- Dec 16, 2016
Updated: Feb 17, 2021
We are over the moon to announce that Smartzer has been selected as the winner of the Lafayette Plug & Play competition 2016!
As you can read in our previous post, we took part in the December ’16 Lafayette Plug & Play incubator programme in Paris, designed to boost the next generation of retail and fashion companies. The Smartzer team spent part of November and December in Paris alongside 9 other startups, making the most of the mentoring and networking opportunities available via the programme.
We met some interesting and inspirational mentors, investors, fellow entrepreneurs from a range of companies spanning retail, technology and fashion. We are extremely grateful to both the Galeries Lafayette group and the Plug & Play Tech Center for the opportunity to network with such knowledgeable and innovative individuals.
Of course, the cherry on top was being selected as the winning startup in the December ’16 Batch! To have been selected from a group containing such talented and forward-thinking other startups on the basis of our performance during the programme really is an honour. We are so pleased that our interactive video technology has been acknowledged by these world-class experts as having the potential to revolutionise the fashion and retail industry.
Especially exciting was the work that we did for Galeries Lafayette during the programme, adding our interactive functionality to three of their promotional videos and kicking off our presence in Paris! We are able to aid brands in engaging customers and making the most of their online video content to drive sales in the face of ever-increasing interactions between retail and technology. To do so with this market-dominator was a great experience for Smartzer.
Thank you again to Galeries Lafayette and Plug & Play Tech Center for selecting us as their 2016 winner!
- Oct 28, 2016
Updated: Feb 17, 2021
We had some fantastic news last month, which we had to keep under wraps until last week. The international law firm Bird & Bird, along with London’s business newspaper City A.M, got in touch to inform us we had been selected in the Media category of their Digital Innovators Power List for 2016.
The list itself is made up of 20 young, innovative digital companies, using technology and innovative ideas to shake up various sectors. The final selection was compiled by City A.M and Bird & Bird with support from the Digital Catapult (whom we have worked with before), tech PR agency Hotwire PR, and information platform Springwise. We were so thrilled to be informed we were a part of their final few, particularly when we found out the criteria to be a finalist.
They were looking for companies with a “captivating story of innovation”, who were also setting trends, had a strong revenue potential and have a certain sense of “buzz” around them on social media. It’s fantastic to know that they felt we matched these essentials and we’re so pleased that others are recognising the power our technology can have for businesses.
The launch night took place last Thursday at the Bird & Bird offices in London, which, by the way, has a really fantastic view of the city! We were asked to take part in a panel to discuss our technology and what our innovation is doing for businesses, alongside some other fantastic start ups; EdAid, Yoti, Darktrace and UMotif. Who, are all very inspiring and interesting teams with fab innovations of their own.
After the panel was the opportunity to network and have a couple of drinks with the other companies and guests. It was a really enjoyable evening with lots of great conversation with like minded tech savvy people.
You can find out more about the list HERE, and also check out this piece featuring more. We will keep our blog and social media fully up to date with any more news and updates on this so be sure to keep an eye out. Thanks again to Bird & Bird, and City A.M for including us in the Power List 2016!
- Sep 30, 2016
Updated: Feb 17, 2021
As 2016 Paris fashion week draws to a close this weekend, we have been discussing a hot topic of interest here at Smartzer. This is the ‘Shop Now, Buy Now’ concept that some of the world’s biggest fashion giants adopted for their runway shows this season.
Business of Fashion and Fashionista are a few of the online articles providing commentary around the subject. Last week, they began reporting on the initial responses and results to the practice of ‘See Now, Buy Now’ on the runway. Considered an “experiment” for the fashion industry, the idea behind ‘See Now, Buy Now’ enables consumers to purchase the product that was shown on the runway as soon as the show is over. This could be from the brands ecommerce site or their physical stores. It was quite a surprise both within the industry, and for fashion followers, to hear that these iconic fashion houses were doing away with the traditional six-month lead time for their fashion shows. Especially when it has been such a staple of every fashion week across the globe.
At NYFW, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren were the first of the S/S 2017 season to implement this experimentation on their highly anticipated shows. During LFW, Burberry also enabled their customers to purchase their product straight after the show.
Also considered as the ‘runway to retail’ model, everybody within the industry has seemingly had an opinion on the matter. It is an exciting prospect to see classic brands like Hilfiger and Burberry making their shows more accessible by adopting this shoppable video business model. The slow release of products 4-6 months after the show is losing its appeal for customers and creative directors. The shake up is a fresh and encouraging step towards innovation and change.
The age of waiting for product, is slowly dying out. For the most part, consumers want product as soon as they see it. So much content is consumed and given to internet users whenever and wherever they want it. There is an air of excitement around purchasing product you want as soon as you can, which is what fashion week designers are trying to cash in on.
For example, Business of Fashion reported that Tom Ford saw his biggest day of the year so far after his NYFW show. They believe this may be due the audience’s response to viewing the whole collection and feeling that the opportunity was too good to miss. Similarly, Burberry saw an instant uplift in sales on the day of their runway show. Delivering the product to the consumer straight away produces a sense of immediacy for the customer. Brands are successfully capitalising on this sensation.
Making it easier and quicker to supply products to consumers is the future of e-commerce and something we support with our interactive content marketing technology. As the fashion landscape transforms, many key brands are seen to be revolutionising the way they sell there products. Soon, all retailers big and small will be able to make their content immediately shoppable through interaction video.
There is still a long way to go before all brands are making all content clickable, but the ‘See Now, Buy Now’ movement is definitely a step in the right direction.
You can view the runway video that we made shoppable for Burberry on the My Theresa website HERE.
We are really interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic, so feel free to email us or get in touch on Twitter @smartzer.