Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Location-Centric Notifications Update, Etsy’s Same-Day Delivery
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
With Updated Notifications, Facebook Pulls People Down the Rabbit Hole (Gigaom)
Facebook is rolling out an updated notifications tab that funnels local news, upcoming events, and other miscellaneous information into a single place. Want to know about the weather, or when a movie is playing? A list of recommendations for dinner spots? Sure, you can find those things with other services, but now you can see everything right from Facebook’s app.
Etsy ASAP Brings Same-Day Delivery to NYC (The Next Web)
Etsy has announced an incentive for New York City-based buyers to purchase locally: Etsy ASAP. The pilot program is a partnership with Postmates that will offer same-day delivery from NYC sellers for a flat fee of $20.
Misalignment Between Brands and Local Affiliates May Be Wasting Massive Amounts of Co-op Funds (Street Fight)
National brands rely on a complex web of local affiliates for representation, distribution, and channel marketing and sales. In these sometimes shaky partnerships, it turns out that massive resources in the form of co-op and market development fund programs often go unused or get misdirected, largely due to misalignment between brands and their affiliates.
Square Reports Another Loss as IPO Roadshow Approaches (Wall Street Journal)
Payments startup Square has disclosed that its quarterly losses are mounting and sales growth is slowing, a troubling sign as the company approaches an initial public offering. (Subscription required)
Case Study: Westport Restaurant Views Social Marketing as Digital Word-of-Mouth (Street Fight)
Local merchants in every vertical are relying more on social media marketing for customer acquisition and retention, but restaurants in particular have become heavy users of social platforms. Hyperlocal vendors like Perch are providing business owners with a way to consolidate most social marketing tasks in one centralized app.
Walmart Could Start Using Drones to Deliver Things to Your House (Mashable)
Amazon and Walmart have been jockeying for position in the battle to be the number-one U.S. retailer. Now it looks like they’ll take that battle to the skies, as Walmart joins the quest to use a legion of drones for product deliveries and pickups.
Apple to Debut New Shopping Vertical in the App Store (Fortune)
Ahead of the holiday shopping season, Apple is adding a new category in its App Store that will allow people to find ecommerce apps more easily. The category will also include apps that use Apple Pay.
Target’s New Website Helps Trick-or-Treaters Find Best Candy Haunts in the Neighborhood (Adweek)
Target is offering a little technological fun to get an edge on the competition for Halloween: Treatster, a website that lets viewers search for the best trick-or-treating spots in their neighborhoods. Treatster users can turn on location services and see their area’s most popular candy haunts marked on a map with smiling jack-o’-lanterns.
Uber Is Vaporizing the Taxi Industry — So a New Startup Is Raising $250 Million to Help Cabs Compete (Business Insider)
It’s hard for taxis to compete with Uber, but a new startup is hoping to give taxi drivers in several cities a leg up. Launching in January 2016, Karhoo, which plans to raise more than $1 billion in capital, works with licensed taxi companies to let people hitch a ride from any number of local car services.
Facebook Says Nearly One-Third of Online Shopping Transactions Are on Mobile Devices (Wall Street Journal)
Facebook IQ, the social network’s in-house consumer research division, found that among purchases generated via Facebook ads from January through May of this year in the U.S., 30 percent took place on mobile devices. Facebook found the frequency of mobile purchases increased 35 percent during that same period, suggesting that consumers are growing more comfortable with shopping on their smartphones.
Google to Add Loyalty Rewards to Android Pay, Ramp Up Promotional Push (Recode)
A new loyalty program is coming to Android Pay, starting with Coke: When users buy a soda by tapping their phone, they get rewards points. To become popular, mobile payments will need the assistance of these types of services that remind people to pay with their phones.
Convoy, a Smart Logistics Service for Regional Trucking Businesses, Raises $2.5M (TechCrunch)
Convoy, a startup that has received venture financing from investors like Marc Benioff and Bezos Expeditions, is launching Tuesday. The company provides shippers with an online service that quickly gets them quotes for things they need to ship — like palettes of steel or other bulk shipments — based on certain variables, and connects them to companies with trucks in the area.
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