Integrating Online with Bricks & Mortar Retailing

It is now 4 years since I completed a dissertation on the impact of online retailing on the high street and the debate of its influence is still raging. Last month Future Laboratory - a trend forecasting group based in London - stated the advent of Web 2.0, wireless broadband and developments within mobile technology are significantly changing the format of traditional retailing.

In the report, the idea of immersive retailing is discussed and Future Publishing predict stores may lose their share in the online market if they do not successfully integrate their digital presence with offline outlets.

When completing my dissertation there was the worry amongst some trend predictors that online retailing could eventually remove the need for the high street. Although there is some possibility I think it highly unlikely. The evidence for integration and the introduction of the shop-as-gallery approach seemed far more probable then and continues to be a major factor today.

The ability to browse goods in a gallery type store and then purchase them online once back home or using pods instore that allow the consumer to buy goods from the web seems to be ever increasing. An article from as far back as July 2005 details how Gordon Group Holdings has developed the idea of Epicentre - an instore method of ordering online.

The introduction of RfId is also introducing a whole new world to the retail market. Not only does it provide stock replenishment advances but also introduce the idea of barcode scanning from mobile devices that could charge the consumer for the goods scanned, bring up more information online about the product (e.g. colours and sizes available, other relevant products etc)and begin the shipping process to the consumers registered home address. This is just another technological step in the store-as-gallery approach.

Technology is providing retailers with another method of selling online but it is the stores pushing the boundaries of technology that will continue to be at the forefront of the retail market for years to come.

Retail Solutions 2007
Future Store
Amazon's Bezos on the future of retailing

Web Misunderstandards

Having worked in the web industry for some time now I have learnt what is possible, what is impossible and what will be possible soon. Web standards are the basic rules all web designers should work to. It adds another dimension to the requirements designers are often faced with but, in the long run, results in a better design.

Andy Rutledge (Creative Director of Netsuccess) states in his recent post - 'Web Misunderstandards':

"Create the designs you want. Be conscious of the practical characteristics of the medium, but create anything you can conceive of and know that you’ll not be limited when you take your work online, even in a manner consistent with Web standards. You may indeed have to work hard to gain skill and understanding of the technical factors involved in doing so, but this is a situation common to all professions."

Web standards are not something introduced to restrict design but to make it more effective. What use is design if it can't reach the intended audience. All web standards do is ensure online content is accessible to the largest possible audience and, as Andy comments on, tools such as flash replacement (sifR) allow you to use non-system fonts whilst still degrading nicely to system fonts when flash in unavailable. This also ensures your flash content is indexed by searched engines as well.

In response to the original email Andy received that stated:

"The Web standard has little flexibility, isn't conducive to creativity, and I think it's actively preventing our moving forward in truly creating the next step in communications."

I couldn't disagree more. You only have to see the high level of creativity that is emerging with the good use of CSS to realise standard compliant sites can look great.

Web Misunderstandards by Andy Rutledge
Web standards by Andy Rutledge

Simple Rounded Corners and so much more

I have just discovered a great flash replacement tool that I think, on the right situation, could prove quite valuable. Created by John Aldinger, Mark Huot and Dan Mall, the simple inclusion of some javascript will take your images (or specific images) and insert them into a .swf file letting you round the edges by simply altering the border value in the javascript:
round.specify ('border-radius', '10');

The higher the number the more rounded the corners.

That is not all though, this sfwIR allows you to add drop shadows, rotate images, add borders and enlarge images inline with text (although ie7 does this now anyway this seems to result in a higher quality larger image).

Maybe, until CSS3 is implemented cross browser, this might prove to be a useful method of adding effects to elements on a page.

Visit the swfIR page at www.swfir.com