Digital snippets: Alexander Wang, Nike+, Nordstrom, Elle UK, Woolmark

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital over the past week:

 

• Alexander Wang releases autumn/winter 2012 Confessional Series video featuring Shalom Harlow (as above) [Alexander Wang]

• Nike+ Kinect Training launch will mean virtual personal trainers in your living room [Mashable]

• Nordstrom teams up with GQ for e-commerce push [WWD]

• Watch Elle UK’s behind the cover video of David Beckham [Elle UK]

• Woolmark Co sets social media campaign [WWD]

• This start-up pulls in top pins on Pinterest and crossreferences against 250+ e-commerce sites [Business Insider]

• Some 15% of luxury goods sales are directly generated by digital media [FT]

• Square doubles its retail presence, now in 20,000 outlets [TechCrunch]

• Can social breathe life back into the high street [Guardian]

Infographic: L2 Digital IQ Index, specialty retail

I love this summary on how to navigate the future of specialty retail online:

Part of the second annual L2 Digital IQ Index: Specialty Retail report from digital think tank L2 in partnership with Buddy Media, it shows the past, present and future of everything from distribution channels to mobile strategy and visual merchandising.

So how far off from “tomorrow” are we – a vision made up of mobile wallets, geolocal content, video chat customer service and shoppable product videos?

None of those suggestions are of course that new, but by the looks of the results from the L2 study, they remain somewhat elusive to everyday practice in US retail.

Just three retailers secured “genius” status in terms of digital competency in the 2011 report – Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret and Nordstrom – compared with seven last year.

This is said to be due to mobile and social platforms taking on new levels of importance in 2011, which resulted in the likes of A|X Armani Exchange (down 32%) and Coach (down 33%) only achieving “gifted” scores.

In fact, of the 64 retailers assessed, the majority (70%) sit in “gifted” or “average”. This figure is however up from 49% from the inaugural study in 2010, proving the industry’s adoption of digital platforms is accelerating.

The retailers were evaluated across four dimensions: their website (including integration of original blog content, ease of content sharing, and interactivity); digital marketing (covering search engine optimisation, email marketing, and user generated sentiment); social media (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube); and mobile offering (defined by breadth of platform development and app features). Retailers had to score 140 across the categories to score genius.

Joining A|X Armani Exchange and Coach in the gifted category (a score of between 110 and 139) are the likes of Bloomingdales, Urban Outfitters, Net-a-Porter, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren.

Average brands (a score of between 90 and 109) include Barneys New York, Ann Taylor, J. Crew and Lord & Taylor, while those challenged (a score of between 70 and 89) include French Connection and Lucky Brand. The only two with feeble rankings (below 70) are Club Monaco and Tourneau because they are yet to offer e-commerce.

“Historically, specialty retailers have differentiated themselves from low-cost peers by establishing an aspirational environment, edited selection, and top-shelf service, all mixed with traditional media spend. The offline strategy is still the right one, but the tactics and weapons have changed,” said L2 founder Scott Galloway.

“Brands that are thriving are engaging in conversations directly with their customers on social media platforms, creating new and interesting ways to purchase online, and building innovative mobile apps to augment the shopping experience.”

Check out the full report, here.

Digital snippets: Kardashian’s ShoeDazzle, Nordstrom, Gilt Groupe, Fashion140

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital this week:

• Kim Kardashian’s ShoeDazzle raises $40m in capital [AllThingsD]

• Nordstrom introduces iPod Touch checkouts [Luxury Daily]

• Inside Gilt Groupe: a tour of the leading flash-sales site’s Brooklyn offices [BusinessInsider]

• Weaving together ethical fashion and social media with the IOU Project [CNN]

• Five best practices for fashion retailers on Facebook [Mashable]

• Twitter highlights from the Fashion140 conference [Fashion's Collective]

Nordstrom uses Xbox’s Kinect for interactive windows

US department store Nordstrom has integrated Microsoft’s Kinect technology into the windows of its flagship Seattle store.

The Xbox accessory has been used to enable shoppers passing by to “write with light” on the white backdrop of the display simply by moving their hands.

“With the help of Kinect’s infrared technology and their technical genius, our teams created a seamlessly interactive display that anyone can ‘paint’ on using just the motion of their hands in front of the glass,” Nordstrom posted on its blog.

The Kinect controller is reportedly hidden underneath a Dolce & Gabbana bag.

The interactive windows, which run until today, April 11, follow on from the store’s Spring 2011 Designer Catalog, a partnership with Glen Luchford and Ruben Toledo which also saw experiments in writing with light.

According to AllThingsD, Kinect for Xbox has also been used to create the world’s best shadow puppet and to operate a computer like Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

See the Nordstrom windows in action below: