Who doesn’t like to live amazing, unique experiences? This is why I share with you the latest promotion of The Art Institute of Chicago. To promote the current Van Gogh’s Bedrooms exhibit, they built a copy of the famous bedroom. A bedroom where you can stay in for the night. Cool!
When we bought a house this summer, making our house smarter was on our agenda. The idea is to ease our life by controlling many devices from anywhere in the world with our iPhone. Since I know that many advancements will happen in the next few years, I don’t want old technology in my home. Unfortunately, it meant that I had to delay the addition of some convenient features.
The first tech thing that we installed was the Nest learning thermostat. We love the ability to control the heating and our A/C with our iPhone, even when we are not at home. We’re pleased with our Nest so far. If you aren’t familiar with it, the Nest thermostat does more than save on our energy bills. After a 1-minute setup, Nest starts to learn your schedule. Over time, it’ll program itself according to your habits. It’ll help you manage your energy savings while keeping you and your family comfortable when you are at home. There is also an auto-away and an away function. My husband likes to check the stats on his iPhone.
Every toddler child has one doll that he can’t sleep without at night. I always admired the modern rag dolls designed by Erica Perrot of Raplapla. The fact that I can put it in the washing machine was a bonus. The decision was a no brainer when it came to buy Zack his first doll, it had to be Mr. Tsé Tsé. As I called her about making repairs toTsé Tsé, Erica proved again that she understands and cares for the needs of her customers, i.e., the kids.
It took Zack a while but eventually he adopted Tsé Tsé. We never called him Mister; it’s too formal. Zack loves Tsé Tsé so much that a year and a half later I bought a second one in case we lose the original. We couldn’t fool him. So, we called the second one Yéyé. Now Zack falls asleep with both of them.
Almost 3 years later, Tsé Tsé showed wear and tear. He started to bother Zack a lot. I wanted to act before it couldn’t be saved. So I called to inquire about the repair service of Raplapla. Let me tell you that their doll hospital is a treat for parents and kids!
Retailers spend a lot of money trying to drive customers into their stores and yet they are neglecting something that is simple to fix. Let me share a little secret; business hours are as important as location.
Last night, I called my husband before he left work to ask him to buy a bottle of wine for supper. Jerome asked me which liquor store was still open? So, I checked online.
I had to open a link for each store that was on my husband’s route to find the answer — there were many. Strangely, the people who created the SAQ’s Web site imagined that most customers will want to know the branch’s fax number. I don’t know about you, but if I use a store locator is because I plan to go to a store.
It is no secret that conversion rate is a main concern for any retailers. Still, I found that many online sites fail at being pro-active when it comes to answering the most frequent questions of buyers. To illustrate what I mean, let me share the online purchase that I made this morning.
I can’t use my KitchenAid food processor anymore because the security element that is inside the main bowl handle is broken. This prevents the motor from starting. Since we couldn’t fix it, I decided a buy a new bowl. I prefer to order it online instead of driving through traffic to get it.
Last week, as I grabbed my latte at a new Starbucks that opened in my neighbourhood, the cashier and the barista pointed out to me the customer satisfaction survey about the new store. They told me that it should take 5 minutes and that my reward would be a code for a free drink. It sounds fair.
It wasn’t my first time at that particular store. I basically have nothing to say against my experience there. In fact, I enjoyed the place. But they lost me when they insisted that I gave them a 5 because everything lower than a 5 was worthless because it is considered as zero by Starbucks’ headquarters. Sorry guys, but I don’t fill customer surveys that only aim to be a pat on the back.
I started working in the software development industry 24 years ago. It didn’t take me long to realize why many tech projects fail. We made progress since then. But the sad thing is, that 24 years later, I see too many digital projects that are not as successful as they should be.
Web development is more complex than ever. Current technology seems to make coding easier but the real challenges in Web development come from what you do with the technology. Your Web site must provide value to capture people’s attention.
Building a Web site involves more than proper HTML/CSS coding and creating a good-looking design. Nowadays, a Web site is part of an ecosystem fuelled by social media. It is part of an even growing digital marketing universe. Visitors use different devices to access it. People have higher expectations of what your site should do, less patience and more choices to choose from. The list can go on. With so many possibilities and interconnections, it is easy to lose focus and to forget the things that would bring success to your digital business.
