Amazon opens a hair salon in London
The online retail giant launches into hairdressing! Well, almost. Amazon has opened a hair salon, the Amazon Salon, in London.
If it does offer haircuts, this salon is above all "a place where customers can discover cutting-edge hair care and styling technologies, products and services" explains Amazon in a statement. "We want this unique location to bring us even closer to customers. It will also be a place where we can collaborate with industry and test new technologies." says John Boumphrey, UK country manager for Amazon.
Using augmented reality, customers can test different hair colors, for example. The salon will also test "point-and-learn" technology, where customers simply point to the product they are interested in on a shelf and information about that product will appear on a screen.
Amazon has no current plans to open additional Amazon Salons.
Merchants' portraits replace movie posters
On the facades of 11 cinemas in Cannes, Dijon, Lyon, Nice, Paris and Strasbourg, BNP Paribas replaced the film posters with the portraits of 43 local shopkeepers and craftsmen.
"It's a spotlight that can bring a little smile to the heart of a difficult time." explains the banking group which launched this marketing operation on April 12.
The campaign consists of advertising in branches and on digital screens in BNP Paribas storefronts in 18 cities in France, for 200 retailers and craftsmen.
Cash register receipts on the way out
System U and Carrefour have announced, within a few days of each other, that they will stop printing cash register tickets automatically.
"The end of the automatic distribution of the cash register ticket will allow a considerable saving of paper: 10 million customers who do without the paper cash register ticket, that's about 2,000 kilometers of paper saved per year" says Carrefour in a press release, whose approach is "voted for by customers".
For Système U group stores, "This decision is part of the eco-responsible transition approach adopted by the company.
Each year, the group uses just over 1.2 million reels, or 110,192 kilometers of thermal paper. "The gradual disappearance of these thus meets a double objective, both ecological since it allows to limit the use and waste of paper, and public health, because the thermal paper used contains chemical substances."
On average, 40% of customers say they don't want their receipt printed, if asked at the checkout, according to Systme U. The use of 44,077 kilometers of paper would therefore be saved each year.
Aid to the press according to the number of journalists?
Following the submission of a report on the conditions of access to press subsidies, the Ministry of Culture announces the organization of a consultation with professional organizations and unions of press publishers and journalists.
This two-month consultation will have to determine the concrete modalities of implementation of these recommendations. The report entrusted to State Councillor Laurence Franceschini recommends, among other things, the presence of journalists in the editorial offices as criteria for access to press subsidies. It proposes various modifications to the texts defining the conditions for entitlement to press subsidies for press publications and online press services, with stricter requirements for political and general information titles (IPG).
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot says she "fully" shares the diagnosis and recommendations of the report by Ms. Laurence Franceschini.
