Creative

As it usually does, the eTail West conference in Palm Desert, Calif., from which I've just returned, didn't disappoint.  While a bunch of themes emerged from the show — big data, analytics, social media personalization, customer engagement, conversion and mobile apps, to name a few — two stuck out that I'd like to discuss here

Attention, unemployed copyeditors: Macy's may soon have a job opening for you. The department store giant mailed a catalog to customers earlier this month which mistakenly offered a $1,500 sterling silver and 14-karat gold necklace for just $47. The heading: "SUPER BUY." The actual sale price was supposed to be $479, but Macy's printed the 44-page circular without the "9."

With so many consumers now shopping online across all of their devices, merchants who want to stay ahead of the commerce curve (and their competition!) need to consider all of the ways a shopper may interact with their brand over the course of a single sale. Proper planning is a must. In our first in a series of e-commerce infographics, we map out what an average sale in today's multidevice world might look like.

People wearing Google's glasses are transported to a strange new world in which the internet is always in their line of sight. But for people looking at the people wearing those glasses, the view is even stranger — someone wearing a computer processor, a battery and a tiny screen on their face. In a sign of how acute the challenge is for Google, the company is negotiating with Warby Parker, an e-commerce startup that sells trendy eyeglasses, to help it design more fashionable frames, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who weren't authorized to speak publicly.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the Goldman Sachs investor conference that Apple plans to close 20 of its retail locations in order to relocate and enlarge the stores — a move he said was to accommodate the influx of Apple customers shopping at the brand's brick-and-mortar locations. Cook added that Apple stores were a competitive advantage for the company, and that it's becoming clear that its retail model isn't easy for everyone to replicate. 

Guitar Center has teamed up with Eric Clapton to launch the new Eric Clapton Crossroads guitar, a collection inspired by guitars the musician has used throughout his iconic career. The limited-edition collection features two tribute replica guitars and three new signature guitars that will launch in conjunction with Clapton's upcoming U.S. tour and Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Sally Jewell, a retail executive and outdoor enthusiast, is President Barack Obama's pick to oversee the national parks and vast energy reserves on public lands as U.S. interior secretary. Obama nominated Jewell, chief executive of outdoor retailer REI, on Wednesday, calling her an "expert on the energy and climate issues that are going to shape our future" as well as a savvy executive who understands the link between conservation and economic progress.

Forget email. This group of 40-something men has a much better way to keep in touch. For the past 23 years, Brian Dennehy, CMO of Nordstrom, has been playing anelaborate game of tag with nine of his former classmates. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group met at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Wash., where they spent morning breaks darting around campus.

A breast cancer survivor and her daughter have used the internet to draw attention to an important issue and potentially create a new category of lingerie. Debbie Barrett and Allana Maiden hand-delivered more than 118,000 Change.org petition signatures to Victoria's Secret's New York office on Thursday, asking the lingerie giant to make a line of "survivor" mastectomy bras to help breast cancer survivors feel beautiful again. After delivering the signatures, Maiden and her mother Debbie Barrett met with Tammy Roberts Myers, vice president of external communications for Limited Brands, Victoria's Secret's parent company, to share their ideas for a "survivor bra." 

OK, suspend your disbelief just for a moment and hear me out. In 1999, Joe Pine and James Gilmore, authors of "The Experience Economy" predicted that we were entering an era where intense commoditization of goods left retailers with only one alternative - the need to design and stage unique and memorable experiences that are so good they justify charging an admission. So far, this hasn't really materialized beyond the gates of Disney World, but the question is, has the time finally arrived?