We realised a growing appetite amongst designers to use the iPad in shops, hotels and exhibitions, but a lack of good solutions. The Bouncepad allows the same playful interaction with an iPad, while securely mounting it to interiors and furniture.

Please visit our dedicated Bouncepad website on www.thebouncepad.com site to learn more.

The Bouncepad for exhibtions

The Bouncepad for retail

The Bouncepad for hospitality

We had a great launch on Wednesday night for over 100 friends and colleagues. The AppLounge was officially opened by Alexander Grünsteidl. Ian Jindal gave a fascinating talk on the history of retail before we kicked off the night with pink AppLounge cocktails.

Alexander also wrote a must-read insight piece for Method: Changing Retail Currency.

Read more on the AppLounge on the Spotspot project page and at TheAppLounge.com.

The Applounge presents mobile apps alongside handpicked lifestyle products and fashion accessories, three exciting collections for busy urbanites.

The Applounge is shop and social space in one; Visitors are invited to sample Apps, gadgets and accessories over a drink.

Spotspot collaborated with Alexander Grünsteidl on the retail concept and build. We also present the first prototype for an innovative flexible device cradle, called the BouncePad. It holds iPods, iPads or other touch screen devices in a convenient upright position, and can be easily handled by shoppers to explore content on mobile devices. When released, it then bounces back into an upright presentation position.

Please get in touch with us to learn more.

Applounge BouncePad

The BouncePad allows for easy browsing and sharing of content with bystanders.

Visitors to the Applounge can conveniently explore the menue of Apps and products on their phone, simply by visiting theapplounge.com from their iPhone or web-enabled device (Developed by Method).

The AppLounge is open from 15 September through to 2 October, from Monday to Saturday 12pm – late.

Location:

The AppLounge at Meza
100 Wardour St London
W1F 0TN UK
mezabar.com

For more information please visit Spotspot Creative & Engineering www.theapplounge.com Method and Digitalwellbeinglabs.

“Stores tackle physical and virtual realities” is the title of a recent FT article and at Spotspot we could not agree more. Steady growth of online sales and a rapid expansion of mobile Internet are both signs suggesting that retail is changing radically. On one hand consumers appreciate the liberty of shopping from different channels and being able to make informed decisions, while on the other hand, retailers need to catch up with this new reality rather than resist the inevitable.

“We are responding to how our customers have changed, how they want to shop, where and when. They use multiple channels to engage with us and we need to be in a position to respond.”, says Ivy Chin, head of Belk’s e-commerce operation. Belk is a traditional retailer with 300 stores in 16 Southern States. Two years ago they did not even operate an e-commerce website. Today they have a Facebook page with 40.000 fans.

The FT describes the changes in the retail sector as “the second stage of the online revolution that began a decade ago”. Having developed e-commerce businesses as independent units, it is now time for retailers to integrate them and create multichannel offerings. For that particular challenge, the ability to create engaging customer touch points that effectively combine “digital with physical” is going to separate winners from losers.

via Milo.com/blog:

“It’s hard to believe it, but it’s true–less than 5% of retail sales are actually done online! The rest still happen on Main Street, at the mall, and at the big-box retailer down the road. So how does the Internet come in handy? It’s perfect for doing research before you hit the road so you know exactly what you want and where to get it.”

Source: US census Data / Infographic by Column Five Media

‘The return of the judicious consumer’ was high on the agenda at this morning’s NLA event “The changing face of retail”.

Simon Threadkell, from retail and brand consultancy Fitch, and Nick Morris, from brand trend advisors Canvas8, discussed the revolution in shopping cultures.

Consumers are increasingly seeking authenticity in brands; using retail locations for immediacy, for experience and to validate a trusted relationship, while using online for price comparison, reviews and recommendations.

Morrison’s egg tracker is an interesting online initiative to reassure consumers with information about the food’s origin and its journey to you plate; tagging each egg with its own information cloud. We would love to see this service come alive in a store environment, showing provenance and individual stories around the product.

Smartphones, AKA the Third Screen, are now carried by the thousands into retail spaces to google, compare and review products, cutting out the retailer’s influence over the information experience.

Brands are waking up to the threa,t as well as the opportunity this presents. Nike has created the NikeID iPhone app, turning the shopper’s own phone into an inspiration machine.

Fitch’s Simon Threadkell was wary of introducing dominant technical devices, like touch screens, to stores, preferring instead the ‘digital thinking – analogue delivery’ approach. He likes Recipease, Jamie Oliver’s new store concept for delicatessen and kitchenware that ‘almost works like a walk-in, 3D blog’. Advice, ideas and inspiration in a human manner.

On a more technical note, Tokyo’s N Building is sporting a QR code face, a phone-readable surface that reveals live tweets released by its visitors. While still a touch geeky, it gives a distinct taste of things to come, fuelled by mash-ups of location based services, augmented reality and powerful smart phones in the hands of  savvy consumers.

We believe that retailers need to embrace these new media and social channels by weaving them into the store experience to validate the brand, stimulate and inspire that judicious consumer and to tell more engaging stories about brands and products.

Brands now understand that online retail is complementing, rather than replacing Bricks and Mortar. The trend towards multichannel solutions that integrate operations and customer experience is showing that customers see a brand, not a channel.

Furthermore, the web changed the way we access information and our ability to go online now escapes the boundaries of home broadband. People even start to carry the web in their hands everywhere they go, as smart phones spread and become the norm.

People look for background on Wikipedia, consult with friends on Facebook and seek out reviews and ratings on independent sites. The web informs and inspires, and it helps us make decisions.

We believe that retail experiences now need to offer meaningful customer touch-points that tap into this growing wealth of live online and digital information.

Spotspot works with clients to create bespoke solutions for this new reality.

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Our brief was to look into the future and create concepts around mobile branches that could be easily installed in shopping malls, at airports or on a university campus during freshers week.

The project resulted in a set of pop up branches that were successfully deployed in a variety of UK shopping centres to support local branch launches and to connect with the community in a fresh and unexpected way.

We designed a pop up branch that was bright and inviting, while accommodating enough private space for people to feel comfortable discussing financial issues.

Barclays made many valuable new leads and positively surprised its existing customers. Local bank staff left the branch to meet the community and present a friendly, human and approachable banking service. The pop up branch is manifesting Barclays’ commitment to serve local communities through personal service and innovative retail concepts.

Pre-purchase research and inspiration was never easier. Today, every product or service has an information cloud that more often than not consists of everything consumers need to know. The problem people face is not finding more information, as it used to be in the recent past, but actually filtering what is available to them. Most people consider user reviews to be trustworthy and they prefer to receive information from several sources rather than a single authority.

Some people will research and conclude a purchase online, but the vast majority of transactions still happen in store. The crucial change is that many consumers arrive to stores having done their homework. They know exactly what they are looking for and how much they should pay for it. The effect of this fundamental behavioral shift differs depending on the nature of the product category, but it undoubtedly touches all retailers.

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Being a retailer that has invested time and energy in orchestrating a great customer experience, you don’t want people in your store getting lost in their smart phones, checking reviews and recommendations.

Some retailers see the external content (like review- and rating sites or expert blogs) as voodoo that should stay out of the store. But reality already indicates that this cannot happen.

If people want access to information in order to make a decision, retailers should offer it to them. Is online the logical channel, while the store is the emotional one? We rather think the new multichannel reality will be more hybrid and multi-sensual.

People do not see channels. They see brands and will increasingly demand a consistent multichannel service. Stores should offer a curated access to this information cloud through interactive objects that stay true to the retail concept, blend in the environment and improve the customer experience, naturally.

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