London Telephone Boxes, London

Those of us in London right now cant help but notice these old style telephone boxes doted around the city; 100 in total (interestingly designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott who also designed another iconic London landmark that is now the Tate Modern).  Anyway, in celebration of 25 years of Childline various artists and designers have contributed to these incredibly missed boxes that were part of  London streets for so long (although there are still a few around Parliment Square which always have tourists hanging off the doors) and will be auctioned off to raise money for Childline.  A very worthy cause indeed and great to see these much loved telephone boxes once again.

Ralph Lauren, London

We are really struggling to find new and innovative schemes around town right now as everyone seems to have plunged very quickly into Sale.  Fortunately however, Ralph Lauren have just recently implemented their latest scheme which is definitely a breath of fresh air.  How fabulously architectural does this look?  We absolutely love what these guys are doing right now and couldn't wait to show you this scheme.

Guest Post from Michael Koploy: 5 iPad Checkout Tips Retailers Need to Hear

In a 2012 RIS News report, research found that 28% of retailers are in the process of testing tablets in their stores, and an additional 31% said that they would testing tablets this year.

Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst at http://www.softwareadvice.com/retail/ spoke with three retailers that have recently deployed point of sale (POS) solutions on the Apple iPad. They had five suggestions for retailers about to make the same investment:

1. Make a one-for-one exchange of cash registers for iPads. Because of the ease of deployment and access to extra iPads, retailers should only purchase as few tablets as they need. If retailers end up needing more tablets for the point of sale or would like additional tablets, they can easily purchase them online or at most local electronics stores.

2. Invest in Internet and wireless router upgrades. Because these tablets rely on an accurate WiFi connection, retailers should invest in an upgraded bandwidth package from a reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP). In addition, retailers should upgrade their wireless router so that the connection can meet Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards and is WPA/WPA2 encrypted.

3. Ask for assistance from resellers and mobile device management experts. These solutions are often very easy to deploy, but it is worthwhile to conduct product resellers to assist with setup and deployment when the time comes. Additionally, if retailers have multiple locations and need to connect/lock-down devices and their data, mobile device management (MDM) firms can be a big help.

4. Use the iPad to improve the customer experience. With a mobile POS solution, retailers can better service customers within the store aisles or eliminate checkout lines entirely. This provides ample up selling and cross-selling opportunity, as the negation of the physical point of purchase reduces the chance that the customer is emotionally “done” shopping.

5. Involve the customer at checkout. The retailers also suggested that others involve the customer at checkout to have customers share the experience with the iPad. One retailer noted that she commonly has customers sign and complete the transaction themselves. After the purchase is complete, customers were asked if they would like to take a picture using the iPad’s camera and share the picture on the customer’s social media channels.

For more tips from retailers, check out: 5 iPad POS Tips For Retailers, From Retailers.

Hackett, London

Oh those boys at Hackett have done it again.  Whether you are a fan of Hitchcock or not, you cant help but love what these guys have produced.  If you are familiar with the 1946 film Notorious which starred Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains; a story of the intertwining of three people's lives during an espionage operation then you will immediately recognise the narrative here.  What our images don't capture is the key which is suspended through the key hole (above) which of course was the iconic symbol for this particular film.  Anyway, while everyone is currently in Sale and we are struggling to find much else interesting, this scheme is certainly the highlight on Regent st. right now so thank goodness for this brand's efforts.

Zara, London

We adore the current scheme at Zara right now at their Bond St. store.  Its such a pleasure to see global brands going 'local' and supporting this creativity.  Mannequins sporting part 'hair' and part 'hundreds and thousands' (or sprinkles if you're reading stateside) and bowler style hats fashioned also from synthetic 'hair' styled to perfection.  Thanks guys at Zara; a great pleasure to view.

Puma, London

With a sea of Red placed everywhere around town right now it was refreshing to see something Red that isn't Sale.  OK, well, Puma are in Sale but look at the fascia here.  Using images of the old iconic London Red Telephone box in a repetition format, parts of the telephone boxes are in relief.  It really is great to see brands coming out of their window spaces and doing something albeit on a very small scale that we are so used to seeing in NYC and to a certain extent in Paris.

 

Accessorize, London

We are just about managing to squeeze out a little bit of Sunshine here in London in between the miserable rain showers, however, in the meantime these giant / out sized lollipops at Accessorize brought a huge smile to our faces.  Normally this brand have product stacked to the rafters so this is quite a refreshing change and as the stores are never large and therefore neither are the window spaces, the schemes are normally composed of something in cardboard technology.  While this is not necessarily a bad strategy, viewing these props is a very refreshing change

Fenwicks, London

We've been waiting for the new Victoria's Secret store to open along Bond street just to see what they will do with the old Pringle site.  We're sure it will be quite spectacular.  In the meantime, opposite Fenwicks drew us in; not because of the scheme - they don't do anything sadly - but the merchandise is quite incredible indeed.  Giant fruit and out sized exotic flowers are just some of the spectacle to be seen here.  For a series of windows that have no scheme, this proved to be quite a draw......well until Victoria's Secret opens opposite and then we'll just keep passing Fenwicks until they do something interesting again.

Selfridges, London

Wow, have been up to the new roof experience at Selfridges yet?  Crazy golf on the roof......bonkers..!   The roof top, Big top, afternoon tea party with London landmarks; the Gherkin, Tower Bridge and of course Big Ben in pastel hue's really do make this an incredibly fun scheme.  If you want to stay a little longer and have lunch, the food here is just incredible too.

Esprit, London

Well Hello Esprit..!  Have you seen the incredible new look store recently?  We've only just noticed that they have re-opened as we weren't included by their PR dept. announcing the re-opening; but that's another story.  In the meantime we are rather wowed with their first scheme here at their Regent street store and what a transformation.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the schemes at this brand will continue to entertain us and draw us in, but in the meantime, fantastic.

Topshop, London

This scheme at Topshop's flagship store in Oxford Circus nearly escaped our VM radar and we probably just managed to capture this in time.  Everyone has suddenly jumped into Sale, right after the Jubilee week and we guess cashing in before the next launch; the Olympics.  This period is a little like that post Christmas but Pre-New Year feel about it, but anyway, the international flags are up on Regent st. with promotions galore gathering at a furious pace.

Cos, London

The schemes at Cos just get better and better, don't you think?  For such a big brand we love that they are tapping into references to the Bauhaus Exhibition at the Barbican in their recent installation.  This is an interesting move toward localised creativity and delivering to a local  market (OK, well this store is on Regent st. and so the market is, we guess, the tourist one) however as we become more and more visually fatigued looking at the same schemes at the same brands in countless cities across the world, surly this can only be a good thing?

Loft, London

Unfortunately we don't know anything about 'Loft' on Great Dover street, but we were drawn in to take a closer look by the Meccano Eiffel tower in the window.  The overall scheme is not the most inspiring but we do like this bit.