- May 10, 2019
Updated: Feb 16, 2021
COS's latest collection echoes the brands minimalistic ethos and remains true to their Scandinavian roots. Named, 'SUN WATER AIR', the SS19 collection is inspired by the fluidity of water and weight of air. It features unique pieces, covering every occasion such as oversized jackets, sharp-lined trousers to soft T-shirts and tailored shorts. Photographed by Mark Borthwick, the collection has been captured ina way that emulates the essence of sun, water and air.
HighSnobeity writes: ‘Borthwick’s signature aesthetic of minimal and crisp photography, yet somewhat emphasizing its color saturation, is reflected with the brand’s featured offerings, as well as its overall pieces with timeless and versatile styles that are designed to make up the foundation of a modern wardrobe. In addition, the featured editorial above spotlights Lake Plastiras in Greece, and explores the theme of light. The silhouettes’ dark and neutral color palette are juxtaposed elegantly against the serene backdrop.’
The promotional lakeside video features Smartzer’s interactive video overlay as seen in the video below.
The Smartzer bespoke custom overlay allows users to shop each look and interact with the video when watching. The interaction video also has an interactive side carousel that enables the customers to browse the collection when the video is playing. Plus, the video works seamlessly on mobile, with all the shoppable elements available on a vertical video as seen below.
- Apr 27, 2019
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Missoni has partnered with Adidas Running on a limited-edition collection of performance shoes and sports apparel.
According to Vogue ''The resulting collection will look familiar to fans of Missoni, incorporating as it does the label’s space-dye technique in both multi coloured and black and white variations. There are Ultraboost sneakers, and on the apparel front, a short-sleeved shirt, jacket, and shorts, all using Adidas’s proprietary Primeknit technology, which makes them both breathable and lightweight.''
The collection is showcased through a film that incorporates the story of Ottavio “Tai” Missoni, the family patriarch and house founder with wife, Rosita, participated in the 1948 Olympic Games. Missoni partnered with Smartzer to make the video interactive and shoppable across Missoni.com as well as Missoni Instagram Stories.
When watching the video, the looks can be clicked to view more product details and direct links to shop. There is also a carousel that showcases all the looks featured in the collection. The shoppable elements are also fully available on Instagram, where viewers can explore the interactive video through swiping up on an Instagram Story.
Updated: Feb 16, 2021
(Zalando’s Dr. Carsten Keller speaking at Retail Without Borders 2019.)
The Retail Without Borders 2019 summit saw some of the worlds largest marketplaces and retailers come together in London to discuss the state of retail on a global scale. The Smartzer team were lucky to catch Zalando’s Vice President of Direct to Consumer, Dr Carsten Keller as he kicked off the day with his talk on how online platforms are actually fuelling the high st.
Dr. Keller opened with the fascinating case study of John Mcpheters’ sneaker store Stadium Goods. Last year the sneaker company only had one store and yet it was selling over 40 million shoes. How you may ask? Stadium Sneakers also sells on some of the worlds biggest online marketplaces, and it sells a lot. Having snapped up by $250m to Farfetch last year, Sneaker Stadium is a great example of the power of mastering online in an evermore interconnected landscape.
ONLINE TO OFFLINE (O2O)
Tmall and Alibaba were also pulled upon as great examples of how to navigate online and offline retail effectively. In China, they have created a new ecosystem of connected ‘offline’ stores that sell on their platforms. Leveraging offline in partnership with online is part of the reason why Tmall and Alibaba have built such vast businesses. Keller also pointed out that the ‘offline’ retail landscape in Europe is not also a healthy one with 35,000 stores closing since 2008, which inevitably has raised a few eyebrows.
In particular, Fashion is positioned in Europe with 88% of sales coming through offline. Therefore, it could potentially be at risk to the growing online landscape. Furthermore, one of the big problems online Fashion is availability, with an estimated 8.6 million people per quarter unable to find the item they want online in 2018. The combination of established bricks and mortar and growing demand for online availability in fashion has really fuelled Zalando’s solution of ‘Connected Retail’.
Zalando’s Connected Retail solution realises that through connecting with physical stores you gain access to the biggest warehouse on earth. By integrating their system with stores, items can be shipped/collected/returned in store, thus creating a much more efficient and localised way of online shopping for customers. Stores majorly benefit not only from increased revenue but also from footfall and consumer data. Keller described it as a ‘3x win’ as Customers, Stores and Zalando all can make serious gains. With 700+ Stores connected to Zalando in 2018 it truly is a business model fit for online and offline retail.
(Cartoonist impression of the talk.)