Billboard depicting actual supermarket shelves

A large, wall-length billboard was installed in the station, designed to look like a series of supermarket shelves and displaying images and prices of a range of common products. each sign also includes a QR code. users scan the code of any product they would like to purchase, thereby adding it to their online shopping cart. after the web transaction is completed, the products are delivered to the user’s home within the day.

the strategy makes productive use of commuters’ waiting time, while simultaneously saving shoppers time spent going to the supermarket.

video footage documenting the concept and actualization of the virtual supermarket

For more info, visit: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/15557/tesco-virtual-supermarket-in-a-subway-station.html

Softsign allows you to open PDF files and to add signatures by signing directly onto the screen with your finger or a stylus. You can then email the document directly from the App or send it to a third party App.

I can safely say that many have used 6alabat.com, I have been very interested in the online business in Kuwait and even more when it changes or gets shifted to a new level. I know that 6alabat.com has made that shift, a change that took it from a small company with basic technology into a Small to medium sized company  that has plans for the future. The guy behind this shift is Mohammed Jaafer. I knew Mohammed for a while but after meeting with him yesterday, I saw a man with a vision. He is quite young too. Mohammed studied in the UK and when he got back to Kuwait, he worked in the corporate banking sector. He always had an eye for starting in the food business. So he setup the restaurant The Kitchen, located in Shaab area. The restaurant was selling high quality food and with a delivery option. Mohammed explained how he struggled to maintain the restaurant, and that he had many ups and downs. He sez that many think starting a restaurant is easy and can make you successful fast but after he went through the experience he knew it was otherwise.

So in his search of trying to increase sales in his newly established restaurant the Kitchen, he was told about 6alabat.com and that it will increase his sales. He approached 6alabat.com and was not really sure that it might help, but when you’re in desperate times you try to find any solution to increase your sales. He was told before using 6alabat.com that it may backfire, because due to the large volume of sales he will receive, he said in his mind “naaaah” not believing that from slumped sales and 1 delivery car, that 6alabat.com would make him get 4 delivery cars and cant keep up with the demand and all of that for 400fils per order.  The kitchen pays 200 fils and the customer ordering pays the other 200fils.

This become the eye openers for Mohmmed, where he started thinking of acquiring 6alabat.com, you see these corporate banking fellows, get taught to think in many options. Like why start a business from scratch, you can buy the business and build on it. I think Mohammed made a sound investment, after he has consulted and managed to convince his family about the decision to buy 6alabat.com. There was a long period of negotiations between the old owners and Mohammed. But at the end they both met at the same point and a transaction was made. I know only two E- business in Kuwait that went throw such a transaction: 6alabat.com and q8car.com.

The rest will be continued in other posts:

Growth of 6alabat.com

Managing 6alabat.com

Change and innovation in 6alabat.com

6alabat.com future

I like this idea because when you start a business you have to understand that every person has his own way of understanding something. So when explaining a service you have to make sure that you provide all the means, video, FAQ etc.

I say this because when your into your business day in day out, you tend to think that its easy to understand. I have made this mistake with Digumz.com. You have to explain your business to an audience with a mixture of slow and fast learners, some get it fast and some take a while and need other means to explain the service. Let’s take Digumz.com as an example, if you’re not familiar with a game queue, then when you read Digumz.com service you may get lost. What does it mean to add games to a queue? So you have to explain in many mediums. The rental concept is new by itself in Kuwait.

Anyways I have created a small video for Digumz.com customers to see with another company, but then Ahmad my partner told me about a site called CommonCraft. They just create “how its works: video, very interesting you should see there work. Im in contact with them to see if we can do something for Digumz.com.

So after I wrote my idea on paper, I contacted the professor at Cranfield university who was teaching us in November 2011 about social network sites. Tazeem Rajwani is very interested in such projects and have worked with many social startups in the UK. He read my brief and thought it was good (Mark Zuckerberg watch out)!! Eshfeeeh I think it sucked like hell but he was worried about my feelings. Anyways I learned a lot from him again and I will give you the summary of his points:

1)      It has to target a niche market, examples like Human resources, football fans, food lovers etc etc

2)     Transaction value, I like this word: this means that the social site I create must provide some kind of value to the end user. Where he benefits when using it and it already makes a job even cheaper or less of a cost on the user, example LinkedIn where it’s cheaper for HR people to use than hiring a head hunter.

3)     Barriers of entry, how fast others can copy you, if you just started out with a budget and facebook comes and likes your idea, they can do it in days when it will take you months, its just a resources matter: he has many, I don’t.

4)     Revenue stream: how will you make money, somebody has to pay! There is no free lunch my friends.

I think I did not answer the 4 above questions. So am back on the drawing board.

Below is a pic from a company we have visited in central London, they recruit staff based on social networking methods, its called bravenewtalent.com