• Ocado to launch ‘virtual shop window’ for Apple iPhone users – Telegraph – Hot on the heels of Tesco's Korean subway proof-of-concept, this digital interactive display is a bit of a stunt for just a week, but a sign of something that we'll take for granted within two years.
• Fostex AR-4i turns iPhone 4 into handheld stereo HD video powerhouse –
• A Store With Only 3 Products And Other Cases For Simplicity | Fast Company – Taking 'selectivity' in merchandising to a new level. Interesting thought when compared with the "more is more – just filter and sort" approach.
• Apple’s Designers Work Towards Storefront Symmetry –
• Internet Retailing » Call for PubQuizzers – 23 November, 3rd InternetRetailingBeringerTameAnnualCharityeCommercePubQuiz… – Do not miss out on our third competitive extravaganza! An informal 'industry event'.

• Social Shopping Gets Personal: Lucky Magazine Partners With ThisNext – Lydia Dishman – Style, Inc. – Forbes – An interesting development linking a 'curating', style-hunting and aggregating magazine with a style-surfacing, member-as-retailer site, ThisNext.
• Armourtex Ltd : Cycles – Power-coating bike frames in Hackney. As used by Al.
• Among Six Types Of Failure, Only A Few Help You Innovate | Co.Design – What an interesting and refreshing take on the 'failure is good' mantra.<br />
  <br />
  Enumerating different types of failure on a 'failure spectrum' is a good idea. <br />
  <br />
  I would extend the thinking though to assess how predictable the failure was. Rather like the difference between manslaughter and murder, the determination is based upon intention, reasonable foreseeability (?) and levels of negligence or omission.<br />
  <br />
  The difference between 'experimental testing', recklessness and wilful, non-learning neglect should be considered as part of what makes a "good failure".
• Why I, Jeff Bezos, Keep Spending Billions On Amazon R&D – Yahoo! Finance –
• 3M Visual Attention Service – Eyetracking from 3M

• United Colors of Benetton – Official Blog - – "United Blogs of Benetton" – a nice new step in co-ordinated social media/contributions.
• All My Purchases Sorts Wad of E-ceipts From Square Users, Apple Stores, More | Fast Company – Nice service – scanning email to find receipts and then keeping them in an accessible 'folder'.
• MS Optical Super Triplet Perar 3.5/35 Mark II | japan exposures – Wow. Handmade, short-run, exotic folding lens… What's not to like?
• The Real Cost of Social Media (Infographic) – Drawing on some good sources there are some nuggets here of the costs of social media activity and some outline returns. Useful for making some points more visually appealing than a raw bullet point!
• “Capability and Maturity” – editorial from the May 2011 edition of InternetRetailing Magazine | Ian Jindal – This is my editorial from internetretailing.net.<br />
  <br />
  I mention the MSc in Internet Retailing. <br />
  <br />
  Applications for the MSc are now being accepted for September 2011 start: information at http://econsultancy.com/uk/training/qualifications/retailing. Open evenings on 26 May (Manchester) and 14 June (London) can be booked online . You will have a chance to chat with us, the academic staff from MMU and the Econsultancy trainers, as well as speaking with current students from the first and second intakes.

• Karl Falk Watches l Models – A singlehanded "einzeiger" watch. <br />
  <br />
  Like old clocks that did not use a minute hand, this watch gives reading accuracy to within a couple of minutes via a red-tipped single hour hand.<br />
  <br />
  Neat idea, but without a sweep hand, date, and better granularity then it's more a design statement than anything. 
• YouTube – Existential Star Wars (In French) –
• WVIL, A Glimpse At The Future Of Photography After Cameras Die [Video] | Co.Design – Interesting and well-thought-through example of how photography can escape its historical formfactors. As a committed Leica or simple SLR fan I like the simplicity and "hand-ful" heft of the established format, but given the extent to which cameraphones have opened the practice of photography and development from a sensor 'chassis' to link with some prime glass has got to be of interest.<br />
  <br />
  Sony NEX? RED digital movie cameras? The trend's already in train.
• The street still rules for shopping » Yanidel Street Photography – Great 'street' photo, with a juxtaposition between massive brand and individual seller, between the promise of the 'web' and the scale of the personal, "analog" seller.<br />
  <br />
  This image was made for powerpoint presentations – I'm trying to resist out of respect for the photographer, but boy is it a challenge…
• 10 Best Ad Campaigns "Life's too short for the wrong job" (Pic) | Daily Dawdle –

• Tell-all telephone | Data Protection | Digital | ZEIT ONLINE – Wonderful data visualisation of months of mobile phone use – movements, texts, calls – overlaid on an animated map over time. I particularly like the columnar, dense way that each day is shown. Via @fastcompany.
• Microsoft Wants You to Control Your Phone by Touching Yourself | Fast Company – "Skinput" – love it.
• Twitter isn't very social: study | Econsultancy – "50% of all content consumed on Twitter is generated by only 20,000 users."<br />
  <br />
  This could mark the change from 'conversational' to 'monetisable'.
• Optimizing a Screen for Mobile Use (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox) – Lovely example of ruthless simplification and device-specific polishing. I love the phrase "killing time is a killer app for mobile".
• What does the future hold for f-commerce? | Econsultancy –

• Photographic Science: Exposure – Moret than you ever wanted to know about lumens, lux, flux and exposure.
• Method: Eight Things Stand-Up Comedy Teaches Us About Innovation | Co.Design –
• BBC – College of Production – College of Production –
• Owle Bubo HD Video Kit (iPhone 4) – Interesting, but getting to be the same size as a compact professional camcorder… Looks like it's either unadorned iPhone chic (ie windy, distorted and shaky) or pro quality that's bulky…
• Digital remit advice – Committee of Advertising Practice – Summary of the impact of the ASA's new remit to include user-contributed reviews within its assessment of a brand's marketing activities. 
• http://patterns.ideo.com/images/uploads/pdf/patterns_vol3_shanzhai_final.pdf – Lovely piece by Ideo, considering the Chinese "Shanzhai" manufacturing/pirating as a 'design pattern' and as an open source model for innovation.<br />
  <br />
  Nice examples, well presented and a lovely design too.

• The Untold Story of How My Dad Helped Invent the First Mac | Co.Design – Fascinating article, showing the simplicity, elegant and durability of underlying concepts and approaches. Good to read – especially at a time when Apple's seen as industrial design… It's a fusion of design, business models, patterns, ruthlessness and restraint.
• Review of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116520 | Luxury Tyme: The Rolex Reference Page – Nice review, covering the latest 'manufacture' movement.
• iRig Mic – Looks like an interesting way to mike podcasts. Possibly preferable to the Blue Mikey.
• Cult Pens – Pilot Capless Fermo Retractable Fountain Pens – Twist body and nib disappears behind airtight seal. Fountain pen pleasure with ballpoint ease ? Welcome to my wishlist!
• Ten Questions Every Game Changer Must Answer | Fast Company –

I’ve mentioned the content of the speeches over on ianjindal.pencil.vc.catn.com, but here are some photos from Copenhagen…

The Flickr set is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikj/sets/72157625916660145/with/5443011254/

Some images:

All images with the M8.2 and 35mm Summicron Asph.

• [Editorial] "Purchandising" – This in my Editorial from the November issue of Internet Retailing Magazine. Also available as 'digital print' via the November digital edition.
• Exclusive: Foursquare's New Partnership With PepsiCo Takes Focus Off of Places | Fast Company – Interesting development. Using the 'location stream' to aid the targeting of adverts and promotions, even if not necessarily related to that intersection of space and time. <br />
  <br />
  A next stage must surely be the sale/exploitation of sentiment and attitudinal information…
• How a Personality Test Designed to Pick Astronauts is Taking the Pain Out of Customer Support | Fast Company – Very interesting read and shows the combination of psychology, business rules, linguisitic planning and the computing horse-power to deliver in real time.
• Kickstarter – "We’re the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world".<br />
  <br />
  Crowdsourced funding. Nice.
• thefridaynightakeout – Geurilla cooking, local quality produce meets entrepreneurship and pop-up approach. <br />
  <br />
  "I’m a freelance cook based in east London and I’ve worked for a number of years in London at restaurants such as The River Cafe and Moro. I’m starting a once a week takeout which will happen in the London Fields, Shoreditch, south Hackney areas. Every Friday I will cook a casserole style dish (or two) depending on whats in season and what produce looks good. The blog will feature whats on the menu for the friday night. I can take requests by text or email from early in the week. Produce will come from a range of sources, such as Leilas shop, Ginger Pig, Bensfish, Riverford organic, McKanna meats. I deliver between 5 and 7.30 on the friday evening and the food comes cold, it just needs to be warmed up. Each main course will be between £8.50 and £9.50 depending on what i cook. There will be a vegetarian dish available for £7 on request. frank.hannon@btinternet.com or text/call 079 043 84019"

Searchandising (ugh) and merchandising relate to retailers’ promotion of sales of products to customers. Ian Jindal wonders whether we oughtn’t also consider how the relationship between our customers and our suppliers might be improved, and ponders whether the English language can survive the word “Purchandising”…

Merchandising – the art of promoting goods for sale by their presentation in retail outlets – spawned the non-word “Searchandising”: promotion of products on-site by means of search tools, faceted navigation and browse, increasing the relevance of products shown to customers.

Relevant, coherent product presentation increases the likelihood of a sale, may not increase overall profits. We may sell more of our great products and somewhat more of our (now well-presented) mediocre products, but we may not sell the ‘dogs’ or purchasing mistakes, destined for land-fill or recycling.

Searchandising attempts to square a resolutely-round circle – the tension between extending product ranges (category authority, dominant range, long-tail SEO) and the desire to minimise ranges (to conserve cash, increase the yield on stock). Despite the science, however, there’s a sneaking feeling that there’s something fundamentally flawed in a retailing approach that is so focused on persuasion and manipulation to push sales. Indeed, promotionally-led retailing could be seen as the practice of selling the unnecessary and unwanted to the unwilling. Could we not find approaches that increase the ‘inherent desirability’ or relevance of products?

“Purchandising” would be the practice of improving the specification and procurement of products and services so that they better match the needs, desires, interests and aspirations of customers (thereby reducing the marketing and promotional demands to convert customers’ interest into cash). This is different to ‘normal procurement’ since it would be based upon insight to customers’ behaviour, a high level of collaboration and ultimately co-creation. Let’s consider each in turn.

Customer insight blends qualitative and quantitive data on preferences and choices to inform buyers as to the products to buy. Null on-site search results (ie where a customer searches for products on your site that you don’t stock) is an indicator of unfulfilled interest or demand, for example, while “On Site Not Seen” metrics (products stocked but never viewed by customers) might indicate stock ready for liquidation. Equally, verbatim comments in user reviews will help improve the quality of products stocked.

So far, though, so normal. This is simply improving the standard procurement cycle.

In our feature on NakedWines later in this issue we have an example of collaboration between the business, the customers and the suppliers to create new products of increased relevance to the customers. NakedWines introduce new wines to their knowledgeable and enthusiastic Wine ‘Angels’, while those angels in turn support those winemakers identified as prospects by the company. It’s open, radical and interesting: but there is a further possible step: co-creation.

Consider that a product is specified in isolation, produced in bulk, promoted ‘at’ people to persuade them that they wanted it in the first place, and a numbers game ensues in which we hope to pulp a sufficiently small percentage to remain in business. Far better, then, would be to co-develop products with customers, and release a better-rounded ‘version 3′ product at scale. As retail outlets become ‘experience stores’ to understand and interact with a brand’s products for later purchase, we’ll see manufacturers sharing prototypes with customers. Phone manufacturers may hand out maquettes and prototypes for feedback in store, and designers assess short runs prior to fuller production. This approach is already visible at http://www.sample-central.com/ (formerly SampleLab) where customers get to try products, take them home and assess them – in return for surveys and insights that improve the products for a mass market. The founders coined the term “Tryvertisting” – trying and experiencing and precursors to great products, rather than advertising post-manufacture to make up for deficiencies…

Whether we’re able to make the move immediately from procurement to co-creation or not, surely it’s time for professionals in buying in the digital age to come to the fore and engage fully with customers to increase relevance, coherence and profit? Developing our tools, KPIs and approaches to seek customer input, create products alongside them which will satisfy need (at least) and delight (at best) must be the aim. This would be the art of “Purchandising” – a full partner with the digital marketing, social media and searchandising skills of our colleagues. While our new word may assault our ears, it may also release some ideas and action – to the benefit of customers and our profitability alike.