Street Fight Daily: GoDaddy Goes Public, ClassPass Struggles With Success
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
GoDaddy Shares Soar in Debut as Investors Buy Into Revamp (Recode)
GoDaddy’s shares rose almost 31 percent in their debut on Wednesday following a $460 million initial public offering, as investors spotted a bargain in a company making a shift from Internet domains to small-business services. Investors snapped up its shares in the first day of trading, betting the company can grow further by providing tools to small businesses.
Survey: Small Businesses Still Not Sold on Apple Pay (Street Fight)
Eric Groves: There’s no shortage of hype around mobile payments. But a new survey of small business owners suggests that credit cards are not going away anytime soon. Why? Because Main Street has yet to embrace the promise of mobile payments.
ClassPass: Deep Discounts, but Some Discontent (New York Times)
ClassPass — the two-year-old service that for $99 a month grants members access to a slew of boutique fitness studios — is wildly popular, with class reservations booked in New York City increasing threefold in the last six months. But the workout-obsessed say the service is becoming a victim of its success.
6 Hyperlocal Services For Booking a Babysitter (Street Fight)
Given the rise in on-demand marketplaces, it makes sense that the “Uber-ification” of everything would extend to babysitting services. Parents are using local marketplaces to find childcare providers in their neighborhoods — taking advantage of the ease of online scheduling and payments to make last minute bookings.
China’s Dianping Valued at $4 Billion (Wall Street Journal)
Dianping, one of China’s most popular restaurant review and group-buying services, has raised $850 million from a group of investors including smartphone maker Xiaomi, putting a lofty $4.05 billion valuation on the Shanghai-based startup. Dianping has more than 190 million monthly active users and over 60 million reviews of restaurants and other local businesses.
Squeezed By Seamless, Restaurants Look for Other Paths Online (NPR)
Seamless dominates online ordering that many restaurants feel they’re forced to do delivery by Seamless’ rules. While Seamless really is seamless for customers, restaurants pay a high price for the service through commissions that can go as high as 20 percent on each order.
6 Facts About Americans and Their Smartphones (Pew Research)
Smartphones have become an important way for Americans to communicate, go online, and access and share information. A new Pew Research Center report analyzes smartphone ownership and the attitudes and behaviors of smartphone owners, as well as how these mobile devices have become a primary way for some users to access the internet.
Why Did Facebook Purchase TheFind? (MediaPost)
Rick Backus: With its mid-March acquisition of the personalized commerce search application TheFind, Facebook showed it’s getting serious about connecting people to products as much as to each other. When combined with its recent announcements of dynamic product ads and friend-to-friend payments, it’s clear that Facebook is ready to make a serious splash in retail.
Are Starbucks Fans Energetic About Mobile Ordering? (eMarketer)
In a new study, nearly seven in 10 US internet users who were aware of the coffee company’s app had downloaded it—higher than penetration for all other restaurants in the coffee, bakery and doughnut category, and 10 percentage points above second-place Dunkin’ Donuts.
LocBox Expands Its Local Business Marketing Tools With Support For Facebook And Google Ads (TechCrunch)
The company already helps businesses encourage positive reviews and engage with fans through offers, rewards and contests. As of today, it aims to help with their Facebook and Google ad campaigns, too.
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