedap allows us to
what’s on the shop floor. As it gets sold, it gets replenish stock from the Distribution
replenished from the stockroom. As that gets Centre more efficiently and accurately,
low, automatic orders are placed to replenish
making more garment sizes available to
the right items in the right sizes.
customers and improving their overall
in-store experience.
Richard Collins,
F&F Chief Operations Officer
21 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / TESCO F&F AUTO REPLENISHMENT
This has resulted in out of stock issues falling SUMMING UP
75% - 99% in some places meaning product is We’re dealing with two extremely large
more available to customers and of course, they numbers here - the number of Tesco stores
sell more because it’s there. What I particularly stocking F&F and the cost of lost sales due
like about this example is that it’s taken to out-of-stock items. So it’s fair to say this
advantage of falling technology costs to solve a is going to have a pretty huge impact on
real world, straightforward problem. No fancy their bottom line. This is before we factor in
mirrors or fitting rooms, apps or ads, just making customer joy at being able to get their mitts
sure the right product is in the right place at the on the desired product. Well done F&F, we
right time with efficiency to boot. Good stuff. expect many UK retailers to follow.
For relevant Tesco F&F Auto Replenishment
links visit InspiringGreatRetail.com
Overstocks are responsible for 3.2 percent in lost revenue
for the average retailer, and out-of-stocks, 4.1 percent.
Source: Retail Wire, September 2016
Tesco F&F Kensington Superstore
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
22BODY LABS
This example is more about
new technology than a
retailer directly implementing
something for connected
commerce, but I believe its
application is not far off.
Body Labs are pioneering the
world of 3D body scans to
create a true representation of
someone’s figure, to then use
in many environments, retail
being one of them.
23 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / BODY LABS
Body Labs technology is able to sizes. It could be a great help in deciding just
garner a fully realistic 3D body what sizes to get delivered for a proper trying on
scan, complete with wrinkles and session at home, as opposed to just guessing or
even discounting certain items outright. I know
back fat, that goes well beyond
from personal experience, or rather I’ve found
matching up points on a body and
out, how different ‘tailored’ and ‘slim fit’ can be.
actually includes data about the It’ll be no surprise to most, that ‘slim fit’ isn’t
different properties of the human really my thing but tailored has a large variety of
body. And beyond that, Body Labs fits so this nature of scanning could add to this
technology allows you to add motion area immensely.
to the 3D body model to see how
certain fabrics or materials might The potential benefits of adding fit
move or wear in the real world. technology onto their e-commerce
Source: Tech Crunch platform are clear. It could help
consumers buy with more confidence
and it could curb monetary losses from
BETTER FITTED ITEMS AND returns. Free returns have in many
LOWER RETURNS ways come to be expected and are
You can already imagine the applications. increasingly necessary for retailers to
Couple knowing the customer’s body size to
stay competitive. So getting customers
within millimetres, with knowing the clothing
dimensions and you can easily see the
to buy fewer sizes and nail it on the
development of ‘proper’ virtual trying on of first try is a big motivator.
clothes. They could even highlight where it might Source: Online Retail Blog Fashionista
be tight or loose, invaluable for those in between for Retailers
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
24CONNECTED COMMERCE / BODY LABS
Shop Direct processes up to 50,000 returns per
day, seeing a 30% return for clothing. Couple this
with the fact that the Financial Times reported
that average returned purchase in the UK passes
through seven pairs of hands before it is listed
for resale and you can see the importance of
limiting returns.
AGGREGATE KNOWLEDGE OF
YOUR CUSTOMERS
There’s further innovation here, through
aggregate data. What is your average customer’s
true dimensions? Do people spend more with
you if the items generally fit? Can you tailor
certain clothes with certain manufacturers of to our needs. We only need to look at
yours to just tweak the fit so it’s best for the Indochino or ASTF (previously, A Suit That
majority of your customer base? There’s a lot of Fits) for examples of that. But if we think
mass customisation that could be very useful about applying the same principle to faster
for buying and merchandising teams to take fashion like dresses, trousers and even items
advantage of. like coats, we could have a winner. The same
fashion items you want but could never quite
MASS CUSTOMISED CLOTHING fit into. Or it was just a tiny bit tight.
Let’s take it even further. Manufacturing
possibilities are changing all the time with
the ability to customise and change product
25 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / BODY LABS
SIZE 8
Chest difference
2 inches
ZARA Waist difference
3 inches
Hip difference
2 inches
BRAND BUST WAIST HIP
Zara 33.85 26 37
BANANA REPUBLIC Banana Republic 36 29 39
Don’t be surprised if tech companies start
55% of Brits are willing to springing up everywhere to profile body sizes and
spend more on clothes that shapes and then sell/use that data across many
companies and retailers to help with all the things
suit or flatter them. I’ve spoken about here. The key for retailers will
Source: Mintel be ensuring they own all their own customer data.
HOW CLOSE IS IT?
Well, Body Labs setup costs $30k a pop so SUMMING UP
it’s going to be a while before loads of fitting I can see a time, in the not-too-distant future,
rooms are filled with the technology. But with where these are in every fitting room. OK, I like
technology costs coming down all the time, I the idea of my shirts fitting properly, but I’m a
wouldn’t be surprised if this gets affordable for rather typical bloke, if I was a true fashionista I’d
the bigger retailers, or at least their flagship imagine this is the stuff dreams are made of. Not
stores, soon enough. only fit, we’ll have a better understanding of which
styles and fabrics suit our shape. This is something
There’s some other technology floating around retailers and consumers have been trying to crack
using xBox Kinect as the scanning technology. since the dawn of time. It’s sure to lead to us
It’s already used for motion capture in games so buying more and returning less. This is a big deal.
it stands to reason that it could be used for body
scans. The accuracy might not be quite as good as
Body Labs, and that’s the key, but it shows that a For relevant Body Labs links visit
cheap piece of hardware can do a lot these days. InspiringGreatRetail.com
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
2649ERS
STADIUM APP
When beacons are used well, they can add tremendous utility and
helpfulness to an experience. This is often what retailers can miss.
They think of just offers, messages and notifications and that misses
the point, it also teeters into significant spam territory. Just another
thing to ignore on our long list of things to ignore.
The 49ers have done it differently. Very built in as opposed to just ads, notifications and
differently and I love it. The first things, spam. You can also do more things like book
although obvious, are still done well. You can your parking, find your spot and so on.
get your tickets on your phone and about 30%
of all tickets are done this way, making it a One of the lesser-used features is instant replays
pretty popular app for this kind of deployment. so you can easily catch up on the action you
You just scan your phone at the gate and you’re missed when you went to the toilet. Only 1% of
in, with a note of area, row and seat as normal. people actually use this feature though which
Here’s where it gets even better - the app then I found quite surprising, maybe they’re too
directs you to your seat with an estimated focused on the game.
arrival time.
Here’s a great thing for the 49ers though, that
The beacons get better - I can order food right really finishes off this example of inspiring retail
to my seat and see how long it’s going to take - the data! The sheer volume of data they gather
to get to me. This is the epitome of Americana from the app is enormous. Real time data too.
right here - a ball game, a hot dog and no need How much food is needed right now, what’s most
to move from my seat to get it delivered! It’s also popular today? If we show an ad for one thing
a great lesson in how an app is much better if does it sell a lot more? So much can be learned.
it has some genuine service design and utility Well done the 49ers.
27 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016CONNECTED COMMERCE / 49ERS STADIUM APP
I know you’ve heard it before, in
SUMMING UP
observations by everyone from A perfect example of a beautiful marriage
Forrester to Gartner, but I believe between customer delight and retailer
it can’t be emphasised enough. The upselling. This is tech, data and sales euphoria.
ability to collect data about customers
in real time and respond to it in real For relevant 49ers Stadium App links
time is increasingly what separates visit InspiringGreatRetail.com
successful brands from also-rans.
H.O Maycotte, CEO, Umbel, in Forbes Magazine
blueleaf AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL
28WRAPPING UP / ROB SMITH
WRAPPING UP
Examples of Connected Commerce that are really
inspiring great retail are actually still few and far
between at the moment, which isn’t entirely surprising.
Even large brands like Waitrose are struggling to figure
out how to use technology like beacons to really engage,
not advertise, to their customers.
The easy way out is advertising, but it doesn’t
add to the experience or add utility or happiness.
The brands that start figuring that out are going
Rob Smith
to make some very serious headway. And quite a
Managing Director
few are getting there, albeit slowly.
Blueleaf
In this report I’ve chosen to showcase retailers
that are inspiring me with their connected
commerce, not only because they’re doing a great
job but also because they’re setting an example.
No more out of stock items, no more badly fitting
shirts, no running out of milk, no overdoing it on
the squash court (OK, that one I can live without)
but you get the picture. So, to name just a few,
I want to thank these brave brands for their
pioneering spirit. The more of this we see, the
sooner this will really take off. And personally?
I can’t wait.
29 INSPIRING GREAT RETAIL AUTUMN/ WINTER 2016THANK YOU FOR
READING OUR
SIXTH INSPIRING
GREAT RETAIL
REPORT.
Our next edition, Spring 2017, will be
launched in February. From the giants
of our industry, to your local boutique,
many retailers are doing inspiring
things that deserve to be applauded.
So if you have a favourite retailer who
never fails to inspire, or maybe you
work for an inspiring retailer, share
your story - hello@blue-leaf.co.uk or
#InspiringGreatRetail on Twitter -
we await your inspirations.
Can’t wait until February? Drop us a note and we’ll sign you up
for Checkout; our bite-size, Friday email with three inspiring
nuggets of ecommerce news.
Wait! There’s more. While you’re at it, why not let us know
you’d like to receive Demandware Distilled? Plain, succinct and
easy-to-implement tips on how you can get the most from
your Demandware platform.
@bltweets www.blue-leaf.co.uk
#InspiringGreatRetail www.InspiringGreatRetail.comYou can also read
