Vending Machine: goodbye gumballs...hello face care?

Long are the days when we used to say..."hey mom, can I have 25c for a gumball"? Now the question may be, "mom, can I borrow your credit card to purchase a Proactiv Solution to help my acne"? WOW...talk about innovation for a vending machine! I recently was at a mall in Connecticut and walked by my first Proactiv vending machine and was blown away that they were selling their products in this format.

I mean...we all remember when Jessica Simpson promoted this product and she seemed to be a good fit with her clear skin and all. (Although info-mercials work for some consumers, they definitely don't work for me as I was born a skeptic.) I set out to do more research on the website to see if there was any mention of these new vending machines and was disappointed. From researching prices of Proactiv it looks as though a typical kit costs approx $40 for a 3 piece system...which seems a bit pricey to me especially if you can't test out the product.

Personally, I hope Proactiv adds in low cost/free sampling packs to its vending machines so it allows consumers to test out the products & return with a purchase. Let's see it happen!

Ann Taylor steps it UP!

Ann Taylor is one of those classy, sophisticated stores for middle-aged career women & it seems to have been lost in the mix the past couple years. With nothing to really make it STAND OUT with designs and lines made...it's tough to stand out against rivals Banana Republic & Talbots & J Jill...who also have been hurting throughout the recession.

GOOD NEWS! Ann Taylor designs were recently seen strutting down the aisles of NY Fashion Week's runway. Here is a great quote from the Canadian Press article I found: "We've all been working really hard to reinvent the brand," Lisa Axelson, senior vice-president of design, said in an interview before the show. "We want to get the news out that Ann Taylor is changing. ... We're breaking the myth of what we used to be. A lot of the feedback we heard from market research was that the impression was that we were clothes my mom would wear. Now we're for the crazy, busy stylish working woman."

Read more @ the article in The Canadian Press & looking forward to seeing a more trendy/chic/stylish Ann Taylor soon!

The Way Old People Shop

You've seen senior citizens shopping but have you ever experienced shopping through the eyes & motions as one of these "old people"? WSJ writes up an interesting piece about how Kimberly-Clark is moving forward in the "next frontier in retail".

Ever thought of doing & wearing this..."glasses that blurred his vision, slipping un-popped popcorn into his shoes and adjusting tape that bound his thumbs to his palms"? Todd Vang, a Walgreens VP, explains the different shopping experience he had when shopping like a senior citizen. Check out the limitations that are explained in this article & you'll be surprised about all the problems the 65+ crowd have with everyday shopping.

It will be neat to see what K-C & other companies do to help out this aging population...looking forward to seeing different merchandising strategies implemented in the future!

Abercrombie...finally cooling down its prices

FINALLY A&F has decided to drastically lower its prices because of the recession. Great idea but hello where have you been the past year! Wall Street Journal Online really tears apart this brand with the numerical data to back up how badly this retailer is doing. For example, this past quarter A&F was "at a loss of $26.7 million".

If that wasn't bad enough....one year ago Abercrombie got in a bit of trouble for an ex-worker who was discriminated against because of her prosthetic arm.

A&F has always tried to be on the edge but don't you sometimes come to a point where you actually fall off the cliff?

Sears...on its way up in the world!

Bad news...Sears has had a bad rap for a while in the retail world and is not doing well. Good news...through several different ways Sears is working on rebranding itself - having Disney's Selena Gomez promote a Sears Band Casting Call, including Cotton Inc. in the brand mix of clothing, & with a greater social media appearance on Facebook.

In hopes of re-branding itself, Brandweek describes Sears connection with Wizards of Waverly Place star, Selena Gomez and her role with the Sears Air Band Casting Call. Check out the website and see for yourself how interactive and fun it looks for a kid to apply to this exciting opportunity at the Sears Arrive Lounge.

Cotton Inc. has been working its way back to the marketplace like through the Disney movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, in which many of the clothing worn was made of cotton. Many cotton items are on display at Sears nationwide and there are many promo events coming up to promote the benefits of wearing this breathable, natural fabric.

Promo Magazine describes Sears' next step to made it's Facebook page more interactive. The neatest thing about this app is that you are able to put together a virtual college dorm room, making it easy to visualize what products go well together before you head out to shop for them. Great idea to use social media in a more innovative way to engage the customer. From this, you can create a wish list & have friends and family members contribute by purchasing specific items. Next step might be to have a printout sheet pop out of the printer for specific items or an iPhone app to let you take your list with you to the store. (Especially considering that you will most likely need to purchase a lot of these college-items yourself.) Now THAT would be cool!

With all these great additions, will Sears make it and improve its status in the retail world or continue to sink a heavy ship?

Finland's fashion...back to basics this Fall

Discovered an interesting blurp about how Finnish Fall fashions will be more conservative due to the recession. Helsinki Times explains how "sobriety & sustainability" will be two key themes to watch for. Predictions include return to classic cuts, couture will be harder to find, and a combination of grays, blacks, and violets will appear more often (these colors are indicators of wealth). It's interesting to see how fashion abroad has and will be affected especially since typically trends start in Europe & eventually make their way to the U.S. It will be interesting to see how this affects the US now and in the future.

let consumers vote on the latest Vera Bradley prints

If Vera Bradley Corporate can't decide, why not have the actual consumers vote on
their favorite patterns coming out this Winter 2009 & Spring 2010. By using Facebook, Vera Bradley's page, now wants customer feedback on the upcoming prints (typically not displayed or known about until a month or so before it's release into Vera stores & other retailers).

The neat thing about Vera is that its prints attract a wide range of female age groups from the Tweens (who enjoy the new Frill line - a patent leather texture for 3 prints Blue Rhapsody, Carnaby, & Pirouette in exclusive, cute designs for this age group), the high school/college girls (with special products like the lanyards, id cases, school supplies, clutches, belts, purses & travel bags), the young-middle aged professional/moms who are mid-20's to early 40's (who like the suitcases, diaper bags, sunglasses, & large purses), and the 40+ group (who enjoy the classic simple prints, & the eye glass cases - really who have a need for the practical side of Vera). And should I mention the menswear line which includes ties and cufflinks?

This is an interesting strategy to get a wide variety of customers involved in the decision making & it's cheap feedback on what their thoughts are about the new designs. (Cheap meaning free of course!) I wonder if the feedback will help them reconsider the designs & reassure them that they are right on track for what the customers want? We shall see come Winter '09 if this has helped or hurt their strategy!

High School Musical...even on M&Ms

Who knew that HSM aka High School Musical would manage to make its appearance on M&Ms? (Not sure how delicious main characters Troy Bolton & Gabriella Montez might taste though.) Here's the site to purchase them online - M&Ms. What a killer money-making empire of a Disney theme if there ever was one for kids. Everything from backpacks, clothing, accessories, school supplies, cds, Halloween costumes, dvds, iPod covers, computer games, karyoke versions, stuffed animals, cameras, stickers, placemats, books, mousepads, clocks, posters, ceiling fans (yes, because every kid needs that)...I mean you could go wild like a true Wildcat with all the crazy HSM apparel!

But M&Ms...now that is something interesting seeing as kids tend to like no LOVE chocolate...parents can't resist going home with a sad kid so they'd rather buy the candy to make the kiddies happy. Sadly, it appears that these M&Ms are only available through purchasing on the Mars Inc. site. Although there are a lot of great things about chocolate + HSM - both being GREAT selling points as 2 of life's little luxuries that you can't live without - the negative thing is that they're selling this online. Too bad Mars didn't decide to sell them at the Disney Store because the in-store purchase is what will really make these sell fast! Unless they're already one step ahead of us and have placed them strategically for the impulse buyer checking out with the screaming kid. That would be a stellar move on M&Ms behalf...

shopping through facebook?

Who knew the day would come when you could shop through Facebook? Czech electronics retailer Datart AS has begun a deal with Facebook to allow its customers to access its apparel online through this social networking site. A quickie article from Total Telecom explains more.

do A-list celebs always create A-list lines?

Recently was browsing recent retail trends and found some interesting thoughts in the Tribune Review

Throughout the article many successful celebs with their retail lines are described. Then the reasoning behind the successes of these brands is explained because of the marketing that takes place to promote the clothes - for example, in magazines like Allure. What most consumers don't think about is how well celebs "know" their brands. Sure, you can endorse a brand but how well you know the fabrics/essence of the scents/tastes of the food lines are what make your product sell.

"Talent and popularity don't necessarily translate to retail A-list status" says
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of the consulting firm Strategic Resource Group in New York. Makes you wonder the next time you consider that glamorous perfume or even paying up for Rachel Ray's gourmet dog food…how well does that celeb know his/her line?