Digital souvenirs from Paris!
3-in-1: 3 digital news in 1 minute. On Monday. Episode 190
1.374 subscribers on Messenger follow these Monday news. Now on Medium. Discover 3 original digital news, invest one minute and be a better professional!
News 1: Huge ambition of 10 unicorns per year! The Paris startup oasis
Bienvenue au Station F! Biggest startup campus in the world — 1.000 early-stage startups, 30 startup programs, 40 VC funds, 35 public administrations, 600 events each year, 51.000 sqm. Station F is completely based on private funding, makes money with space rents and revenue share from the adjacent cafeteria (biggest in EU). Huge ambition: 10 unicorns per year! Opinion: Station F launched in 2017, already the engine of France’s tech push. Thanks to French tech initiatives and a new flexible tech visa for non-EU citizens, global talents are hired and a hotspot for foreign startups is created (1/3 of Station F). Thus, Paris gains more and more importance in the global startup scene. B2B Takeout: France beat Germany in terms of startup investments in the first half of 2019. French startups raised €2.79bn in the first 6 months, (+40% y.o.y.), beating Germany’s €2.47bn. 2020, a big year for the European startup scene — France is walking ahead.
News 2: AR mirrors for beauty, glasses and bored husbands
Alain Afflelou flagship store in Paris and Douglas flagship store in Berlin both test mirrors with AR interface for real-time makeup and glasses — virtually try-on within seconds. Mark favourites, check store availability and search for similar products. Continuous improvements of AR applications and hardware allow realistic results in real time. Alain Afflelou mirror is realized by FittingBox, Douglas solution developed in-house (quote). Opinion: Previous virtual try-on was mostly disappointing — setup process took too long and the results weren’t realistic. Now, realistic and fun at the same time. Especially Douglas Beauty Mirror impressed with its level of detail. Interesting observation: Many men stood using the mirrors and testing lipsticks, eyeshadows and (sun)glasses, afterwards showing the results to their partners. B2B Takeout: More than a cool gadget, full of practical applications. Look forward to seeing this technology in more stores soon.
News 3: Digital in-store shopping par excellence
Adidas Paris Flagship Store, full of tech and digital product presentation that plays with senses (touch, accoustic, visual) — like feeling a spiky shoe surface with your hands while seeing the product only on a screen. Adidas app is the store guide: product try-ons, choosing the size, having the item brought to you (measuring your location with Bluetooth), all by scanning the item. Opinion: Adidas, a playmaker in the industry, with an impressive digital in-store shopping experience.The many gadgets and especially the well thought-out integration of Adidas app into in-store shopping concept are outstanding. B2B Takeout: Digital in physical retail sounds simple but is often poorly executed. Adidas manages well and creates new ways to discover products — and users spend more time in stores (we have experienced it ourselves!).
Authors are the 10 trend scouters at Space and Lemon, always on the hunt for the newest trends in tech and digital. Gathered here in original weekly news since 2016 — no re-write of TechCrunch, always with an opinion and B2B takeout. Come back next Monday and share your opinion.
