Interactive Shoppable Content Now Appears in Tweets

In their latest endeavor, Twitter has released a new feature unlike any other, which delivers a unique kind of experience to users. Working with company ThingLink, a website that enables users to upload images and make them interactive with digital content, Twitter aims to bring new life to its platform by allowing users to post more than just 140 characters.

By integrating ThingLink’s interactive photo’s into its platform, Twitter enables users to show those viewing their tweet a wide variety of content without having to link outside of Twitter’s website. When users hover over one of Thinglink’s images posted in a tweet, various icons pop up, which may feature audio clips, YouTube videos, Facebook or Pinterest profiles, information blurbs, or even shoppable content, all of which is viewable through Twitter’s website!

The Grammy’s recently used ThingLink to promote Whitney Houston’s many accomplishments over Twitter. All in the ThingLink photo, they posted; a small synopsis of Houston’s special broadcast, a fact about Houston’s Grammy wins, a link to exclusive behind the scene photo’s on The Grammy’s Instagram page, a list of Houston’s Grammy wins, and a Youtube video which is viewable  right on Twitter’s site. In essence, one single image can become a small resource all in its own.

Connecting
8 Insights About The Coming Era of Interactice Design

Connecting is a short documentary by Bassett & Partners and Microsoft that explores how our lives (and our gadgets) have and will change in a more connected world. It’s 18 minutes long but very worth the time, as it features interviews with designers from Method, Twitter, Arduino, Frog, Stamen, Microsoft, and Nokia. What’s crazy, even with the magic of editing, is that so many of these talented perspectives tend to finish one another’s sentences.

As you watch, you’ll see a general consensus on a few really important points.

(Source: fastcodesign.com)

Vending Machine Let’s You Dance for Free Coke

Advertising shticks have come a long way, especially for companies like Coca-Cola. In an effort to retain its position as the number 1 global brand, the company has recently equipped vending machines with webcams and Microsoft Kinect sensors.

The goal? To get you to shake your booty, shout and cheer, and show as much passion as possible for free Cokes.

A video of this machine in action in South Korea has gone viral, thanks in part to a boy band named 2PM helping to engage the audience into mimicking their moves.

(Source: singularityhub.com)

IKEA – A New Kind of Catalogue

Now the digital revolution is hitting catalogues big time. Yes, the old cattledog is learning new digital tricks, in both its creation, and its consumption. And one of the best examples of the trend is the granddaddy of catalogues – the 62-year-old big book from IKEA.

As the Wall Street Journal reported this month, the latest IKEA catalogue is “Less Pine, More Pixels”.  This year, 12% of the content for the catalogue has been constructed virtually, not physically and next year that figure will double. 3-D digital room renders cost less money to produce and are more flexible to work with. So if IKEA needs to change out a furniture item or a timber colour for a particular country, it’s as easy as flicking a switch. Digital retouching is nothing new – it’s been happening for years – but it’s the first time I’ve heard of entire detailed room settings being convincingly built on a computer screen.

The IKEA catalogue is also embracing digital in its publication and interactivity. IKEA pre-released this year’s edition on tablets and smartphones. And when the catalogue itself lobbed onto lawns across the world with an almighty thump, it featured “inspiring films and interactive features”, accessed by opening an IKEA catalogue app and scanning pages.

(Source: newretailblog.com)

Buy Real Goods Virtually

British software company Keytree has created a new application that lets you virtually browse the shelves of a store when you’re standing in front of the TV. ‘Store Trek’ uses the Microsoft Kinect to deliver a 3D shopping experience that crosses the divide between in-store and online, combining the best of both. It delivers tailored virtual shelves in a store layout driven by a personalization engine you would normally have in an online store.

You can walk around and the shelves will automatically adjust to provide an immersive and engaging experience. You can reach out to a product to add it directly to your basket if you want to purchase it. This cloud-based e-commerce solution could be used to shop for your groceries from Tesco or browse products from Amazon and eBay.

(Source: psfk.com)

Interactive Window Display II

One of the great projects done by Philips. With Philips Retail Solutions technology platform & service these kind of solutions can be created easily but also changed and maintain easily.

(Source: vislogix.com)

Nike’s Interactive Epic, “My Time Is Now”

Seen one way, Nike’s latest soccer extravaganza, “My Time Is Now,” is a big-ticket film featuring a who’s who of the sport. Seen on YouTube, it’s an interactive campaign that allows dedicated viewers to discover hidden “tunnels” of story. (…)

W+K London head of interactive and innovation Graeme Douglas explains: “Instead of making a big ad for TV then putting together a bolt-on interactive version, what we have done is make a interactive film and experience, then created an edit for TV. That’s a fundamental shift.”

(Source: fastcocreate.com)

Shoppable Music Video

SSENSE, a luxury retail company based out of Montreal, has recently introduced what they’re billing as the “world’s first interactive shoppable music video.” And yup, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. I Think She Ready features Diplo, FKi, and Iggy Azalea all decked out and styled in brands and items carried by the site, while WireWax technology, which enables users to tag videos in essentially the same way they would a Facebook post, makes the “interactive shoppable” part possible.

eBays physical interactive store.

eBay have teamed up with toy retailer Toys for Tots to develop an innovative ‘Give a Toy’ charity this Christmas. The ‘Give a Toy Store’ is an interactive virtual store through which shoppers can easily select gifts between $2 and $25 to donate to kids in need. The virtual store exists as a website, mobile site and a Facebook page. (The Facebook page already has over 1.2mil likes.)

But most engaging of all are the physical shop windows in New York and San Francisco. Here, shoppers can interact with the windows by scanning QR codes with their phone to trigger fun animations and make a donnation.

This is a smart program which delivers on several levels. It not only supports a very worthy cause, it also provides a convenient way for busy shoppers to make a donation (which is a genuinely valuable service at this time of year). From a purely commercial perspective, eBay’s strategy of getting people who are actively shopping physical stores to stop, pull out their smart phone and switch to the online channel is incredibly smart. Particularly to reinforce the values of fun, convenience and altruism while they’re doing it.

The specifics of eBay’s strategy aside. There is a lot that retailers with physical stores can learn from this interactive and transacting window. Why should you stop selling just because your shop is closed?

(Source: newretailblog.com)

NikeFuel Station

Nike’s global creative director Andy Walker gives dezeen a tour of the new NikeFuel Station at Boxpark in east London. The store combines digital technology with physical retail, including a wall that changes colour in order to chart the presence of a human body, digital avatars in place of mannequins and augmented reality display systems to showcase product features.

(Source: dezeen.com)

Real Infotainment Display

Perch is an interactive display technology designed for use in retail spaces. Perch turns any light-colored table surface into a dynamic, hands-on interactive display. It encourages shoppers to touch and pick up products on display, and rewards them for doing so with information, animations and brand-specific media. Perch combines the benefits of online shopping with the advantages of retail shopping to create an entirely unique and enticing experience for the customer.

(Source: perchinteractive.com)

Virtual showrooms

Adidas has hired Intel to “virtualise the selling process”: most of the products would only be shown in stores in their digital, 3D form. “This way, we only need to have a small fraction of our products present in their real, physical form.” CEO Herbert Hainer told the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

This virtual showroom has been tested in France since last year, but by the end of 2013 Adidas wants to have 150 virtual showrooms all over the world. 60% of all sales should happen through these virtual showrooms.

Bodymetrics – Body Shape Jeans

Once you step into the futuristic Bodymetrics Pot, your body is carefully mapped into hundreds of measurements and contours. Then, our Fit Stylists will help you select the best jeans that fits your size, shape and style. All you have to do is walk away in your perfect fit.

Selfridges, Oxfort Street, London
New Look, Westfield, London Stratford

(Source: bodymetrics.com)