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Does Your Retail Business Need a Mobile App?

The rapid growth of mobile technology combined with changes in modern retailing trends is making a large impact on consumer buying habits. Did you know that 80 percent of a mobile consumer’s time on his or her device is spent using apps?

Today’s retailers are not just building their marketing around the products or services they are selling, but also around customer’s interests and habits. Many have developed a mobile strategy as part of their marketing to reach consumers on their preferred platform.

A retail mobile application should go beyond just an online shopping experience. For retailers, mobile apps can shape the in-store experience, empower the purchasing process, and create interesting and dynamic ways to interact with the customer. And for B2B retailers, a mobile app can revolutionize the way your sales team shares content.

Is your brand using a mobile application? If not, here are six signs that you may need a mobile app to help boost your branding and engagement, cut costs, improve productivity, and generate new revenue. Connect with us today and let us help you find a custom solution for your business needs.

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

For the third consecutive year, we are honored to contribute to the THINK PINK Wall of Honor, presented by Valiant Women of Mission Hospital. Located at The Shops at Mission Viejo, the month-long event during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month encourages community members to honor breast cancer patients and survivors through a beautiful collection of tributes which are displayed on the wall.

In 2016, Valiant Women was looking to update its board of handwritten messages to appeal to the more tech-focused millennial generation. The solution? A four-sided 10 ft. electronic kiosk with LCD screens to display the tribute messages. The kiosk was made a reality by the organization’s generous donors, but the software needed to bring the digital tribute wall to life was missing. That’s where FUSION OF IDEAS came into the picture.

Our app development team went to work to create a custom portal that allows the Valiant Women team to manage, arrange, delete and add content to the four screens of the kiosk. These screens – one for event merchandise, one showing sponsor spotlights, and two screens dedicated to survivor tributes – can be accessed by the client through the portal from any computer, tablet, laptop or cellular device. The digital kiosk, updated annually by FUSION, has been in use by Valiant Women for the past three years, and it has been a huge success!

“This is our 16th annual Wall of Honor, and every year we strive to engage and educate more community members,” shared Mary Miyamoto, Chair of the Valiant Women THINK PINK Breast Health Wall of Honor. “Our message to the community is about the importance of early detection. Our digital wall encourages engagement and inspires people to donate, honor loved ones by posting messages, and purchase merchandise. It’s eye-catching and super easy to use.”  

FUSION OF IDEAS is proud to be a partner and supporter of this amazing cause. The THINK PINK Wall of Honor will be at The Shops at Mission Viejo throughout the month of October.

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Hilton Grand Vacations & Tru by Hilton

As summer winds down, many of us are reminiscing about sunny vacations in idyllic destinations. One of our favorite app development stories comes from the Grand Vacations division of Hilton Worldwide, a household name in hotels and resorts. When we first connected with Hilton, they were seeking to create a piece of technology that was both a gift to their timeshare owners, as well as a continuous branding vehicle for all of the Hilton Grand Vacations offerings. The Fusion of Ideas development team worked with Hilton to build a custom iOS application showcasing videos from various resort locations, links to other Hilton programs, and information about the timeshares. The finished app was loaded onto custom iPads featuring Hilton Grand Vacations branding on the lock and home screens, Smart Covers, sleeves, and the etch on the iPad itself.

Our second encounter with the Hilton organization was a project for their newer brand of affordable hotels, Tru by Hilton. The goal was to create an aid to hotel General Managers, who could use the app to upload audit reports and view videos, images and PDFs pertaining to their specific location. Our DCS solution turned out to be the ideal strategy for this app – the client was provided with an admin portal, where they can update and adjust the content being displayed to the GMs. As with the Grand Vacations project, the team at Fusion loaded the app onto iPads with custom print and sleeves.

Customer satisfaction and a good employee experience are two things we can relate to, and we were lucky to have the opportunity to work with Hilton brands on their efforts in both areas. This combination of Fusion solutions – custom apps with custom branding – can be a fitting complement to the polish and professionalism of the hospitality or any customer facing industry.

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In the News: Tips for Working with App Developers on Construction Executive

Fusion of Ideas was recently featured again in Construction Executive, the magazine for the business of construction. In this article, we discuss these five essential tips for getting the most out of working with a mobile developer:

  1. Know the current reality
  2. Communicate what the company wants to accomplish
  3. Reality check on budget
  4. Be open-minded and willing to take risks
  5. Ensure all users have the same device  

To read the article, please visit:

http://constructionexec.com/article/tips-for-working-with-a-mobile-app-developer?utm_campaign=874447d06f&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ce_this_week&utm_content=volume_1_issue_26&utm_term&mc_unique_id=08e9fdec35&aid=3745

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Neiman Marcus: The Ultimate, Interactive, Client Gifts

By Jennifer Fujimori

To many people, Neiman Marcus and other department stores might warrant the occasional stop when wandering the mall or looking for something in particular. But for an elite circle of customers dubbed the “Chairman’s Circle,” shopping at Neiman Marcus is part of a lifestyle – and one that comes with perks. Members of the Chairman’s Circle (the highest loyalty level under the InCircle Neiman Marcus reward program) must reach a designated annual spend using a private label credit card. Once they’ve met those requirements, customers unlock a treasure trove of exclusive benefits, including in-store dining, salon services, access to tickets for in-demand events, hard-to-get restaurant reservations, and premier getaways.

It was the last item on that list that Neiman Marcus sought to optimize with Fusion’s help. Working with the team at Neiman Marcus, our app developers created a completely custom mobile app for Chairman’s Circle members. When a user opens the application on an iPad (customized of course!), a message is displayed describing the purpose of the app, which is to detail the amenities available at Chairman’s Circle level. The app then shifts its focus to one particularly notable amenity: a complimentary trip to one of eight destinations around the world. Using the navigation at the bottom of the screen, users can tap an icon labeled “Itineraries.” This leads to a selection of clickable photographs with destination names, which users can click to view the details of the excursion and corresponding hotel.

To present this as a gift from Neiman Marcus to Chairman’s Circle members, we created a fully customized package including an iPad wrapped in matte silver Stealth Armor, a sleeve to house the iPad box, and a high-quality box with magnetic closure encasing the entire bundle. It’s the best kind of gift: one that contains another gift inside.

We have worked with high-end retail clients before and we dove into this project headfirst, gathering information from the client until we felt confident enough to build the app they were looking for. “Neiman Marcus knew they wanted to gift their Chairman’s Circle members with a free trip, but they were looking for a truly memorable way to package that information,” said Hollie Go, App Development Project Manager. “Instead of sending a letter or an email, this app is an interactive way for recipients to see full color photos and details about each destination.” With Fusion’s custom branding, packaging, and mobile app services, Neiman Marcus found the level of prestige they were looking for in a gift for their most valued customers.