360 DEGREES Weblog

In a totally obvious move that has only taken years to implement (thanks Apple!), ZoomMediaPlus has released an SD card adapter for the docking port on iPhones and iPod Touches that allows you to transfer content between an SD card and the device. This is a useful accessory for a whole bunch of reasons… Carry it along with your digital camera to be able to view and upload pictures on the fly, for example. Or stuff a bunch of movies onto a big SD card for traveling. Using the zoomIt app, you can transfer files in both directions, which gives you the option of bypassing iTunes’ ludicrously draconian file sharing restrictions.

Personally, I hate iTunes. It’s slow, it’s bloated, and it makes it exceptionally difficult to do even the most basic things. I’d love to use the zoomIt’s accessory to be able to transfer, say, a couple songs onto my iPhone without having to suffer through iTunes. So obviously, the big outstanding is going to be file compatibility. The zoomIt website says that you can “view, listen to, and share all of your photos, music, video and files” which also includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and PDF files. If this works as advertised, I’d be more than willing to pay $50 (with a $10 pre-order discount) not to have to rely on iTunes ever again. Available in April.

The door-to-door approach may have been the best way to reach Avon customers of yesteryear, but those days are gone. That’s even more true for Mark, Avon’s sister brand targeting a younger, trendier audience. Makes perfect sense, then, that Avon recently launched an e-tailing platform that allows its Mark representatives to sell on Facebook.

Using Mark’s new direct-sales widget for online social media, reps for the brand—primarily high-school and college-age girls—can now sell products via the Facebook boutique online. To make that possible, the Mark page features not just the standard “wall” and “info” tabs but also a “shop” tab that lets users browse and purchase products. Customers on the site can search for and make friends with reps in their area, and they can also sign up to be reps themselves. Combining community, marketing and sales, the Facebook boutique can be customized by each representative and used to sell products without ever leaving home. Mark also has a free iPhone application that lets reps view products on their phones rather than page through a traditional paper catalog, StyleList reported. Forthcoming applications will reportedly allow users to create online wish lists and post shopping widgets directly into reps’ blogs.

With more than 350 million users around the globe, there’s no denying the power of Facebook to reach young, tech-savvy consumers.

Website: www.facebook.com/mark-girl

Whatever Parisian pastry chef extraordinaire, Philippe Conticini, does gets noticed. His talent for creating desserts that are art in all meanings of the word has found yet another expression this September when he unveiled his latest creation, La Pâtisserie de Rêves (the patisserie of dreams), in the chic 7th arrondissement in Paris. Nothing in the design of the sleek 29 square-meter boutique is reminiscent of a traditional European konditorei. Most strikingly, the stars of the space — the desserts, cakes and pastries — are displayed on a round platform in the center. Each of the 15 culinary masterpieces is presented under its own temperature-controlled glass bell suspended from the ceiling. Customers order their selection from the staff, after which each order appears directly from the kitchen. Both ideas evoke the feel of a meticulous laboratory where precious specimens are handled. Conticini has been in the culinary limelight for more than two decades with his own TV show, several books, restaurants and awards.

Thanks Coolhunter

As much as we love Amazon and our Amazon Prime accounts, we still miss the instant gratification that comes from purchasing goods in a brick-and-mortar store and having them with you when you get home. Amazon.com Local Express Delivery ($6 and up, per item) aims to lessen this gap by offering same-day delivery for orders placed before a certain time in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Seattle. Great news for procrastinators and the impatient, bad news for the ol’ charge card.

The recently-opened Etiqueta Negra boutique in downtown Manhattan has brought a modern take on masculine, equestrian style all the way from Buenos Aires. The store, which features among other décor elements a 1938 Alfa Romeo racecar (above), carries suits, jackets, jeans and shirts, as well as a line of leather shoes designed exclusively for Etiqueta Negra by Casa Fagliano, the Argentina-based maker of Prince Charles’ bespoke polo boots. Prices for the princely footwear, which is not available anywhere else in the U.S., begin at $2,500 a pair. They also carry polo gear as well as women’s clothing, though the emphasis is on the menswear.

Bloomberg News is reporting that the store is looking at either a debt restructuring or a bankruptcy filing. Dubai-based investment fund Istithmar World bought the luxury chain at peak value for $942 million in 2007. But after a year of slumping sales the company is feeling the increasing pressure of its boatload of debt. Earlier this year Barneys got a major infusion of money to allow it to pay for its shipments for the rest of the year.

Bloomberg says that Perry Capital, the hedge fund firm that helped finance the 2007 buyout, has been approached by the Canadian department store chain Holt Renfrew on an offer of join control of Barney’s. Holt Renfrew has stores in major Canadian cities including Montreal and Vancouver. Getting a partner might be the best shot for saving the struggling retailer since it’s unlikely that a buyer would come forward at this point. According to the article, Barneys and its owners are still considering what to do. With an uncertain holiday season approaching the store may have to make a move soon. Luxury department stores are cautiously optimistic that this season may be better than last but it probably won’t be strong enough to alter the situation for stores that are struggling.

Why might Holt Renfrew want Barneys? If the Toronto-based chain ever wanted to make forays into the United States this would present a nice opportunity. The chains are of similar size. Holt Renfrew has nine stores throughout Canada. Barneys has nine department stores in major cities and like other stores such as Saks and Nordstrom it also has thriving business in outlets (it has 13) and lower priced stores (19 Co-OP stores). Both stores stock the same types of designer brands including Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen and Michael Kors.

Are shopping malls in the U.S. evolving into more of an outdoor shopping venue such as the Grove in Los Angeles, or are they disappearing entirely. One thing is for certain many malls have a lot of vacant space lately, partly because some of those anchor department stores are disappearing or consolidating. All that vacant space is forcing mall owners to get creative. One mall, the Westfield North County Shopping Mall in Escondido near San Diego, California may move a supermarket into the area that once housed a Robinsons-May store.

Big box retailers like Costco have also moved into some malls, taking over prized anchor spots vacated by department stores. Westfield already has a Gelson’s Market at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles and a Bristol Farms at Westfield San Francisco Centre and has found that overall mall sales have increased as the mall becomes one-stop shopping. There’s a hope that the big retailers will lift the sales of the smaller specialty stores in the same way that department stores did in the past.

Other ideas for attracting patrons to malls including indoor skating rinks, spas and community centers. Another type of mall that seems to be thriving is the specialty mall. The Christian Science Monitor recently had an interesting piece on the rise of ethnic malls which have continued to thrive even in a tough economy. This hints at an idea that for some malls the feature might not be in trying to appeal to everyone just to get them in the door but instead focusing on a select population of shoppers who will remain loyal.

There’s likely no end in sight to the number of iPhone apps to come. So I’m going to tell you about one more, OK? You’ll thank me. Actually, thank The New York Times: Designer fashion hub Net-a-Porter.com released its iPhone application, the Net-App, in mid-July. Shoppers can browse handbags, clothes and shoes; read the site’s weekly fashion stories; and make purchases. The Times noted that even though some people use their cell phones to buy virtual goods to use in mobile games or e-books to read on their phones, the masses have not shown much willingness to buy physical goods - especially expensive ones - from their cell phones. (Kind of like how early online purchases, of anything, were made by the few and the brave; now, it’s second nature.)

But Net-a-Porter.com, which went live in 2000 and states it has 1.8 million visitors a month, succeeded in getting people to buy $4,000 gowns and $1,000 stilettos on the Web, so iPhone app success may be in sight. The potential for shopping on phones “is massive,” said Alison Loehnis, v.p. of sales and marketing at Net-a-Porter.com, in the Times. “We feel very strongly that third-generation technology is the new shop window. No one wants to be bound to their computer anymore.”

Net-a-Porter.com is not the first to offer an iPhone shopping app: there’s Lucky at Your Service from Lucky magazine and ShopStyle Mobile from ShopStyle. Net-a-Porter, however, developed a tool it calls ClosetFlow, which shows users small images of new products to thumb through. Shoppers can zoom in, flip the phone to look at items from different directions, and read more detailed information about them. The shopper can add the items to a wish list to access later from a computer or buy from within the application, without opening a separate browser window.

Loehnis noted in the article: “Our customers love to shop from their homes or offices, but we want our customers to be able to shop from a cab or while waiting in line and really maximize what little free time they have.”

Thanks Luxist

Ever gone on vacation and realized you left your swimsuit behind. Worry no more if you are staying at any of The Standard hotels. Sporty clothing company Quiksilver has partnered with André Balazs’ The Standard Hotels on co-branded swimwear that will be sold not only in the hotel boutiques but also poolside in special vending machines in New York, Los Angeles, Hollywood and Miami. It’s a smart collaboration, The Standard is infamous for its pool scenes.

Four different styles of men’s board shorts were designed one for each hotel but women will have to content themselves with a black string bikini. Items can be purchased online at shopthestandard.com, and the first vending machine will open in Los Angeles on August 8.

A project codenamed “Square” is the brand new iPhone-base payment processing system that’s currently being alpha tested at the also brand new Self Edge NYC. In addition to keeping the process paperless, Square makes check-out clean and easy. The innovation is in a small, plastic card reader that fits in to the headphone jack of an iPhone (or iPod Touch) and transfers the credit card’s swipe data to the app (pictured, right). After the employee enters the amount to charge the customer confirms by scrawling their signature with their finger and then either one enters the customer’s email address to send the receipt to. The payment is processed by Square for a small percentage plus a fixed fee; the funds are transferred directly to the store’s bank account, cutting both time and complexity on the processing side. The customer’s receipt includes a map showing the location of the transaction which is handy for those who record, sort and file such things (pictured below).

While allowing anyone from a hot dog vendor to a bike messenger to process credit cards on-the-go, all we can say at the moment is that consumer to business transactions are just the beginning.