Ah the convenience of having everything in one place. Like your credit/oyster card and your phone. Sort of like Backplane. A new platform built literally off the back of Lady Gaga’s fan network. It aims to unite people around affinities, interests and movements. So bring forth…gaga emails, gaga you tube etc. In a word its about fans and giving them one premier destination to connect. key here? INTEGRATION.  Check It out

It Pays to Pay Attention.  A handwritten note is an incredible value tool. Give your online customers something personalised. The ‘home-made’ effect takes the anonymity out of e-commerce. Burberry did this to much praise with their recent cine.gram message to its million twitter followers.

Offline Community  New Stock Drop? Freshly Baked Cookies? Flash Sale for the afternoon? Designer in Store? If I’ve downloaded your app I want local push notifications that incentivize me to get off my laptop and out into stores to spend.

Customer Reference Programs at The Tipping Point Some of the most exciting —  innovations in social media are around how to enable users to make recommendations, referrals, or “likes” of the products and services they use. InformationWeek’s Eric Lundquist put it recently, “The first question from most tech journalists — including myself — is ‘Do you have some customers that I can speak with about your new product?'” Read On

The Swap-o-Matic Vending Machine

I think the concept of swapping/shwoping is interesting but I’m more intrigued by the prospect of a serious vending machine trend. Aside from the machine itself and the many hybrids one could create, its more about the installation/ gimmick factor. Something in store that will give me an entertaining experience.