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Summer music festivals, with their huge and more or less captive audiences, have proven to be fertile ground for business and marketing ideas, from sponsored showers to recyclable tents. The latest to join the flock? A retailer that offers just about everything a festival-goer might need or want. Based in London's Spitalfields market, the Marsh Mellow Festival Boutique sells rubber boots, water bottles, hats, tents, sleeping bags and other stylish and useful camping and outdoor gear. All carefully curated to appeal to a young and design-savvy audience, and stocked under one roof to make for easy shopping. Targeting consumers nationwide, Marsh Mellow also sells many of its products through an online store, as well as tickets to most music festivals. One to set up as a (temporary) shop in other cities next summer? (Related: Event-driven travel site asks when, not where — Foot-pumped power for phones at Glastonbury.) Website: www.marsh-mellow.co.uk Spotted by: Liam Power |
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Much the way UK publishing house Faber & Faber lets readers order books that have gone out of print, Kirtas Books specializes in digitizing and selling rare and out-of-print books as downloads or hard copies printed on demand. Now, when consumers pay for a book's digitization, they can also share in its future sales thanks to a new initiative launched earlier this month. Kirtas's new Invest in Knowledge program allows "anyone to subsidize the digitization of the world’s knowledge one book at a time," as the company puts it. Consumers first pick what book they'd like to support and then make sure on the Kirtas site that it's available for inclusion in the program—meaning, primarily, that no other investor has already selected it. If it is, they then order it through the Invest in Knowledge option. In addition to the regular USD 1.95 price for a downloadable copy of a digitized book, subsidizing it through the Invest in Knowledge program costs an additional USD 28.05—not too much more than the usual USD 8.05 or USD 18.05 prices for soft- and hard-cover versions, respectively. When they do support the Invest in Knowledge program, however, users get not just a soft-cover version, but they are also entitled to 5 percent of all future sales of that book through Kirtasbooks.com. So, when a future user orders a copy of the book for USD 8.05, for example, the subsidizing user would receive some 40 cents. Kirtas even supplies "investors," as it calls them, with a link from their account to track the total sales and total revenues earned through the program. Users can invest in as many books as they'd like, and are encouraged to spread the word and help market the digitized versions they've supported. Indeed, beyond supporting the very worthy goal of eventually making all books available digitally, Kirtas's Invest in Knowledge program also happens to tie beautifully into what our sister site calls the sellsumer trend, through which consumers the world over are finding new ways to earn a little extra cash. A model to be inspired by! Website: www.kirtasbooks.com Spotted by: TeleRead via Judy McRae |
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Clothes rental services have been around for some time now, often focusing on the short-term needs of new parents, dieters or those preparing for special occasions. A new Singapore company gearing up for launch, however, is setting its sights squarely on fashionistas and others who would rather not wear the same outfit twice. Representing yet another variation on the well-loved Netflix model, Closet Infinite is a service through which members can rent clothes for free in exchange for donating a fashion item of their own. Interested fashionistas begin by sending a photo of the item they'd like to donate, along with a description of its condition, where it was purchased and how much it cost. Upon acceptance and delivery to Closet Infinite, the item entitles them to 6 months' worth of membership on the site and the chance to rent the donated clothes of others for free. At that point members simply browse Closet Infinite's "library" and select the clothes they wish to rent. Clothes are then sent to them by mail within three days along with return packaging, and members are entitled to keep them for up to five days. Within Singapore, a per-item handling fee of SGD 6.50 includes packaging, postage and cleaning fees, while a deposit of SGD 30 is returned when the clothes are sent back. (International pricing will follow at a later stage.) Late charges of SGD 5 are assessed for each day the clothes are overdue. Closet Infinite will officially launch once it has built up its collection of clothes, the site says. Given the pace at which styles change, it's no wonder more and more consumers are opting to be transumers instead, free from the expense and commitment of ownership. There's bound to be plenty of demand for a service like this in every fashion-conscious corner of the globe—one to bring to clothes hounds near you? (Related: A social marketplace for clothes hounds.) Website: closetinfinite.wordpress.com |
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Numerous bicycle stations have appeared on our pages before, including Cycle Center in Chicago, Bikestation in California, Bike Central in New Zealand and Cycle2City in Australia. Adding to Australia's bike station innovation comes the Green Pod, a modular facility from Brisbane's Penny Farthings Pushbikes. About the size of a parking space for one car, the Green Pod comes in two configurations: one with a single shower and changing room along with 10 lockers and parking for as many bicycles, and the other with double those facilities. The pod features a solar hot water system, electronic locking system, LED lighting activated by motion sensors, timed showers and a grey water treatment unit that discharges grey water into green areas. The unit can be integrated into indoor or outdoor applications, and it operates on a 12V DC system that can be powered by solar panels on the roof. Also part of the pod is a self-cleaning mechanism that can detect when no one's inside and lock its doors for some self-cleaning, according to a report in Catapult. Access is via swipe card for registered users. The first Green Pod is now being used at Queensland University of Technology’s Kelvin Grove campus, and Penny Farthing is also talking with Queensland Rail about tailoring a pod for bicyclist commuters, Catapult reported. Indeed, the modularity of the Green Pod's design and its diminutive stature give it the potential to be more flexible and easily accommodated than many built-in solutions. One to partner with early and bring to the bicycling masses near you...? (Related: Self-serve parking bay for bikes.) Website: www.pushbikeparking.com/green-pod |
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We've covered several examples of services that help online consumers stay in touch with their offline friends, including Postful, PeggyMail and Presto. Zeroing in on photos, Picwing now offers a service that automatically sends prints of consumers' photos to their loved ones once or twice a month. Users of San Francisco-based Picwing begin by giving the service the names and addresses of the people they'd like their photos to be sent to on a regular basis, along with how often. Then, as they take photos they'd like to share, they either email them to their personal @picwing.com address, or they simply upload them. At that point there's nothing more the user need do; Picwing takes over and automatically prints out the latest bunch of photos, sending them to the recipients the user requested. Prints are made on 4-by-6-inch glossy Kodak paper, and a personal message can be added to the back of each. Picwing offers unlimited storage, privacy settings and automatic backup; international shipping is available. Prints can be purchased at 19 cents each; alternatively, flat-rate plans begin at USD 4.95 per month for 15 prints to a single recipient. Also available are widgets to synchronize with Chumby devices and create slideshows on the web. All the world may seem to be online, but there are still plenty of opportunities keeping those who aren't in the figurative loop. How can your brand help smooth the OFF=ON and ON=OFF connections...? Website: www.picwing.com Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage On a sidenote: when it launched as a Y Combinator startup last summer, Picwing was selling a different product/service—a wifi-enabled smart frame. As Techcrunch noted at the time, the frame's price was probably too high. Picwing currently lists the frames as sold out, and states that it's looking for a production partner—presumably one that will be able to lower costs. Meanwhile, kudos to Picwing for changing course in midstream to keep their company moving forward. |
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"Shaving knowledge and technique is not instinctive, all men need to learn the art and unfortunately many learn it badly". A passionate statement from London-based grooming shop Geo F. Trumper, which now offers classes on how to shave properly. Customer demand led to the introduction of the one-to-one sessions, in which a barber shows a customer the best techniques for shaving and how to avoid unsightly problems such as ingrown hairs and razor burn. Other shaving tips are offered according to skin type. Two types of class are on offer from the Soho branch, depending on the skills sought: there's the Mach 3 Shaving School at GBP 50, or the 90-minute Open Razor Shaving School at GBP 75. Founded in 1875, the Trumpers chain is drawing on the power of status skills to expose modern men to its traditional craft while showing customers the advantages of its high-end range—something entrepreneurs in most industries should think of doing, if they aren't already. Which skills can you help your customers master? (Related: Publisher launches creative writing academy.) Website: www.trumpers.com Spotted by: David Licona |
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Much the way Webkinz pets are more than just stuffed animals, so t-shirts can be more than just t-shirts when they forge links to the online world. The conversation-starters offered by Reactee, Shyno and Augme are one type of example; now bringing a new purpose to such connections comes The Music Tee, a shirt that gives wearers the right to free music downloads. The new offering from Invisible DJ and fashion house LnA features album art on the front of the t-shirt and a list of tracks on the back. Included on a separate hang tag, meanwhile, are a URL and a unique code that can be used to download one copy of each of the tracks printed on the shirt. The first such unisex tee features an eclectic compilation of artists from around the world, curated by Invisible DJ; with 14 tracks, it's priced at USD 60. The second Music Tee—due to become available on July 7—features The Ecstatic by Mos Def. With 16 tracks, it costs USD 39. Both are available exclusively at Ron Herman and LNAclothing.com. Band t-shirts have long given fans a way to visibly proclaim their musical taste, but bundling with downloads adds an extra incentive for consumers to buy, and at a considerably higher price. Indeed, the OFF=ON connection is giving companies in industries far and wide new ways to connect with customers—not to mention new revenue streams. How about your brand...? (Related: Premium concert tickets come with free love — Indie download cards — Music by Groove Armada, distribution by Bacardi.) Website: www.lnaclothing.com/musictee |
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Packing a lunch for kids tends to involve a variety of plastic packaging, bags and wrappers that are harmful not just to the environment—heading directly to landfills as they so frequently do—but also, potentially, to the kids themselves. Whereas Kids Konserve's plastic-free lunch kits were driven by environmental considerations, a new line of stainless steel lunch containers was inspired instead by concerns over bisphenol-a, or BPA. Several studies have contributed to fears that BPA—a chemical widely used in plastics for baby bottles, beverage and food containers, and linings in food cans—may be linked with cancer, diabetes and hyperactivity, among other disorders. Though by no means conclusive at this point, such concerns were strong enough to motivate the Canadian government recently to ban the chemical's use in baby bottles. Working on the premise that it's better to be safe than sorry, California-based LunchBots now offers a line of brightly coloured, stainless steel containers for kids' food. The LunchBots Uno is a 6.25-by-4.5-by-1.75-inch container made entirely of stainless steel with a powder-coated blue lid. The LunchBots Duo, meanwhile, is the same size but features an orange lid and two compartments. Both are dishwasher-safe and priced at USD 14.99; special pricing for school fundraisers is available. Health fears aside, of course, reusable containers are also better for the environment, and crafting them from stainless steel is bound to make them more durable and longer-lasting—all benefits that could appeal to parents around the globe. LunchBots, however, currently ships only within the United States; one to help bring to the little lunch eaters in your part of the world? Website: www.lunchbots.com |
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Over the past few weeks, thousands of Twitter users tinted their profile pictures green to show support for protesters in Iran. In a similar vein, UK-based Lovebox encourages charity-minded social network users to replace their current profile picture with one of its digital Lovebox icons and then make a donation to the charity it represents. A different charity is selected for support each month, represented by an icon of a different colour, making it the digital equivalent of silicone 'awareness' bracelets/wristbands. The green Lovebox, for example, supports WWF-UK, while the pink one signals support for Cancer Research UK. As the site explains, "social networks and the internet help us share information quickly. Lovebox is a simple but effective way for you to show your support for charities." Recently Lovebox also launched #charitytuesday, a Twitter-based effort to mobilize supporters one day each week. Will Lovebox icons become as ubiquitous as awareness bracelets? Time will tell. Meanwhile, it's an interesting experiment in using the power of social networks and the viral effects they can create—both for commercial or for nonprofit purposes. (Related: Users choose ads for their social web pages — One-stop-shop for creating viral promotions.) Website: www.lovebox.org.uk |
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Earlier this year we wrote about Sears' MyGofer experiment blending online shopping with curbside pickup, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to a like-minded effort that's already well underway across the ocean. At French hypermarket chain E.Leclerc, customers can order online and have their purchases loaded into their car two hours later at no extra charge. Leclerc's initiative began in late 2007, when it opened its first Express Drive in Roques sur Garonne near Toulouse. With a selection of nearly 3,000 available products, customers then could place their orders online—or via touch terminals in the local Leclerc store or parking lot—and then go to a curbside pickup area to have it loaded into their trunk. Today, many more products are available through the service—including groceries, fresh produce and frozen goods—for curbside loading at more than 20 Leclerc stores. The prices of all products ordered via Express Drive are the same as those in-store; customers simply arrive at their local store two hours after they place and pay for their order online, and it will be loaded into their trunk free of charge. A standard shopping list can even be saved online to speed ordering on subsequent visits. After years of separation of online and off, it's a sign of maturation that retail is beginning to blur those lines, blending the best of both worlds. The same is happening in consumers' own lives too, of course, so they increasingly expect it everywhere. Any company hoping to win their business had better deliver! ;-) Website: www.expressdrive.fr |
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