Sao Paulo is host to Brazil's largest retail design conference: ReDesign, being held May 16th and 17th at the Fecomércio SP. With the increasing importance of digital retail channels and integration between online and offline, these new challenges create opportunities for communicating with consumers. The conference will cover that topic and more, as Ken Nisch participates in the event's first day's activities. Ken will present

"What's on Tomorrow's Menu? Food, Fun & Art!" addressing how today's consumers want MORE! From lifestyle inspirations to imagination beyond prescription, the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words, but an experience is worth a million," rings true for consumers who hunger for a memorable shopping trip. To register for the event, or Ken's session, click here.

Veria: Very
Recognized

Veria, a leader in health and wellness, extends their Veria Living philosophy through a TV network, online recipes and nutrition, holistic health tips, body-mind conditioning and all-natural products. JGA recently collaborated with the Veria team on a product identity campaign which included brand positioning, product design and collateral elements. The brand recently walked away with four awards including: "Top New Beauty Brand" at Expo West 2012, "2012 Break-Through Beauty Brand" for Delicious Living magazine, New Hope 360's "Top New Trends for 2013," and Penton Media's NEXT Award. For more on their award-winning products, click here.

American Swan: Indian
Retailer Gets Physical

American Swan is a global, premium Fashion & Lifestyle Brand with a distinctive range of men's and women's apparel, accessories, and home products, originating from India. The brand offers an invigorating twist to the genre of preppy fashion, offering authentic casuals to those who seek an aspirational lifestyle. Previously an online-only retailer, they recently unveiled their first brick-and-mortar model store at Images "Fashion Forum" in Mumbai. Designed by JGA in collaboration with FRDC (India), the exhibit store received accolades from the show visitors. At only 550 square feet, the space provides a glimpse into the look and feel of its future prototypes. For more, click here.

Gardner-White Creates
Two New Retail Concepts

The new JGA-designed flagship for furniture retailer Gardner-White recently opened in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Their flagship location and warehouse is housed in a 455,000 square foot facility including a 90,000 square-foot retail store and warehouse outlet, modernized distribution center, and new corporate offices. JGA also created a 10,000 square foot design concept for the retailer who opened inside two Best Buy locations in the Metro Detroit area. Steve Tracey, President of Gardner-White said, "This brand new retailing concept works because furniture and consumer electronics are two proud categories that really fit well together." For more, click here.

McCormick World of Flavors
Wins Three Awards

This competition season, the design community recognized McCormick World of Flavors with a trio of awards. First in January, the store won the Award of Merit from the Retail Design Institute. In February, Chain Store Age named the project as Retail Store of the Year for Best Use of Technology, and at GlobalShop, the Association for Retail Environments recognized the store with the 2013 In-Store Communications Award for Experiential Education. Thanks to our partnering firms, including 5th Screen Digital Services, for making the store a hit! Read more.

USA Today: J.C. Penney Seeks Way To Climb Back Up
New York Times: JGA-Designed DXL Creates New Way For Men To Shop
DDI TV: McCormick Award-Winning Interactive Displays (Video)
WCPO TV.com: Macy's of the Future - Smaller Box, Bigger Wow

An Omnichannel Approach: Why Mobile Strategy is Critical, by Marci Weisler

One of the hottest buzzwords in retail right now is Omnichannel. You hear it at conferences, in marketing, at meetings and in the press. So what can be gained by an omnichannel approach to selling? Omnichannel is important because your shoppers are everywhere and you need to be where they are in order to capture the sale and build a strong customer relationship. Mobile, which has expanded beyond just phones to tablets and other wireless connected devices, has grown more quickly than anyone expected and consumer adoption is unprecedented.

87 percent of US adults own a cell phone and 45 percent own a smartphone. Additionally, 31 percent of American adults own a tablet (Pew Internet Project, 2013). Consumers are using phones and tablets before, during and after their retail experiences. Additionally, the ability to use mobile at bricks and mortar retail has many benefits and can lead to clear ROI.

Since EachScape provides a platform for building and managing mobile apps, we have seen the changes firsthand, and the successes that our clients have found by incorporating mobile into their omnichannel strategies, both for consumers directly, and internally for the enterprise.

Nine West, a division of The Jones Group, is a great example. Nine West wanted to put mobile technology to work, beginning with holiday season 2012. In their company-owned stores, the goal was to increase sales, educate sales associates, and improve training. At the same time, the company hoped to go greener and become more efficient by substituting traditional paper materials with improved digital alternatives. Although there were high expectations, Nine West had less than 90 days to go from concept to deployment.

To achieve this, Nine West rolled out an in-store iPad app that allows employees to show its "Lookbook" with style suggestions to shoppers, retrieve product info, place orders and provide training materials. The application is updatable through the stores' Wi-Fi networks enabling fresh information at the sales associates' fingertips.

The pilot program was a success on many fronts. It was their best Black Friday ever, sales increased, and the company saved both money and the environment by shifting reams of paper documentation to the iPad. They will be rolling out more features and functionality in 2013 to increase the business benefits and return on investment.

Some things that you should think about when considering programs like this include the following:

• How does mobile fit in with my offline and web initiatives? Can they be integrated?

• If I'm reaching consumers on mobile directly, can I tie in my enterprise initiatives so it is all connected via loyalty programs, rewards, etc.?

• Does a program like this delight the consumer through more selection, faster ordering or other benefits?

• Do my retail outlets have the hardware and network to make this successful? If not, what do I need?

There are many considerations when implementing a mobile initiative. But, mobile provides a huge opportunity for retailers and one that delivers ROI. Retailers need to begin thinking about mobile as a seamless part of a broader shopping experience to fully harness the power of mobile.

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Marci Weisler, COO at EachScape, Inc., is an accomplished digital executive with over 15 years of experience growing online and mobile businesses. In joining EachScape, Marci reunited with her former Vindigo colleagues to build another great mobile business. Over the years, she has focused on strategy and execution, business development and mobile initiatives for established companies and startups, including Gilt City, Gigya, CondeNet, Kellogg's, and Tipping Point Partners. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Cornell University. For more info, contact Marci by email or phone 917.921.4153.