Girls In Tech

Looking forward to the New Year?  So are retailers – As value, convenience, and selection will remain top-of-mind as the New Year approaches, retailers begin to look back on 2009, with an eye for growth in 2010.  With that, Mike Kraus, Retail Advisor for AllBusiness.com, has the following predictions for retail trends in 2010.:

The Continued Rise of E-commerce – As consumers continue to be in value mode, they’ll continue to shop online for the best price.  But price is only part of the equation.  Convenience and selection will also help drive consumers to e-commerce.

The Sameness of Retail…Urgency to Retrench and Retool - As retailers continue to offer uninspired store experiences, and merchandise that is out of step with consumers, we’ll continue to see slow growth in the retail sector.

Social Media Becomes Key Driver in Retail Marketing – Instantaneous outreach to loyal customers will take hold and exponentially expand through Twitter, Facebook, and more.  This not only allows retailers to stay in touch, but it allows them to stay up to speed and get involved in an increasingly open and honest dialogue with customers.

Crash-up Retailing – the economic expansion gave rise to the over-development of shopping centers, districts and streets, leaving every shopping area no different from the next.  Crash-up retailers, those that combine more than just goods for sale, things such as gallery space, a cafe or coffee bar, a community meeting space, or a performance space are going to drive visits to their locations, simply because they’re offering something more – a place to experience versus a place to just sell.

Do you agree or disagree with these trends?  Comments?

(Source:  Mike Kraus,  Allbusiness.com.)

With the rise of e-commerce, shopping has lost most of its social charms. But a new website called FriendShopper.com is combating the lonely shopper blues by connecting friends in a real-time, centralized environment, featuring easy ways to share content and interact similar to in-person shopping.

FriendShopper.com isn’t so much a social network as it is a web-based social platform; it is the first site to offer the social perks of shopping in real-time on the web. With FriendShopper, users can manipulate integrated social tools like instant messaging and content sharing in a highly targeted, custom-built environment meant to simulate the live shopping experience.

“The goal of FriendShopper is to bring back the fun and interactivity that was always part of the shopping experience, before e-commerce was born,” said FriendShopper founder and CEO Josh Bochner. “While some call themselves ‘social shopping’ websites by aspiring to create a mash-up of social networking and shopping, we believe that shopping is, at its essence, a social experience. We’ve targeted that experience and re-created it for the web.”

A web-based chat function, docked on the right side of the page, simulates the interaction friends might have in real life while checking out products. Friends can offer opinions and enjoy the shopping experience together, just as they would at a mall or department store. The dialogue feature allows users to converse and share with multiple friends simultaneously.

To get started using the tool, shoppers simply drag-and-drop the FriendShopper bookmarklet into the browser toolbar, surf any online storefront and click the bookmarklet button whenever they find an item they would like to save or share with friends. FriendShopper will add the item to the user’s “My Items” page, and clicking on the “Add to Chat” button allows him or her to instantaneously share that item with a friend. Notifications and thumbnail images appear anytime a friend shares an item with the user.

FriendShopper’s search functionality empowers shoppers with the option to search retailers or specific products by keyword without leaving the website. Just as items can be bookmarked and shared, shoppers can add their favorite stores to their FriendShopper profile using the bookmarklet.

Create folders and move items into them with a simple-to-navigate folder explorer view. Shoppers can customize item names and pictures to find them easily later. To sign up for a free account with FriendShopper and start shopping, visit www.FriendShopper.com.

After March’s Women in Business Development event, I was chatting with some other attendees about the brilliant women who just spoke on the panel, when I was approached by a very friendly woman wearing exquisite jewelry. Since I have always been a sucker for turquoise, I was immediately drawn to her lacquered turquoise and shining silver necklace and earrings. She went on to tell me that she’s the co-founder of WooMeOver.com, a social networking site for jewelry designers and enthusiasts. I was shocked that I hadn’t heard about the site as it enables designers to monetize their craft online not through just a personal website, but through yet another social network, where you build sort of a fan base for your products along with a portfolio, get feedback straight from the source as well as requests to custom make items for new and old clients.

I am, after all, quite a jewelry enthusiast myself, but have yet to grow a collection of my own that’s not from the dollar store or Forever 21. I’ve always agreed with the original Diva herself, Holly Golightly, that diamonds are tacky for anyone under 50, but scanning through the delicious designs from amazingly talented designers on WooMeOver and their ‘Bling Blog’, I may want to start my real rock collection a bit before I’m half a century old!

If you’re a jewelry designer, or aspiring designer, this network would be an amazing place to build up your clientele, network with other designers and get daily inspiration from the bold colors, immense creativity and unbelievable designs.

WooMeOver.com is still in beta, but if you’re interested, check out the home page and you can register to be a part of the community and scan the artistic images, learn about the designers and even build your personal collection!

Even in today’s not-so-hot economy, I love shopping online. And it has only gotten better in the last year or so. With the convergence of sound design, video, interactivity, and 3D animation, some brands have really created some amazing e-commerce sites. 

Here are some of my favorites…

1. This site recently launched for Hoop emulates a real-life shopping experience where you see an article of clothing on the rack, drag it over to your want pile, and keep on shopping. See screenshot and go to play. 

2. I absolutely adore this site for Loopt. It’s one of the best out there because it’s so very clever. Each person is wearing a t-shirt, does a little dance, and represents a beat in a sound loop. While watching you will see their entire catalog of t-shirts.   Explore the loops or make your own. 

3. This is another fun one, check out Beams. I love being able to see the full catalog in one view. There’s a real sense of exploration and discovery designed in a very new and fun interactive way.

4. The sound design on this e-commerce site for Holden is beautiful. I love the emotional energy between the people, sounds, colors, and fabric. Be sure to check out a video or two. The videos really allow the user to examine the quality and detail of the products. In all, I think this site is a great example on how to connect with people on a deeper level online. Go!