Tag Archive for 'Shopping'

Mydeco (beta) launches

the mydeco website
Not sure if it was this week but anyway mydeco.com has launched in beta. There’s a review of the site at e-consultancy since I haven’t really had time to delve very deeply yet. A couple of interesting things to note. 500 retailers are signed up with over 1.4 million products available, that’s some online store. Also once signed up you can design ‘public’ rooms’ where every time someone buys a product that is listed in one of your public room designs, they’ll give you at least 3% of the value of the item they buy.
Since I may be moving house soon this comes at the right time. An opportunity to choose some new furniture and maybe make some pocket money through an affiliate scheme.
Mydeco.com follows Osoyou.com in creating websites where content, usability, functionality and sociality are prime considerations. Something the plethora of traditional retailers with little or no online retail could learn from.

Welcome to the Tesco (ahem) Department Store

In a bid for global domination, i.e to garner more than £1 in every £7 spent in the UK, Tesco are looking to expand into a high street near you.

From the FT originally, via PSFK.

A word from the master

In our previous lives Amanda and I used to work at Rodney Fitch and Fitch before that. Nice to see the ole feller still waxing lyrical about the ‘art of shopping‘.

Spotted on the Core 77 design blog.

John Lewis launch their new website

Today, John Lewis unveiled their new website. I’ve used their ‘old’ (yesterday’s) version a few times and always found it very good if a little light in the product area. Apparently this new version will have nearly double the product range, up from 22,000 products to 41,000 and will be edited frequently so that should take care of that. An excuse for some retail therapy anyway.

One thing that has always stood John Lewis apart is the quality of their photography, it actually looks like some effort has been made to specifically shoot and repro their images for the web, other (r)etailers should take note.

Here’s a comparison of their old and new landing pages, and just for the sake of completion an image of the launch email.

John Lewis, yesterday's website
John Lewis, today's website
John Lewis, website launch email

Meanwhile back on the other side of etail here’s Matalan’s version.

Retail Safari (part 3) - Zara Home

Zara Home is always worth a visit, just to take in the excellent visual merchandising. It just shows how simplicity can be so effective. There’s a few nice features around the store, particularly the staircase with chandelier and yellow lighting, I also like the tiling they’ve used on the cash desk and downstairs. It’s a very calm shop and always pretty busy whenever we’ve been there, the most amazing thing is the product value. You consistently pick up an object and are pleasantly surprised by the price. What looks like at least a £30 plus vase is selling for £6, proof again that you don’t have to put your product in a cheap environment to be a ‘value retailer’.

Zara Home - Visual merchandisingZara Home - visual merchandisingZara Home - ground floorZara Home - chandalierZara Home - visual merchandisingZara Home - fasciaZara Home - shoe displayZara Home - place settingsZara Home - cash deskZara Home - accessoriesZara Home - Regent Street windows