While selling old-world games online in the age of the video game might sound contradictory, Trounce tells us he has experienced some significant successes in the last few months. With the Christmas trading period doing wonders for business, he also discovered a new source of traffic from the most unlikely of places: those games he doesn’t stock – video games.

We interviewed Trounce in the hope of finding out a little bit more about this singular situation.

Games from Everywhere

• Website: www.gamesfromeverywhere.com.au
• Specialty product: Handcrafted board games and puzzles
• CMS platform: PrestaShop
• Development: Outsourced, freelance
• Point of difference: Carries ‘fair trade’ items, supports indigenous communities globally

What led you to start Games from Everywhere?

I grew up with board games. In a household of seven, holiday trips were rare and rainy days would have sent my family nuts if it wasn’t for Scrabble and Monopoly.

Games from Everywhere started out organically one night while my wife Gail and I were sitting at the table playing a game known as Oware. Oware is the national game of Ghana and means, “He, She marries”. I grew up with this game and every time I played it I was taken away to another time and place. Some unknown family man in Ghana had sat by the side of the road and carved this game out of wood for me.



It was at that point that we said how nice it would be, in a world of plastic, to bring these beautiful games (along with the cultures and stories behind them) to others.

Setting up an online business seemed to be the way to go. More flexibility, less initial outlay. So began the task of researching and digging up these treasures.

We wanted a mix of games from around the world that had a story to tell and that said something about the cultures in which they were born and it was that desire that set the framework for our business.

How long did it take to get from concept to market? What were the major challenges?

It took us six months to gather our research, establish an initial supply chain and develop the ethos and structure of the business. The major challenge was, and still is, unearthing the best games from the hardest to reach places. Our research, for example, showed us that a simple and popular game like Yahtzee was the marketing genius of a couple of Canadians while cruising on their luxury yacht. But the original game was actually called, “Cacho” and was the typical past time of people in Bolivia.



So, it was off to Bolivia and South America to find someone who would make the game with all it’s original flair and character. The result was a beautiful hand-made leather Cacho Set. We loved the fact that not only were we supporting indigenous cultures and their families, we were also providing a quality product from the country that gave it to the rest of the world in the first place.

The traditional Bolivian game ‘Cacho’ was repurposed by a Canadian couple and became ‘Yahtzee’.

How do you source your products? Where do they come from for the most part?

Our aim is to source our products from the country of origin. So, for example, we aim to get our Chess from India, our Backgammon from the Middle East, our Crokinole from Nova Scotia and our Squatter from Australia. We also allow ourselves the flexibility to source games in countries which have adopted new games into their culture and so we even have a chess set from the Galapagos Islands, hand carved from native vegetable ivory. It’s their game made their way!



Most of the work in sourcing these products has been word of mouth. A lot of our sourcing came originally from scouring the internet and writing to anyone who might provide us with a lead. We also use a number of reputable Australian suppliers for the more modern games and have promoted independent board game designers in an effort to help them in to the game market.



As a result of this eclectic mix, many of the board games on our site cannot be bought elsewhere in Australia.

The Tagua Galapagos chess set, made of native ‘vegetable ivory’ from the coast of Ecuador.

What does your marketing mix look like and what have you found to be more or less successful in digital marketing?

We have three simple strategies in our marketing. Good Social Media: Good SEO and Word of Mouth.

We have not found Google AdWords and similar campaigns to have any where near the success of good social media practices. We have positioned ourselves in an otherwise crowded market as a business that will give you something more than just a game. We give you something of quality, of value, and something that will last and word about that tends to spread if you do it well.



Our marketing pitch was developed around three key words: Classic. Clever. Beautiful. 



To sit in our store, a game must have some enduring quality and not just the latest yellow Furby. It must be well made. It must be a game that has a clever mechanic behind it; something more than just the spin of a wheel or a buzzing light. And it must be good looking.



Our on-page marketing was devised around the countries and cultures in which particular games originated. Our games from the USA look and reflect the culture of the USA, as do our games from each of the continents listed on our site. Our customers have responded to this unique approach to games and it has led to sales from all over the world.

What trends have you noticed over the past few years and where do you expect over the next 12 months?

One of the trends that helped us develop our business model was the increased demand for higher quality board games. People could get a plastic game of Perudo made in China that would last a year, or they could come to us and get the real thing from Peru and have it for life. They would have a game that was unique, well made and had a story to tell. People are increasingly wanting merchandise that will last the test of time.



The increased awareness of Fair Trade production has also increased and we expect the demand for eco-friendly and Fair Trade products to continue throughout 2013.

Do you have specific developments planned?

We are always sourcing and recovering new games from around the world. This includes the latest board games for children from the USA or Europe, as well as re-emerging classics from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

We hope to develop our three main product lines, Latest Kids Games, Exclusive Games and Fair Trade or Cultural Games to a wider audience this year in an effort to make our games more and more accessible to the Australian market.

You say you’ve performed particularly well in the recent holiday season compared to the years previous. To what do you attribute this sudden rise in traffic and sales?

Amidst talk of falling trade, we have been very encouraged by our sales this season. They rose by 33 percent above the previous year.

There are probably a few reasons for this. One is the demand for higher quality items; we sell more $400 chess sets than we do $150 chess sets. Our customers also told us that they had come to us because we answered our phones, replied to their emails and gave them a turn around of about 24 hours for shipping. Simple, old fashioned things that people still hope for in the Digital Age.



We also suspect that our pre-christmas online marketing efforts and social media exposure had a lot to do with it. People have become ad-blind online and tend to give greater weight to what their friends are saying. Social media provides an ideal platform to share your online buying experience and this has led to a significant number of referrals through word of mouth.



Our site sales were also boosted, ironically, by the video game market. XBox brought out Assassin’s Creed 3 late in 2012, in which the characters have to play a very old game called Fanorona – the national game of Madagascar. And so we were inundated with requests from mums wanting it for our most unlikely demographic – 16 year old video gamers with a sudden passion for this otherwise obscure game.

 They were offered an alternate version of the game from elsewhere but they insisted on getting the “real deal” – our hand made version from Madagascar – and so we sold out in about two weeks.

Are you in the process of setting up your own online retail venture? For a wealth of case profiles and practicable strategies, have a look at Power Up: The Online Retail Entrepreneur’s Guide.

The post Peddling a Piece of Yesterday: Games from Everywhere appeared first on Power Retail - Australia's News and Information Resource for the Online and Multichannel Retail Community.

What is Kigurumi? It’s the name given to costumed performers who represent cartoon characters, often animals, these cuddly and fun looking onesies are becoming an online sensation. According to the kigu.me website, they will also increase your chances of being hugged by a random stranger by up to 16%.

I have seen a lot of adults getting around in their onesies this year. Clearly fun and colourful onesies are no longer a thing for children under the age of three. I went to a music festival in May called Groovin the Moo and saw a collection of grown men wearing the cow onesie. I went skiing at Falls Creek and saw people shredding in dinosaur onesies, and just as recently as this weekend at a camping trip, there was someone in a penguin onesie. From what I can tell, there doesn’t to be a reason to wear a kigu because onesies are on trend.

The kigu.me website has just been updated, and now features a larger selection of onesies. There are Giraffes, Warthogs, Owls, Tigers and my personal favourite the Blue Unicorn… With Christmas fast approaching, I think I can see my parents in matching onesies come Christmas morning.

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Perfect for a anybody in need of a bit of cash, or anybody with a bit of cash to spend, Occasional Butler is offering people the chance to advertise for odd jobs, and the ‘butlers’ to get some extra work.

The way it works is relatively simple. If you have a job you want completed, advertise it on the Occasional Butler “classifieds” and with any luck, someone will make you an offer and the job will get done.

The steps people must take to post a job on Occasional Butler.

Alternatively, there is the chance to ‘be the butler’. This would be a great money making option for uni students, or anyone keen for a bit of extra cash. Prospective butlers can browse the jobs and then make an offer to the employee as to how much they want to be paid.

Skipping the middle man, this website is giving people the chance to find their own work and do it in their own time.

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This year, international fashion retailer C&A launched a custom made clothes rack in its Brazilian stores. Being a bricks and mortar retailer, C&A found a way to link with the online. The marketing program is called FashionLike and it works by allowing customers to ‘like’ a piece of clothing on the Facebook page. This then translates to the hanger and shows how many people have ‘liked’ an item in real time.

I don’t know how good your Spanish is, but this video explains the process.

What other examples have you seen of bricks and mortar retailers using social media in innovative ways?

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There is one woman who saw her son’s drawing as so much more and she saw an opportunity to make an online business out of it. Wendy Tsao is the Founder of Child’s Own, a site where children’s drawings come to life in the form of soft toys. The idea became a reality five years ago when her son started kindergarten.

“His school asked for a comfort toy to put in his emergency preparation kit,” reminisces Tsao. “Instead of sending in one of his favourite stuffed toys or buying a new one, I decided to sew one myself. It had to be something meaningful because I figured in the event of an emergency it would have to be something familiar and comforting. I was thinking of making his favourite animal, but then I saw his self-portrait. He drew it all the time, and it always more or less looked the same, with huge eye circles, stick arms and ten long wispy digits. So, I thought, why not? And when I was finished, my son immediately recognised it and was very appreciative, and that’s when I realised, hey, this could be a great business idea!”

Tsao has created countless toys, or as they are described on the site “softies”, for children and is continuously busy filling endless orders.

The drawing

The finished product – the softie

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‘Try On Your Sound’ is the new inititative from the Australian company and it is combining music with fashion. The colourful jeans from Cotton On are using the RFID technology to create a “mini gig” in the fitting rooms. The musical clothing works by transmitting electronic information between the garment tag and a reader via a wireless system. Cotton On worked with Unique Micro Design to develop the musical fashion.

Cotton On Wireless Technology

Cotton On is using this technology to keep ahead of the game and to continue impressing customers. In a time when the on and offline are retail worlds are competing with one another for attention, every store needs to do what it can to entice the customer.

“We are all about customers so we’re constantly looking for new ways for them to engage with us, whether that is online or in-store,” says Mark Coombes, Cotton On Group Marketing Manager. ”We know that Gen Y defines itself by music and that fashion is also a means of self-expression so we thought why not combine the two in our stores and breathe life into the fitting room experience.”

The style and colour of jeans are matched up with a particular song, or playlist that is designed to suit the possible customers taste. Customers can then share the experience wuth their friends by the use of social network, twitter, with the hashtag #tryonyoursound.

Cotton On customers can share the experience on Twitter

“In our search for tracks that reflected our garment styles, we focused on hot of the press, emerging Australian artists and cutting edge international acts not yet spun on commercial radio. It gives shoppers a unique in-store experience that will be different for every individual according to their taste,” says Coombes.

The musical jeans are currently debuting in Carindale, Queensland but they are expected to play their tunes in Sydney and Melbourne soon.

Cotton On – Try on your sound

The post EDITOR’S PICK: Cottoning on to Technology appeared first on Power Retail - Australia's News and Information Resource for the Online and Multichannel Retail Community.

Now, a Sydney man has joined the online industry to help full time workers have one less thing to do in their lunch break, a trip to the butcher. Paul Tory is the CEO of Butcherman and with the help of his family, he has taken the Butcher business online to give customers fresh meat at a time that suits them.

Before the Butcherman was a reality, Tory’s father Cris Tory, ran Total Meats. Total Meats delivered meat to some Sydney restaurants and Paul Tory realised they had an opportunity to expand on this delivery business.

“We already had the restaurant delivery network around Sydney,” explains Tory. “This gave us the idea of having an online ordering and delivery service to meet the demands of our busy customers.”

The only factor I see that will work against Butcherman is that you lose that customer/butcher interaction. I thoroughly enjoy going to my local butcher, working out what sausages to have on the BBQ on Sunday night (I highly recommend the honey and rosemary lamb), getting advice on what meat I should put in my winter stew and how long I should cook that chicken supreme for? But Butcherman has tried to make up for this lack of interaction by its blog and recipe page, and this page makes some wild claims – like boasting the perfect mashed potato, I’ll be the judge of that.

The Butcherman currently only delivers six days a week to Sydneysiders, I guess the rest of us will have to wait to ‘meat’ our own version of the Butcherman. Yes, bad pun intended.

The post EDITOR’S PICK: Your New Local Butcher Shop appeared first on Power Retail - Australia's News and Information Resource for the Online and Multichannel Retail Community.

Recently we’ve been hearing a lot about the ways that fashion labels have been turning to innovative technologies to boost sales, from the Bonds Birthday Campaign to Sportgirl’s QR codes and interactive in-store mirrors. So can art (of the the non-interactive variety, minus QR codes and out of the digital space) still turn heads? MIISHKA thinks so.

The pureplay fashion label has teamed up with street artist Fezwitch, plastering Melbourne with mock-magazine covers.

“Through MIISHKA vs Fezwitch, we’re trying to promote creative inspiration in everyday life to open people’s minds,” said Fezwitch.

Yes, blogging, Facebook, Pinterest have their place and are an amazing tool for retailers – especially the pureplayers – to communicate with fans. But isn’t walking past Marge Simpson playing stylist with Wilma Flinstone in a South Melbourne alleyway just a little bit fun?

“MIISHKA is not just another retail store. We constantly communicate with our fans. We want to challenge them to expect the unexpected in not only fashion, but all forms of art,” says MIISHKA Founder, Michelle Glitman.

Not all online retailers can compete with the likes of the major brands who push boundaries with digital campaigns. But innovative technologies aren’t the only way for e-tailers to get noticed. With MIISHKA ticking towards the 59,000 Facebook fans mark in less than two years, it shows that a touch of whimsy and creativity can be equally as effective.

For the record, Wilma Flinstone would look smokin’ hot in the INCYDA ‘Still Got My Wings’ dress I got delivered to work today. For research. Of course.

The post EDITOR’S PICK: MIISHKA vs Fezwitch appeared first on Power Retail - Australia's News and Information Resource for the Online and Multichannel Retail Community.

• By them a size too small because they’ll stretch
• Everyone needs a black and blue pair in the cupboard
• Pockets will make your bum look bigger
• Skinny jeans shouldn’t be worn by people with cankles – unless the right shoes are worn
• A higher cut jean with a wider waistband will hide a tummy

How is anyone supposed to find the perfect pair of jeans if there are a number of rules to follow and so many pairs of jeans to try?

The answer has arrived thanks to Bodymetrics. Bodymetrics is a company using 3D body mapping technology that has helped customers in Selfridges in the UK find that perfect pair of jeans. More recently this technology became available in a Los Angeles Bloomingdales thanks to Bodymetrics partnership with digital agency Razorfish and Microsoft Kinect.

Bodymetrics Pod

“Bodymetrics is extremely proud to partner with Bloomingdale’s which has been a leader in retail innovation since its very start,” says Suran Goonatilake, CEO, Bodymetrics. ”Pioneering retailers are increasingly understanding the value of body-mapping and the opportunity to offer unique experiences in-store, and also on-line, where customers will be able to virtually try-on garments to find perfect-fitting garments on their body-maps.”

The Pod’s technology works by ananlysing the shape, silhouette and contours of the customer’s body. This then makes finding the right pair of jeans a much less daunting task. Check out the process in the video below.

All I can say is that I am looking forward to Melbourne’s first Bodymetrics Pod. With a drawer full of jeans, and only three pairs that come out on a regular basis, I need to find some more pairs that will be ‘the perfect fit!’

The post EDITOR’S PICK: Finding the Perfect Fit appeared first on Power Retail - Australia's News and Information Resource for the Online and Multichannel Retail Community.

The 360° Mall has been established by 15-year-old Alex Danieli from Sydney who discovered
that “older people” (isn’t that almost everyone?) preferred to shop at malls.

“They didn’t like the rapidity of shopping online.  They couldn’t get to see the products or the store,
says Danieli. ”They would just get a list of search results that matched their enquiry.  It didn’t make them feel special. It didn’t feel as if they’d been shopping at all.”

“I discussed my idea with my parents and they agreed to support me in this venture,” he says. After two years of hard work (Seriously? Since he was 13?) the mall has  launched and it already has 90 stores within its virtual portals, including SABA and Sportscraft.

I enter the 360° Mall and give it a go. I’m a bit confused when I enter the site because I’m so used to the layout of most websites. I find a category drop down menu and click on Kids, Toys & Games. Going to an actual mall for these things is a nightmare, so this will be a good barometer of how enjoyable the mall vs virtual mall experience can be. I choose the Monkey Caboose store and a 3D video zooms me through the virtual mall and up an escalator. I’m feeling a bit queasy which nicely mimics the real life mall experience. Up, up, up the escalator and I end up on…a white page. How did I get lost already? Again, this mimics my real life mall experience. I eventually find a products button which offers up a host of options, however no images are rendering. I’m a bit confused whether this is a list of all products or just a selection. I enter “toy box” in the search bar and it offers me the option of a Djeco! Jump Sheep Puzzle. Ok then.

Like my real life mall experience, I run from the toy-shop
and head to SABA.Up the elevator and (after a touch of motion sickness) I reach a dark shop front. It feels a bit like I’ve broken in to Chadstone Shopping Centre at night time. Again, the product offering is confusing and when I type in “dresses” it offers me seven different shoes. Surely going to the SABA online store would be easier?

The novelty factor of the site is fun – it feels a lot like a computer game rather than real life though. But despite trying to make the shopping experience more user-friendly, it’s actually counter-intuitive.

That Danieli saw a gap in the market and decided to do something about it at the ripe age of 13 is to be applauded. When I was 15 I was definitely not scheduling business meetings after school with major Australian fashion labels. Given his entrepreneurial spirit, I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the future. But will The 360° Mall change the future of online shopping? In its current form, the short answer is no.

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