Facebook-connected hangers show shoppers how many Likes an outfit has received.
Bridging the gap between the online and offline worlds is a challenge for any brand, but Brazilian fashion retailer C&A has come up with an innovative solution. Much the way both Renault and Bacardi have found ways to translate between real-world approval and Facebook "likes", so C&A has found a way to bring customers' Facebook approval into full view in its real-world stores.Through its new "Fashion Like" initiative, C&A has posted photos of a number of the clothing items it sells on a dedicated Facebook page, where it invites customers to "like" the ones that appeal to them. Special hooks on the racks in its bricks-and-mortar store, meanwhile, can then display those votes in real time, giving in-store shoppers a clear indication of each item's online popularity.
This is brilliant! Sure, the application of the technology is frivolous, but still, I'm impressed. Very clever. We need to see this instant-social technology extended. What really needs to happen, though, is for Like information to be combined with an augmented reality display that isn't under the control of the owner of the item being Liked.
For example, imagine going to a new restaurant, passing your iPhone camera over the menu, and seeing each menu item annotated with the number of people who had liked it.
(HT: Gizmodo, which thinks the tech is dumb.)
