The Official Fluid Blog

Shopping is in our DNA here at Fluid.

We may be developers, designers, strategists and account managers, but one thing we share beyond our specialties is a passion for shopping. If you’re in the market for clothes, accessories, sporting equipment or kitchenware, there’s no greater place than where we many of us live and work—New York City.

Note to our San Francisco and Chicago colleagues: We love shopping in your cities, too!

Ever on the search for omnichannel excellence, we descended on some of our favorite department stores to see how well they’re adapting to—and adopting—the opportunities to reach in-store customers through digital technology. The results were, well, mixed.

Here are the winners—and the runners-up — among some national chains:

Macy’s:

We all know where The Miracle on 34^th Street took place, but still wanted to see what directions Macy’s store finder would give us.

Nearest location? Check.

Directions to the store? Check.

Wait a minute. It’s not loading the Google or IOS maps embedded on our phones?

It’s linking to Mapquest so we have to launch a browser?

Not very convenient or very 21^st Century.

Once inside the store, we see a variety of signs of digital life:

Giant digital screens set the mood for a modern experience.  Thumbs up.

A print poster with cluttered design encourages customers to pin items on Pinterest. Props for the campaign. Thumbs down on the poster.

Kiosks that allow you to scan an item’s barcode for product recommendations (the sign reads: More Choices! Free Shipping!) gave our shoppers’ hearts a flutter, but when we tried using them, they turned out to be duds. Each kiosk provided the product’s price (which was already on the tag) and told us to see a sales associate for more items. Is this because Macy’s hasn’t input their inventory into the kiosk system?

Thumbs up once Macy’s gets it to work.

We loved the wedding department gift registry because it prints out a full list of your friends’ wish list, including which items have already been purchased. We’d love it even more if the interface was equally as modern and engaging. Thumbs up.  Sort of.

Where Macy’s Omnichannel Excellence comes alive is within the individual brand sections of the store.

Michael Kors definitely gets the award for best digital display. A full environmental experience that incorporates lifestyle and product imagery defines the designer’s boutique, distinguishing it from the crowded environment, and sets the stage for a shopper’s paradise.

For pure utility, Clinique’s tablet hit it out of the park for Omnichannel Excellence.  A series of questions evaluates your skin type then prints out a list of products tailored to your specific needs. It’s attractive, personal, interactive, and action-oriented.

That’s what we call Omnichannel Excellence.

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The 2013 Tony Award nominees were announced today and it got me thinking about how much technology, people and shopping have evolved over the last 17 years. If Broadway theatre, technology and shopping seem like wildly unrelated topics, allow me to explain.

Back in 1996, I was the founding editor of the Tony Awards website, a joint venture between the organizations that run the Tonys and a startup Web development company. Because the Web was so new and unfamiliar, the folks running the awards (and everyone else on Broadway!) didn’t understand or appreciate the value of another communications platform. They tolerated our online efforts, but were strident about us not scooping the traditional press, even though we were an extension of the official brand.

On this morning 17 years ago, after the nominees were announced at Sardi’s, I was handed a print-out and CD-rom with the full list of nominees, straight-armed my way past the donut table to the subway, and hurried back to the office so we could post the full list on the site. As if this delay wasn’t bad enough, I came back to an email from the talented actor Mark Linn-Baker wanting to know why the Tonys couldn’t get our act together enough to post the nominees at the same time as the television announcement.

“What do you want me to say?” I considered replying. Instead I wrote back to tell him the nominees were finally up on the site. And that I’m a big fan of his work.

“Success requires agility, adapting to evolving human behavior, meeting your customers where they are, not forcing them to meet you where you are.”

Flash forward light years to this morning, when I turned on the TV just as the announcement was ending.

I sparked up the Tony Awards site on my iPad to read the full list.

An alert pinged on my iPhone from the New York Times with more information about the awards.

Facebook started lighting up.

I texted a good friend to congratulate her for receiving a nomination for her performance in a play.

I even started shoping for an appropriate congratulations gift on Amazon.

The changes in technology between then and now are obvious—smartphones, tablets and social media weren’t even glimmers in their creators’ eyes back then—but the changes in people (especially the ones responsible for brands) and shopping are especially noteworthy.

Organizations like the Tony Awards, not to mention retailers, financial institutions, healthcare providers, etc., have learned that they are content creators just like the media that they courted so assiduously for so many decades.  And, as content creators, it’s not enough to be present in just one platform.  To succeed in today’s environment brands—particularly retailers—need to be present where their customer lives—everywhere, immediately and always.  It’s the Omnichannel Evolution.

After 17 years in this industry, I understand firsthand how challenging it is to keep up with technology and shifts in human behavior. But I also understand the cost of not evolving and innovating.  Probably the most important lesson I’ve learned as a digital strategist is that there is no “one size fits all” solution to getting from here to there.  Success requires agility, adapting to evolving human behavior, meeting your customers where they are, not forcing them to meet you where you are.

That’s why I’m proud to be part of the Fluid team. My colleagues are experts in understanding what makes individual brands unique, what their customers want most from them, and leading the brands through the Omnichannel Evolution, be it through e-commerce, in-store tablets with endless aisles, shoppable images, or strategic planning.

Still, I envy the person who’s running the Tony Awards website today.  He or she probably had plenty of time to enjoy that donut table and didn’t come back to any angry emails from famous people. And he didn’t have to wander from store to store to find just the right gift that says, “Congratulations on your nomination!”

Visual has snuck up on verbal and become the new darling of digital. What do I mean? Digital shopping, design and communication are now ruled by vivid imagery that aims to stop consumers in their tracks. This is a window shopping world of show and tell. Sharing becomes irresistible. Making a statement can happen without words.

What’s driving this trend? At Fluid we see four main factors:

1. Mobile (and tablet) first design: Mobile is no longer the second thought to web design. The minimalism and functionality needed to make mobile sing is where designers are starting. Strong mobile growth projections and the shift in consumer behavior towards mobile access are fueling this fire. Just ask Facebook and eBay. Responsive design fits into this niche nicely.

2. Facebook timeline: In January 2012 Sophos conducted a poll that found that 51.29% of respondents said Facebook Timeline worried them (32.36% said they didn’t know why they were still on Facebook). With the roll out completed these numbers have likely changed. 900M active users now see their history of interactions visually.

3. Pinterest: In February ComScore reported that Pinterest passed 10M monthly uniques faster than any stand alone site ever. In March Pinterest served up 2.3B page impressions to 4M unique visitors. That’s 4000%+ growth YOY. Pinterest serves as such a strong source of referral traffic that two things are happening: Digital commerce sites are proactively pinning on Pinterest and Digital commerce sites are adapting their site photography to make pinning to Pinterest easy (and appealing). At Fluid we think infinite scroll is Pinterest’s secret sauce.

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The social inspiration and curation market is on fire in digital. The land grab for market share and consumer pins, posts, hearts, bookmarks and nails is obviously on.

Pinterest remains the marshall of this parade. This has not changed since my last Pinterest post. The one where I said stop reading about Pinterest and start playing with it – but bear with me. I like what I’ve seen this week.

Noteworthy parade participants:

- Juxtapost: 52 days in operation. 50K images bookmarked. They are hot on the heels of the lead dog.
- Little Monsters: It’s Lady Gaga. Her touch is social gold. And she loves a parade.
- We heart it: Around since 2008, this serious contender draws more than folks who dot their “i”s like Junior High girls.

Remember the race last year to optimize men’s style and fashion (Mr. Porter, Gilt Man and CLAD)? The men have officially entered the social inspiration arena. Notably Gentlemint, Fancy and Manteresting. Note: Items are “nailed” on Manteresting, not “pinned.” Put those pins away.

For the record, pinning used to be how a sweaty man in a singlet won a wrestling match.

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Like a designer loving, unique style finding, in-the-know fashionista who ends up in a room full of people dressed just like her, I delve into writing about Pinterest. I almost feel silly. What can I say that hasn’t been said by the volume of articles flooding my in-box and social media?

I made a Pinterest board to show a sample deluge of articles from the last two weeks. This doesn’t include tweets or Facebook posts:

For the record, my favorite one is Bianca Bosker’s The Secret of Pinterest’s Success: We’re Sick Of Each Other.

The whole digital industry is running to catch-up with a high school friend who lives in Minnesota and discovered Pinterest first. She’s busy making bird nests out of cut string with her kids (found on a How to Make or Grow board) while we all try to figure out when she got so cool.

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2011 was a big year for digital commerce. At Fluid we saw leading brands fight back to own the innovation that start-ups owned in 2010. We saw digital shopping finally and fully break beyond the boundaries of ecommerce sites. And we saw brand and commerce mix and mingle in matches that were incredibly exciting – products told stories and stories sold products.

At years end, Fluid celebrates ten digital retailers that took bold action in 2011 – some are our clients, some are not. The order is purposeful. We count down to the brand actions we see as boldest. The gauntlet for 2012 has officially been thrown. Fun.

Think there’s a bold action that should to be on this list? Send it on.

Happy Holidays,
Amy

Bold Action #10 NetFlix: Facilitate visual navigation just for kids
In November Netflix revised their Wii app to include a “Just for Kids” section, navigitable by cartoon and kid characters. The under-12s will never be computer-centric – design is changing accordingly. In fact independent of age, design for tablets and touch-screens began to heavily drive web design in 2011, instead of vice versa.

Bold Action #9 AmEx: Bolster small businesses with their own Saturday
AmEx isn’t a digital retailer but in a year of bold moves by payment systems (Paypal’s Facebook app, Square’s rise, etc.) they sparked digital commerce success. Lodged between Black Friday and CyberMonday, Small Business Saturday drove social traction, offline sales and fueled Davids over Goliaths. Another brand focused on small business buying, Etsy, saw 80% YOY CyberMonday sales growth.

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At Fluid we have been monitoring the popularity and use of the mobile web and mobile applications for a few years, and we have seen the trend toward mobile optimized web sites for general activities and mobile applications for productivity, focused functionality, and brand-specific experiences. Luke Wroblewski recently proclaimed that the mobile web is winning, but mobile applications still have a place and purpose.

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When people step outside their immediate comfort zone, amazing things can happen.

We witness it when football players take ballet. We see it when a furniture designer looks to nature for inspiration. We hear it when Tony Bennett teams up with Lady Gaga.

Unfortunately, we don’t witness this in the digital world enough. Instead of being open to a range of influences, site design processes often have a narrow focus that can result in  “me too” looks rather than differentiated designs.

How does this happen?

As part of the discovery process, companies typically limit their review of the digital landscape to direct competitors and “top sites.”  This practice is important for benchmarking and informing feature prioritization. But done alone, a competitive review can be limiting and inadvertently create a “keeping up with the joneses” effect rather than setting the stage for a differentiated experience.

How can you avoid this pitfall and create a more differentiated experience?

By expanding your circle of influence. By supplementing competitive reviews with brand spheres.

What Is A Brand Sphere?

A brand sphere is a map of your customers’  “go to” brands across verticals. It identifies the brands they choose as they go about their day and the brands you can find in their home.

What is in their refrigerator? Which labels do they wear? What car do they drive? What kind of phone do they have? Where do they eat out? Which gym do they belong to? Which hair and body care brands do they prefer?

A brand sphere draws a more complete picture of your customer. It illuminates their preferences and expectations. And it provides new fodder for inspiration.

For example, if you are designing a consumer electronics shopping site, why limit your influences to only other electronics sites or even ecommerce sites in general? Why not look at music and video sites where your consumers most likely spend more time? Why not look at the CPG sites that fall in their brand sphere? What can you learn from the news sites they visit? The social networks they use?

By looking across verticals, you will expose yourself to different design approaches and feature sets. The purpose is not to imitate these approaches but to take a step back and see if there are any distinct designs or features that spark an idea.

Undoubtedly new perspectives will fuel new ideas. Ideas that are as elegant and powerful as a football player who can both rush and plié.

Hi all,

Fluid got to take the stage at eTail East’s Social Commerce Summit last week. So fun. We share our presentation with you here:

Retailers are bringing it big this holiday. While we, the gift seekers, think of people on our lists, drink hot cocoa and make out under the mistletoe, retailers are busy making gift giving easier.

The four examples you need to see:

1. Etsy’s Gift Guide

The best use of Facebook liking data that I’ve seen yet. Pick a friend and Etsy matches their likes (and interests) to Etsy products. It’s a peep show of the possibilities this public data holds.

2. J.Crew’s Very Merry Gift Guide

This stands out for two reasons: 1. Talk about beautiful, curated collections. It tells a story that makes me forget that it’s cross-sell. 2. Of-the-month offering. Subscription selling finally meets style. Why aren’t more brands doing this? Expect them to be doing so in 2011.

3. Victoria’s Secret Gift Cards (on Facebook)

Sharing gets sexy. Not only can you comment on photos from last night’s holiday party, now you can share a gift card – without ever leaving Facebook. Buying just got easier for last-minute Lucys. (Starbucks has Facebook gift cards too).

4. Coach’s Gift List (on Facebook)

The ripple effect of Polyvore permeates this design (as it continues to do throughout fashion). Drag and drop from Coach’s yummy collection to a wish list within Facebook – and affiliate each item with a friend.

Who’s going to top this in 2011? Fluid has some tricks up our sleeve. Exciting.

Happy Holidays,
Amy