Street Fight Daily: Google and Flipkart Partner to Eliminate Apps, Groupon’s Ideel Takes a Hit

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…

With a Mobile Website Like An App, Flipkart Takes a Swipe at Apple (New York Times)
India’s ecommerce startup Flipkart has worked with Google to make a new mobile website that could eliminate the need for apps, a move that takes a swipe at Apple’s grip on the mobile experience. The site supports push notifications, the ability to search for and read information while offline, and location-based data. In collaborating with Flipkart, Google is hoping the website will spawn many imitators.

Groupon Site Ideel to Pack Up and Ship Out of New York (Crain’s New York Business)
Ideel’s New York office is set to be boxed up. The flash-sale site, picked up by Groupon last year for $43 million, has given notice to 63 employees ahead of a move to Chicago, where its parent company is located.

Dealmakers: Growth Hacking with Sales Automation Technology (Street Fight)
Charity Huff: We tend to think of fragmentation as a major hurdle, but it means opportunities as well — to leverage content, data, and analytics to create an efficient, effective lead pipeline. Investors are turning their attention to this opportunity, pouring money into and acquiring companies that facilitate sales and marketing automation. What distinguishes the companies receiving investment dollars this year is that they uniquely embrace the concept of “growth hacking.”

Legacy Retailers Struggle to Ramp Up Mobile Marketing (Ad Age)
Beyond creating mobile tech, there are myriad issues for traditional retailers to sort out, like apps, loyalty programs, data collection, and anticipating what’s next after mobile. Retailers born with a mobile-first mentality don’t face the same problems that more established ones do.

6 Tools Restaurants Can Use to Accept Mobile Orders (Street Fight)
The mobile ordering landscape is quickly evolving, with increases in consumer demand fueling the growth. Even independently owned restaurants with one or two locations are feeling the push to offer it to their customers. Here are six platforms restaurant owners can use to meet the demand.

Deliv Acquires Zipments to Grow Its Same-Day Delivery Service in NYC (TechCrunch)
Deliv is announcing the acquisition of another same-day delivery service, Zipments. Headquartered in California, Deliv works with large retailers and small startups alike to offer delivery through a network of independent contractors. The company recently launched in New York City, and by acquiring Zipments, Deliv can tap into its local driver network and customer relationships.

Twin Cities to Test Amazon Competitor Aimed at Local Stores (Twin Cities Business)
A new online service called PriceLocal, which allows shoppers to browse Amazon and then price-match desired items with local retailers, is launching in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Austin, Charlotte, Columbus, and Denver today.

What a Great Digital Customer Experience Actually Looks Like (Harvard Business Review)
Craig Borowski: Given how critical customers are in digital interactions, you’d expect more businesses to invest in a highly polished digital strategy. But a recent study we conducted found that over 90 percent of consumers have had one or more deal-breaker digital experiences when using a mobile device to search for customer service info. To avoid frustrating customers, businesses should focus on the following points.

Mobile Coupons Effective Way to Link Mobile Ad to In-store Purchase (eMarketer)
While mobile advertising can be an effective way for companies to reach consumers, being able to actually link a mobile ad to an in-store purchase is important. A recent survey found that mobile coupons can help.

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