Qiora Opens Flagship Store And Spa
Qiora, the Shiseido-owned skincare line, recently opened a flagship retail store and spa at Madison Avenue in New York City, featuring high white ceilings from which hang long panels of gauzy material in various shades of blue. The deep blue of the Qiora retail environment suggests global understanding; the cool blue, intellect and mind; and the neutral blue of Qiora, the balance of life.
The 1,572-square-foot space houses a retail store, three spa cabin rooms and two consultation counters on the ground floor. In a peacefully-lit private room, visitors receive the calming Qiora experience, complete with Qiora music and an assortment of Qiora products, applied while being led into deep relaxation through breathing, touch, closed-eye visualizations, and stretching.
Starbucks & Microsoft To Provide In-Store Web Access
Starbucks and Microsoft have united to offer wireless access to the Internet from Starbucks coffeehouses to deliver an enhanced consumer experience for Starbucks’ customers.
“This ‘one of a kind’ national wireless broadband network gives Starbucks a unique position in the landscape of retailers,” said Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks. “These new relationships will provide us a great opportunity to enhance our existing customers’ in-store experience as well as attract new customers to our retail locations.”
The in-store network complements a broader Starbucks effort to update store technology to streamline operations and communications. Ongoing infrastructure enhancements will provide a platform for initiatives such as the launch of a Starbucks customer card that will speed up in-store ordering and payment and the capability for customers to preorder drinks over their cellular phones.
Sprint Installs Bill Payment Kiosks
Sprint has awarded NCR Corp. a contract to install bill payment kiosks in Sprint PCS retail stores nationwide, making it easier for Sprint’s customers to pay in person.
“Providing a simple, self-service payment option in our retail stores enhances our ability to meet the needs of our existing customers,” said Ali Zanjani, Sprint PCS V.P., Retail. “The Automated Payment Center based on the NCR Web Kiosk enables us to increase our level of customer service quickly and easily, while focusing our resources on sales and new customer acquisition.”
The Automated Payment Center, includes the NCR Web Kiosk, integrated scanner and receipt printer, and accepts cash, check and credit cards for Sprint PCS customers’ airtime bill payments.
Netplex Develops Web-based Sales Kiosk For Phillips-Van Heusen
The Netplex Group, Inc. has launched a sales kiosk for the Van Heusen Retail Division of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. The kiosks interact with Phillips-Van Heusen’s existing e-commerce and back-end order processing systems via the Internet, and will test the viability of enabling customers to instantly order out-of-stock or special size items.
Netplex and PVH designed the in-store kiosks to enable the Van Heusen Retail division to maximize its sales potential by capturing sales transactions that are usually lost due to a lack of in-store product availability. Shoppers simply choose the appropriate items through the kiosk’s intuitive touch-screen interface, customize the selection’s size and color, and provide payment information. Phillips-Van Heusen processes the order and ships the merchandise to the purchaser’s address.
“The new kiosk sytem extends our stores’ inventory, which allows us to better serve our customers,” said Matt Skinner, Phillips-Van Heusen’s Group V.P. and Director of Corporation Applications. “Our Van Heusen Retail stores can now accommodate customers who once may have gone elsewhere because we did not have their selection on the shelf.”
Online Kiosks Rolled Out In Kmart
BlueLight.com and Kmart Corp. have announced the first-phase completion of the largest in-store Internet shopping kiosk network in the world. More than 3,500 BlueLight.com online shopping kiosks are now available for use in over 1,100 Kmart stores, with plans to rollout BlueLight.comkiosks in every Kmart store nationwide by 2002.
BlueLight.com self-serve kiosks connect directly to the BlueLight.com shopping site (www.bluelight.com), virtually expanding the inventory of the nation’s second-largest discount retailer.
BlueLight.com kiosks give the Kmart shopper full access to the BlueLight.com online shopping site and can currently be found in three locations at participating Kmart stores: Users can choose from BlueLight.com’s selection of more than 200,000 value-priced items.
McMagination Kiosks Are Launched
McDonald’s and Compaq Computer have collaborated on the McMagination Kiosk, an interactive kiosk for kids (ages 4-7) and tweenagers (ages 8-15). McMagination kiosks at McDonald’s restaurants allow customers to play the latest video games via an in-store computer system. McMagination runs on Compaq’s Deskpro computers in kiosks shaped as Ronald McDonald and Grimace. Kids will be able to play up to 12 different games based on titles developed by top software manufacturers.
Joe Jasper, McDonald’s owner/operator and co-creator of the McMagination concept, said, “McMagination is the next generation of kid fun at McDonald’s, and we are excited to give our customers yet another reason to visit our restaurants.”
Goody’s To Present New Image
Fitzpatrick Design Group, New York City, recently created a new image for the new Goody’s Family Value Store concept in Knoxville, TN, to appeal to a wider customer base without alienating existing shoppers. A major part of this re-imaging involved the entrance to the store. The play of curved and square geometric forms and patterns gives a strong contemporary impact to the entrance. Highway styled signs are bold and colorful, but are easily modified through magnetic overlays. Key intersections with the transverse aisles, accented with contrasting floor tiles allows feature presentation of newly arrived merchandise.
The Juniors department features a back-lit graphic wall and the middle of the store is anchored by a slab wall that reflects the strong geometry of the store entrance.
DreamWorks Launches Promos For ‘Shrek’
DreamWorks Consumer Products has announced promotions supporting the computer animated comedy, ‘Shrek,’ coming to theaters this May. The Shrek promotional campaign, with partners such as Burger King, Chevron, Heinz, American Licorice and Baskin-Robbins, will be prominently featured in more than 20,000 retail locations.
Baskin-Robbins will offer an eight-week promotion featuring Shrek-themed ice cream flavors. Burger King will offer 10 collectible Shrek kids premiums. Chevron will feature a fun Shrek game that will cross many product categories. Heinz new EZ Squirt products will feature the Shrek character on all the green bottles and Princess Fiona on the red bottles. Sour Punch, an American Licorice brand, will offer Shrek-themed candy packages.
Virtual Bank Opens Interactive Branch
directbanking.com, one of the country’s original Internet banking sites has opened its first interactive branch in Boston, MA. The new branch aims to improve upon banking technology and customer service by offering all the freedoms of online banking with personalized support via live video conference.
The new branch will feature six Video Banker Internet kiosks with video conferencing capabilities, a stock ticker, and on-site staff. Customers will soon be able to scan personal identification and open an account via video conference with a customer service representative.
Kiosks To Be Placed At Ford Dealers
Driveitaway.com, a Web site that focuses on dealer-to-consumer used car auctions, has announced an agreement to include dealerships operated by the Ford Dealer Development Group. Consumers can test-drive the cars they find on Driveitaway.com at these participating dealers and place bids from the showroom floor using special Internet kiosks.
Ford Dealer Development dealers will promote the agreement by featuring the Driveitaway.com kiosks in dealership newspaper ads, and will display point-of-sale marketing materials at each site.
“Driveitaway.com offers our dealers an innovative means of reaching the public while relieving inventory and creating new revenue,” said James Latimer, Region Dealer Development. “I am excited about the kiosks because dealers can get involved with very little outlay and the returns can be substantial.”
Rich’s Establishes Gen-Now.com To Drive Traffic To Teen Department
CIMStudio recently developed the Gen-Now.com Web site for Rich’s, a division of Federated Department Stores, to target the fashion conscious teen.
The graphics of the site were instrumental in developing the actual look of the department. The in-store models were built to replicate the Web site characters in techno-rich settings, so that teens experience the same hip entertainment while shopping as they do on the Web. The Rich’s Gen-Now teen department also has kiosks that access the Gen-Now.com Web site from the store, allowing teens to experience the online feel while standing in the ‘brick and mortar’ location.
CIMStudio achieved its goal of creating an Internet environment beyond cyberspace—merging retail with the Internet to create an integrated in-store experience.
Alloy & Sam Goody To Co-Market
Alloy Online, a convergence media company targeting Generation Y, and Musicland Stores’ Sam Goody, are joining forces to leverage their strengths with Generation Y shoppers. Alloy will provide Sam Goody with a powerful “virtual” link to the teen demographic while Sam Goody provides Alloy with access to the same demographic in a “real world” environment.
Samantha Skey, V.P., Sponsorships at Alloy, said, “This relationship will elevate Alloy’s brand awareness in the offline world. Securing in-store exposure extends our reach outside our current customer base..”
Alloy will reach Sam Goody’s teen shoppers through signage in all 650+ Sam Goody stores, and frequent rotation of Alloy television ads on Sam Goody’s in-store TV station.
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