tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6014505895877152152024-02-18T17:46:24.377-08:00Retail Neo!Tracking Retail Customer Engagement and digital disruptions around "Neo"-marketing!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-52593088247025459772014-05-02T23:52:00.000-07:002014-05-02T23:52:57.297-07:0018 questions that retail marketers are asking themselves!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The fact that the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retail</span>-<span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">marketing</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>ecosystem has been in a constant state of flux over the past few years is as well-known one. As the landscape evolves, every<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retailer</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is faced with a few critical<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">questions</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that she needs to answer as they approach about leveraging data and technology for deeper customer engagement and targeted<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">marketing</span>.</div>
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Not all<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">questions</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>will be applicable to all<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">marketers</span>, but let us see how many of these apply to you. Of course, let us know what you think of the answers from the perspective of your specific<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retail</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>organization - we're all ears!</div>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Is there a seamless way to collect customer data across our brick and mortar stores, without spending too much time, without appearing intrusive and in a quick and hassle-free manner?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Am I keeping pace with my consumers? - How am I engaging with them on Social Media and leveraging Facebook check-ins, etc. inside the store?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Can I connect my online and offline store worlds and see a Single View of the Customer, across channels? - That WILL help me deliver a truly omni-channel experience. </li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Is it possible to see how stores are performing on important parameters like New Customer registrations, Loyalty Sales, Customer Churn?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Do we have a New Joinee Program? And do we run a Churn-prevention Program? What if I could have a "process" around these activities and reduce the dependency on Store Systems, Store Ops and Regional Managers to deploy them?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">What is the "richness" of the current Customer Data? How can I capture, augment and enrich our Customer Data for more efficient targeting and higher rates of Contactability, and in the process, reduce my campaign spends/spam rates?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">If a merchandise is not available at a particular store, do I have the necessary process and systems to drive that sale online, such as not to lose that customer/transaction?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">With the "connected" consumer always willing to "find out and do more research" am I doing enough about cross-channel threats like Showrooming (Research Offline, Purchase Online) and Webrooming (Research Online, Purchase Offline)?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Is our Campaign Management process long and tedious to the point of us having to "shelve" certain campaign ideas merely because its a lot of "effort" to move data across platforms?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Is my Email Service Provider seamlessly integrated with data from an integrated<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">Marketing</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Data Warehouse that connects all sources of Customer Data at one single place?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Do all my POS terminals remain perfectly synchronized with regard to my customer data, as well as with our eCommerce website?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Am I empowering the store associate with intelligence that is available to me at the corporate office? Wouldn't it be great if the stores had access the all customer-centric information (like notes, brand/size/colour/category preferences), so that conversations with customers were more meaningful?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Am I leveraging location-based technologies to tap into prospective customers and using these methodologies to drive footfalls into my stores? Is Foursquare anywhere on my roadmap?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">How can I intercept customers? Are our store-fronts truly "new-age" - Is there a need to deploy digital signages and leveraging real-time touchpoint-enabling technologies like Beacons, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and WiFi?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Do we give out Promo Codes or Offers to customers and enable them to use it across our store and online worlds? Do we have a centralized coupon/offer management system?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">If my customer data is consistent across platform, my loyalty program should be integrated too - Do we ave the same earn/burn rules across channels to ensure a consistent customer engagement experience?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Am I leveraging detailed line-item/SKU data to identify the most appropriate, relevant and personalized cross-sell and up-sell opportunities for customers? Is there a process around it, or is some of it being done ad-hoc occasionally?</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">How would be if we had a Referral Program that was fully integrated with our CRM and Loyalty Programs? - Would our truly engaged customers love recommending our products and services to their friends?</li>
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While most<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retail</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">marketers</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>would have pondered over at least some of these<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">questions</span>, deploying all of them in a structured manner is often easier said than done. The larger your<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retail</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>set-up, the more considerations. Is your<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">Marketing</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>team well-staffed to take care of all these items, or would it help if a chunk of these could be "automated" via a platform or deployed on the same, with "managed services"?</div>
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If you are a mid-sized<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">retailer</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>working on some (or many)) of these initiatives, chances are that you are already working with a bunch of different vendors and service providers. How would it be if most of these services/processes were consolidated on a single platform, or at least a "fewer" number of platforms to reduce your vendor management bandwidth?</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-86744367344801620542014-01-26T10:08:00.003-08:002014-01-26T10:08:34.156-08:00#NRF14: In-Store Technologies - The Toast at the BIG Show of Retail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At the NRF's BIG Show in 2014, the buzz was palpable. With 30,000+ attendees, 500 exhibtors and almost all the "biggies" that operate in the space, this show was quite grand. And it was in its 103rd annual edition. At Capillary, we had a great outing - with quite a bit of engagement around our booth at the EXPO.<br /><br />From a broader industry perspective, the message was loud and clear: The retail industry was upbeat, excited and buzzing with activity around disruptive technologies. While there was a lot going on around concepts such as "omni-channel", "analytics", I found that one set of technologies was really the talk of the town at #NRF14 - "In-Store". From virtual fitting/trial rooms, to in-store location-based targeting and analytics to contact-less payments, anything in-store is definitely "in". A host of solutions talked about price and product displays on shelves, as well as the more customer-centric in-store disruptions like location-tracking and even eye tracking technologies. <br /><br />While the line between each of these can often get blurred with overlapping capabilities, here are the 4 broad categories within which these can be analyzed:</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>InStore Engagement/Clienteling</li>
<li>Shopper Tracking</li>
<li>Innovations in Payments</li>
<li>Digital Displays & Others</li>
</ol>
Over the next few days, I will cover each of these 4 areas one-by-one - highlighting at least 3 new companies that have innovated in the space, as seen at #NRF14. The idea is not to re-iterate what has already been mentioned in head-line grabbing press-releases, but rather to highlight how the disruption is different and why I am choosing to speak about them on RetailNeo.<br /><br />Oh, and for those who missed out Jack Dorsey's keynote on "The Power of Receipt in Retail", check out the video - this was certainly, my most vivid memory of #NRF14, since the rest of the time I was at the Capillary booth at the Expo, or occasioanlly walking the show floor! :)<br /><br />Stay tuned!<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-56462904369617585112013-12-31T03:55:00.002-08:002013-12-31T03:55:54.536-08:00Can't wait for NRF's BIG Show 2014!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A retail show celebrating its 103rd edition by itself makes it an interesting show to attend. And when it has pretty much every who's-who in the world of retail is present, the crossroads can be interesting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXE3t5oFb8tmVzGn2TALkTVOVaqG3VUzT4V62WIg9JIO8A_GVrTlSbfbM-deoxiYaBSEr7Ufrcw3BwLbLsqpo3y-D_aQsE7kF5CcUPRGIxvy5lkLkU34H-EGkWyzJd43DGXXb2zm5EXSB/s1600/AN14_masthead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXE3t5oFb8tmVzGn2TALkTVOVaqG3VUzT4V62WIg9JIO8A_GVrTlSbfbM-deoxiYaBSEr7Ufrcw3BwLbLsqpo3y-D_aQsE7kF5CcUPRGIxvy5lkLkU34H-EGkWyzJd43DGXXb2zm5EXSB/s400/AN14_masthead.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I kept a close watch on BIG Show 2013, I had written <a href="https://talkingtails.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/c-tailing-omni-channel-commerce/" target="_blank">a short post last year on my TalkingTails blog </a>about the themes that dominated conversations at NRF 2013. Among the key themes of interest were Omni-Channel Retailing, Personalization and how retailers are tackling showrooming. For details, I would recommend checking out <a href="http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/in-store-insights/2220-nrf-big-show-recap-editors-perspectives-session-recaps" target="_blank">Retail TouchPoints's coverage of NRF Big Show 2013</a>.<br />
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According to me, the dominant themes this time will be very similar - and of course, very centred around using Technology well. The sessions along with the EXPO are things that I am getting geared up for. We've taken a booth space at Big Show 14, so I am going to be on the floor with the rest of <a href="http://www.capillarytech.com/" target="_blank">Capillary Technologies</a>' team. Come visit us in the Sponsor Area!<br />
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Was happy to download the <a href="http://bigshow14.nrf.com/mobile-app" target="_blank">BIG Show 2014 App</a> to help navigate and keep track of everything that's going on! Let me leave you with a short video that captures the show in a nutshell:<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-89994297578016016892013-12-24T01:34:00.001-08:002013-12-24T01:48:13.625-08:00The case for the Chief Customer Officer: 3 reasons why<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HvPEMjCSc8b0NboYHnzKEXOBjOZGxsFCyPrTLF0FSD_IQSghy79sAyxFqvFd2ueI_r79SVsw_XgSV-lRzHwpVb2nKbF3q_VDZzuG4b2bUWGJbntg2WI-WqpoUknSLaVEhLjm_uD0hJfz/s1600/ss-customers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HvPEMjCSc8b0NboYHnzKEXOBjOZGxsFCyPrTLF0FSD_IQSghy79sAyxFqvFd2ueI_r79SVsw_XgSV-lRzHwpVb2nKbF3q_VDZzuG4b2bUWGJbntg2WI-WqpoUknSLaVEhLjm_uD0hJfz/s1600/ss-customers.jpg" height="323" width="400" /></a></div>
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The debate for the need of a Chief Customer Officer has been around for a while now. While some organizations have such a position in place, there is very little published evidence on how these roles tie into the larger organization. There are 3 clear reasons why such a position becomes a necessity:<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>- <b>Firstly</b>, <b>the CMO and CIO are at loggerheads,</b> and need to talk more often. Marketing has been increasingly investing heavily in technology. Gartner made a prediction last year that CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs by 2017. Industry Gurus have time and again stated that Marketing and IT have no choice but to get on the same page.While that is definitely the ideal scenario, it is harder to achieve in an organizational setup, simply because of the way the 2 KPIs are structured. While "Marketing" owns the brand and business growth, "IT" handles the task of keeping the business running optimally, and keeping costs low. The Chief Customer Officer, in many organizations, has begun to drive the "Customer" mandate and fill the gaps that often overlap these two functions.</li>
<li><b>- Second, Marketing needs to reduce operational dependency on IT</b> - for everything from the mundane to the extraordinary. In my conversations with retail marketers, I often get the sense that sometimes even basic reporting requirements from marketing can be in a "queue" of requests for IT/Systems, and that slows down analytics efforts. In an age marked by the cloud and big data analytics (and therefore super-fast response time to changing market trends), I am not sure if too many marketers will be willing to deal with this.</li>
<li><b>- Third, there is a need for ONE function to be dedicated to the Customer. </b>The Marketing function has traditionally owned the "brand", "marketing communication" (PR, Media Relations, etc.) and "campaigns and offers". While they are busy fulfilling these higher-level mandates at an organziational level, the voice of the customer (if at all there was one in Retail, a la B2B companies) gets missed out. There is a need for ONE position that is customer-centric, "listens" to customer and keeps an eye on Customer Engagement, across channels - Social, Mobile, Web, Store. And also across functions - Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. A consistent customer experience is half the battle-won!</li>
</ol>
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The on-going "digital transformation of Marketing" is a customer-centric phenomenon, marked by concepts like Personalization, Targeting, Micro-Segmentation and 1:1 Marketing. Customer-centric organizations from sectors across Retail, Airline companies and banks are beginning to realize the importance. With Social, Local and Mobile dominating this transformation, <i><b>"be where your customer is"</b></i> seems to be the Mantra.<br />
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This obviates the need for a Chief Customer Officer who can straddle both the boats of Marketing and Technology with ease, and most importantly, is empathetic to the customer, understands her pain points and turn them into opportunities, through data and data-driven engagement.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-56861952182021146732013-12-22T07:24:00.000-08:002013-12-22T08:38:59.731-08:00Marketing to Technology: Will you marry me?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4HvxOjIHt7Wf-F2yiQlw_iPSCR8JnMbSfllVgASHx9J0d2Bgc0knmzcmNIOPqMtu77lCSMyZdzMpAhpg-5UZUiwTyNnBqRYbrsOu8M6liCm_L_8AscwA0TsOD0VeF2c12hWfZRhz2pOo/s1600/medium_6756753669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4HvxOjIHt7Wf-F2yiQlw_iPSCR8JnMbSfllVgASHx9J0d2Bgc0knmzcmNIOPqMtu77lCSMyZdzMpAhpg-5UZUiwTyNnBqRYbrsOu8M6liCm_L_8AscwA0TsOD0VeF2c12hWfZRhz2pOo/s1600/medium_6756753669.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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As Marketers get deeper into exploring the role that "Digital" can play in their marketing mix, their dependance on "IT" becomes abundantly clear. To put it simply, I would like to quote from <a href="http://chiefmartec.com/" target="_blank">Chief Marketing Technologist Blog</a>, which states the Reason D'Etre - Why the blog exists:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Marketing has become a technology-powered discipline, and therefore marketing organizations must infuse technical capabilities into their DNA."</i></blockquote>
My previous role (in high-end luxury consumer marketing) had a typically large buying cycle and needed effective lead management, much like the efforts seen only in B2B marketing companies. Coupled with Digital Marketing, that was becoming more a necessity than "hygiene", it was clear the future of Marketing was a movie, with "Technology" as the protagonist.<br />
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In the last 3 years, marketing technology ideas, concepts, and hence companies operating in the space have seen quite a thrust. The "biggies" (Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM and (now!) Salesforce) have been investing considerably to grow a space what is now known as "Enterprise Marketing Management". The hottest news right now, of course, being <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/12/20/dear-god-oracle-is-at-it-again-its-buying-responsys-to-bulk-up-its-marketing-cloud/" target="_blank">Oracle's $1.5 billion acquisition of Responsys</a>, a specialist in cross-channel marketing automation. <br />
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How the space continues to grow, and evolve, will be interesting to see. In fact, one interesting note here is, while B2B marketers have often thought about the lessons they can learn form their B2C marketing counterparts, it is now interesting to see B2C marketers learn the ropes of technology-enabled marketing (a.k.a. Marketing Automation) from their younger cousins. <br />
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How has your organization used digital technology in Marketing effectively?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-23075480056728828682013-12-19T03:46:00.000-08:002013-12-19T03:46:23.874-08:00Forrester Research Twitter Chat: #ForrIdeas in the Age of the Customer!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">I participated the #ForrIdeas Open Twitter chat yesterday by Forrester Research. The core idea was to discuss habits that CMOs and Marketing Leaders should adopt in the #AgeOfTheCustomer. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">A couple of interesting points </span></span>that Forrester opened with:</span></span><br />
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<strong class="fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold;">Forrester Research</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/forrester" target="_blank"><span class="username js-action-profile-name" style="color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><s style="color: #bbbbbb; text-decoration: none;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">forrester</b></span></a><small class="time" style="color: #bbbbbb; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 1px; position: relative;"><a class="tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip" href="https://twitter.com/forrester/status/413355649678856192" style="color: #999999; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;" title="10:40 PM - 18 Dec 13"><span class="_timestamp js-short-timestamp js-relative-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1387386641"></span></a></small></div>
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While 92% of companies say that customer exp is a top priority, 45% do not have the budget they need to get the job done. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ForrIdeas&src=hash" style="color: #2fc2ef; text-decoration: none;"><s style="color: #82daf5; text-decoration: none;">#</s><b style="color: #2fc2ef; font-weight: normal;">ForrIdeas</b></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="7712452" href="https://twitter.com/forrester" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;"><strong class="fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold;">Forrester Research</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span></span><span class="username js-action-profile-name" style="color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><s style="color: #bbbbbb; text-decoration: none;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">forrester</b></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mobilemindshift&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; text-decoration: none;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: none;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-weight: normal;">mobilemindshift</b></a> is the change in consumer expectations that anyone can access info, on any device, at any time. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ForrIdeas&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; text-decoration: none;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: none;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-weight: normal;"><strong>ForrIdeas</strong></b></a></span></div>
<b style="color: #2fc2ef; font-weight: normal;"> </b><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">The obvious implication being that companies want to but are "still not sure". That seemed to be a sentiment echoed by quite a few of those who were actively participating. </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Here are the 4 questions posed by Forrester Research:</span></span><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>What has your company done to innovatively delight customers and become more customer-obsessed? #ForrIdeas</li>
<li>How is your company creating more digitally relevant content? What’s the key to making content more engaging? #ForrIdeas</li>
<li>How does your company put customer-obsessed analysis, answers, and action into practice? #ForrIdeas</li>
<li>In the #AgeoftheCustomer, what challenges do you face around becoming more customer-obsessed? #ForrIdeas</li>
</ol>
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My 2 favourite responses that evening were:</div>
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<a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="15822273" href="https://twitter.com/timoelliott" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;"><strong class="fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold;">Timo Elliott</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span></span><span class="username js-action-profile-name" style="color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><s style="color: #bbbbbb; text-decoration: none;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">timoelliott</b></span></a><small class="time" style="color: #bbbbbb; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 1px; position: relative;"><a class="tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip" href="https://twitter.com/timoelliott/status/402902494445318144" style="color: #999999; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;" title="2:23 AM - 20 Nov 13"><span class="_timestamp js-short-timestamp " data-long-form="true" data-time="1384894414">20 Nov</span></a></small></div>
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<a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ForrIdeas&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; text-decoration: none;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: none;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-weight: normal;"><strong>ForrIdeas</strong></b></a> A4: the better the technology gets, the more differentiation will depend on human factors like leadership.</div>
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<a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="24650425" href="https://twitter.com/itsshivahere" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;"><strong class="fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold;">Shiva Kumar</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span></span><span class="username js-action-profile-name" style="color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><s style="color: #bbbbbb; text-decoration: none;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">itsshivahere</b></span></a><small class="time" style="color: #bbbbbb; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 1px; position: relative;"><a class="tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip" href="https://twitter.com/itsshivahere/status/413364957036552193" style="color: #999999; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;" title="11:17 PM - 18 Dec 13"><span class="_timestamp js-short-timestamp js-relative-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1387388860">17h</span></a></small></div>
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A4: Many CMOs rely on gut instinct and experience to make decisions. That needs to change <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ForrIdeas&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; text-decoration: none;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: none;">#</s></a><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: none;"> </s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-weight: normal;"><strong>ForrIdeas</strong></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-573377438325863632013-12-02T04:01:00.001-08:002013-12-02T04:01:52.638-08:003 challenges for Retailers attempting "Test" and "Control" Campaigns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><b>Campaign Management with A/B Testing seems to be quite the norm for eCommerce companies of late. But is it as easy to achieve for Brick and Mortar Retailers too?</b></i><br />
<br />
Increasingly, I can see retailers being attracted towards products/services that integrated their CRM and their Campaign Management platforms. Among the many products that make this easy for eCommerce are Responsys (for executing email marketing campaigns) and Optimizely (for Website Optimization). They have incorporated the A/B Testing into the very DNA of their product, and this therefore, transforms into the way their clients use their products.<br /><br />While it is easy to have all of the systems integrated in the context of eCommerce or web-retailers, this becomes a lot more difficult to achieve for Brick and Mortar Retailers. And that is where an opportunity lies for open systems who can automate campaign management and feed results directly back into the CRM.<br /><br />In some of my conversations with retailers, I have observed that the number #1 problem that retailers today face when executing campaigns is the movement of customer data from one platform to another. Let alone A/B Testing, even executing campaigns is sometimes "put off" by retailers because "moving customer data from here to there is not that easy and time-consuming!"<br /><br />In my mind, there are 3 reasons why this is difficult to achieve for Brick and mortar Retailers:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>1. Legacy Point-Of-Sale Systems: </b>A lot of the POS systems that many of the retailers still use are built on legacy hardware/software and therefore make it difficult "capture" data from. Besides, these store terminals often don't "speak" to each other, so maintaining a Single View of the Customer becomes a challenge.<br /></li>
<li><b>2. eCommerce as a separate channel: </b>while getting data from eCommerce is fairly easy to filter into the Campaign management system, at every step, there is a need to "de-dup" the customer data form eCommerce with the data from Retail Stores. This problem is, of course, pronounced only for Omni-Channel retailers (present across BOTH Brick 'n Mortar and eCommerce channels), which most mid-sized to large retailers are today.<br /></li>
<li><b>3. Open Systems with well-documented APIs: </b>While there are a bunch of integrated CRM/Campaign Management offerings in the market, integrating with store systems remains a challenge, since POS systems might not be as "Open" as their eCommerce counterparts and therefore might not be very easy to integrate with.</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is for these reasons that I believe the "Culture of Testing" (as Andrew F. Chen of the GILT Group refers to it) and the truly successful omni-channel retailer of tomorrow will be one that manages to run integrated campaigns with real-time measurement and is able to use results of A/B Testing towards getting engaging more meaningfully their store customers as well!<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-82871507684629656402013-12-01T12:22:00.000-08:002013-12-01T23:20:03.615-08:00Money2020 and Capillary Technologies at Launchpad360<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUUptujXJZo8Mj5iAaVuxJN88GRswGAto2BNDNR8bDnI8K1jGEoiVdxBUhIBXql_elNKIBc_GiTr8dLWCdWBUbbrtXUHU5nx9oGX26MDv9bEfZysFoPsAIrGxODi_pVIRaaeCFsamXs6Z/s1600/1380558_500174046746374_812112913_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUUptujXJZo8Mj5iAaVuxJN88GRswGAto2BNDNR8bDnI8K1jGEoiVdxBUhIBXql_elNKIBc_GiTr8dLWCdWBUbbrtXUHU5nx9oGX26MDv9bEfZysFoPsAIrGxODi_pVIRaaeCFsamXs6Z/s1600/1380558_500174046746374_812112913_n.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Among the conferences that I have attended this year, one of them (and perhaps one that had some pretty awesome content) was the <a href="http://www.money2020.com/" target="_blank">Money2020</a> Conference at Las Vegas this October.<br />
<br />
The show was very well done and I liked the fact that people from industries as diverse as Retail, Banking, Telecom and Technology were there - to mingle and explore how each of their respective spaces is converging (or in some sense, inter-dependent) on the other. A confluence of commerce, if you will, in the digitally disrupted age. Which is a good thing, when compared to so many of the other "niche" or audience-focussed conferences that seem to be around everywhere. Having a "broad audience" like this one does lead to a lot of exchange of ideas.<br />
<br />
I have actually written quite a detailed write-up about the whole Money2020 experience <a href="http://talkingtails.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">on my other blog - TalkingTails</a>. So, I am going to link back <a href="http://talkingtails.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/money2020-capillary-instore-launch/" target="_blank">to that post</a> and leave you with a picture of <a href="http://www.capillarytech.com/" target="_blank">Capillary</a>'s InStore product that we presented at <b>Launchpad360</b>, the innovation showcase event at Money2020!<br />
<br />
I found LaunchPad 360 itself to be quite an innovation in itself. It is
easy for smaller companies or start-ups like Capillary to get lost with
the "biggies" talking about the BIG stuff and of course, spending a lot
more for sponsorships and visibility. Launchpad360 offers literally 360
seconds of fame to innovative up-starts to come in and show a quick demo
to the audience. We also had a little "Launchpad 360 kiosk" at the area
just outside the main Expo hall. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDk7HqLe3NP_SjBAfwEJU4sy9-HrBU1GHsblx_94905Ql5Rd9dZvWwIqOgQABJ8qSwp9XEVJsYMPvurOM98WYxBPWrn8Z197z3b_jpNcWJK3bMytC2IG0KEulPuwmXo0xHs0lpju4bCSjo/s1600/1412455_500244370072675_2095151799_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDk7HqLe3NP_SjBAfwEJU4sy9-HrBU1GHsblx_94905Ql5Rd9dZvWwIqOgQABJ8qSwp9XEVJsYMPvurOM98WYxBPWrn8Z197z3b_jpNcWJK3bMytC2IG0KEulPuwmXo0xHs0lpju4bCSjo/s1600/1412455_500244370072675_2095151799_o.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Both pictures used in this post here are from the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Money2020/photos_albums" target="_blank">Money2020's archives</a>.<br />
<br />
Here are some more links for reference:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.money2020.com/" target="_blank">Money2020 Website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Money2020/" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/money2020" target="_blank">M2020 on Twitter</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0Las Vegas, NV, USA36.114646 -115.1728160000000135.7048665 -115.81826300000002 36.5244255 -114.52736900000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-23242163524898966022013-11-29T05:36:00.000-08:002013-11-30T21:26:24.077-08:00CRMC 2013 - Retail Marketing and CRM Conference, Chicago<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The <a href="http://www.thecrmc.com/" target="_blank">CRMC</a> is probably one of the most relevant conferences if you are a retail or consumer CRM focused company, or a vendor providing other services in the space. Being a conference with a very niche subject area (unlike broader conferences on Retail/Consumer Marketing or Digital Marketing in general), the audience is very relevant and "targeted!" ;)<br />
<br />
CRMC 2013 was held at The Hilton, Chicago and kudos to Devon Wylie and team for having created a perfectly programmed event with true, good content. With content coming in from virtually the who's who of Retail CRM, Loyalty and Analytics, there was much to learn and take home.<br />
<br />
I particularly liked something Brian Solis (<a href="https://twitter.com/briansolis" target="_blank">@briansolis</a>), of the Altimeter Group, said in his talk around Digital Anthropology. He said Gen-C or "Generation Connected" is so used to devices that they find it hard to imagine how life would be without it. His daughter for instance, thinks a regular print magazine is an "iPad that does not work!"<br />
<br />
Among other sessions there were some very interesting sessions from <a href="http://www.dunnhumby.com/" target="_blank">dunnhumby</a>, a leader in analytics-driven customer engagement, and <a href="http://www.epsilon.com/" target="_blank">Epsilon</a>, who had some interesting nuggets of information they shared from their work for Orvis and Chicos. I attended a couple of working sessions on <a href="http://www.loyaltylab.com/" target="_blank">TIBCO Loyalty/Loyalty Lab</a> that I found quite informative. And of course, my favourite among the Retailer Presentations was the "IKEA Family" Loyalty Program. It brought forth how the Brand and the Loyalty Program aer virtually inseparable in today's digital environment.<br />
<br />
Overall, great show, fantastic content, interesting conversations and an audience that most retail-focused companies will like! :)<br />
<br />
I am sure the next version of the show in 2014 is going to be bigger and better. And of course, I will remain all-ears on some good content from them!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoULTx6sd01A82PV9x4MAOU0DQOc-L1yQlwf9aKIljjouyF7KGms1-OjBNktWns_vFWLuSvwm2jGRg33D08UzRwRpRN_jVuQCnqw9ZlWBNgTshV4yFfC9mBKe9oXUrEYdMKRrfCad1F2D/s1600/crmc_banner_ad_2014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoULTx6sd01A82PV9x4MAOU0DQOc-L1yQlwf9aKIljjouyF7KGms1-OjBNktWns_vFWLuSvwm2jGRg33D08UzRwRpRN_jVuQCnqw9ZlWBNgTshV4yFfC9mBKe9oXUrEYdMKRrfCad1F2D/s1600/crmc_banner_ad_2014.png" /></a></div>
<br />
For more information on CRMC 2014, check out:<br />
CRMC Website: www.thecrmc.com<br />
Twitter: @CRMCRetail</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.4995241 -88.275245199999986 42.256703099999996 -86.984351199999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-601450589587715215.post-44547907798529036842013-11-25T09:38:00.001-08:002013-11-25T09:41:00.857-08:00RetailTech and more at Decoded Fashion, NYC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
I was incidentally at New York during the last <a href="http://www.decodedfashion.com/" target="_blank">Decoded Fashion</a> Meetup Event, so I decided to drop-in and check it out. And was mighty impressed. Good work <a href="https://twitter.com/DecodedLiz" target="_blank">Liz</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/fecodedfashion" target="_blank">team</a>!<br />
<br />
Decoded Fashion, in their own words, <i>"..creates events and curated discussions that accelerate innovation at the intersection of fashion and retail." </i><br />
<br />
True to its name, the event had a compact, and power-packed agenda of short, quick talks by people, sharing their experiences and innovations. It was hosted at the Midtown Manhattan headquarters of the <a href="http://www.gilt.com/" target="_blank">GILT Group</a> and was attended by 100 people, which is normally the capacity for such meetups. <br />
The roster of speakers for the evening included founders of tech-startups, creating disruptions in the Fashion-Tech area.<br />
<br />
Here is a file picture of the event, from the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Decoded-Fashion/" target="_blank">DecodedFashion Meetup Archives</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sGbi4bp5zCj0DO4AbhMdRxNSCMNlt6DWN_zr430UAQqGmGm4qDcQ9GHlAiJIAVv4kvaGGcQKYI3tJSgnaGlkoklkuiS3QfBaBkgZQGLkCphxp6zW86GOFW0DcxdKUiH_9tgeDpCOFiqp/s1600/600_308982832.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sGbi4bp5zCj0DO4AbhMdRxNSCMNlt6DWN_zr430UAQqGmGm4qDcQ9GHlAiJIAVv4kvaGGcQKYI3tJSgnaGlkoklkuiS3QfBaBkgZQGLkCphxp6zW86GOFW0DcxdKUiH_9tgeDpCOFiqp/s1600/600_308982832.jpeg" /></a></div>
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One of the interesting concepts I found was that of <a href="http://www.stylitics.cim/" target="_blank">Stylitics</a>, which aggregates user-created data to generate insights for retailers. Basically, consumers download an app and share/tag their purchases on the platform. They are creating a digital wardrobe for themselves, but in essence what they are also doing, is proving a huge bunch of data for cross-retailer understanding on products and categories that complement each other (and coexist in) inside each of our unique wardrobes.<br />
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The other thing I distinctly remember is <a href="http://www.optimizely.com/" target="_blank">Optimizely</a> was pretty much mentioned in almost every other presentation as being the "go-to" people for a whole range of things. I even remember <a href="https://twitter.com/amit1h" target="_blank">tweeting</a> about this from the event, and was promptly RT-ed by the folks at Optimizely!<br />
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All in all, the event was fun, engagement and informative. Pretty much what I would want from an evening like that. Will definitely attend another DecodedFashion event if I can and if the agenda looks interesting!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132468159385278968noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.3291648 -74.65142010000001 41.0995408 -73.3605261