October Focus: Is Local Commerce Vertically Challenged?

Share this:

We often refer to the many facets of local advertising, media, and commerce as simply ‘local.’ But it’s a bit of a misnomer because the local commerce universe is really made up of several galaxies.

That includes various products that help local businesses, both SMBs and multi-location brands, acquire and keep customers. It’s everything from SEO to listings management to point-of-sale systems. Beyond product function, there’s also vertical segmentation, which encompasses diverse industries from pizza shops to plumbers.

This will be Street Fight’s editorial focus for the month of October. You may have realized we’ve been assigning themes to each month — September being about mapping, August about the connected car, and so on. These are all tentpole issues in local media, advertising, and commerce.

Street Fight Daily: Highlights from Street Fight Summit, Advertisers Drop DSPs to Cut Costs

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… #SFSNYC: The Growing Power of SMB OS… #SFSNYC: Investors on Billion-Dollar Opportunities in Local and Where to Find Them… Advertisers Cut DSPs 40% Over Two Years…

#SFSNYC: The Growing Power of SMB OS

Share this:

Until recently, brick-and-mortar shopping relied on the digital world for advertising functions and not much else. But now, local retail has a new digital arena—the full-service operating system. Three leaders in this expanding set of technological solutions for SMBs laid out the state of the field, known as SMB OS, at Street Fight Summit in New York Wednesday.

Heard on the Street, Episode 4: Growing the SMB Pie with Ilir Sela

Share this:

What are the nuances and tactical imperatives of selling pizza locally? For one, it compels a highly verticalized approach: It’s all about focus and specialization on the sector’s unique operational challenges, according to Slice Founder and CEO Ilir Sela, our latest guest on Heard on the Street.

SMB OS Operators, Part III: Booker

Share this:

Recently acquired by MindBody, Booker has been living out the principles of SMB OS long before we started calling it that. In this interview, Booker CEO Josh McCarter explains how his business helps SMBs go beyond typical marketing tactics to attract and keep customers coming back.

SMB OS Operators: Part II: Slice

Share this:

Having raised $15 million in funding just last year, Slice is a prime example of what we call SMB OS operators: companies helping SMBs compete in today’s digital economy with a full suite of solutions beyond core advertising and marketing.

Street Fight Daily: Google Monetizes Product Searches, Amazon’s Next Whole Foods Move

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Partners with Retail Giants to Monetize Online Product Searches… Amazon Accidentally Revealed Its Next Plan for Whole Foods in a Job Posting… 10% Own an AI Device, 32% Plan to Get One, 58% Don’t Want Any…

#SFSNYC: The Restaurants of Tomorrow

Share this:

Everyone has at least heard of apps for booking reservations or ordering food from restaurants, but there is a deeper transformation underway within the industry. At Street Fight Summit in Brooklyn this week, the NRA’s Perry Quinn moderated a panel about how the restaurants of tomorrow are taking shape.

#SFSNYC: How Slice Helps Local Pizzerias Get in on Ordering via Mobile

Share this:

Lots of apps can connect consumers to restaurants to order meals, but New York-based Slice has focused on a particular food niche that founder and CEO Ilir Sela says is built on customer loyalty — pizza. Sela says his company’s product is offered as a way to extend the natural loyalty consumers have for their local pizzerias.

Street Fight Daily: Labor Ruling Threatens Uber’s Contractor Model, Geofeedia Used to Monitor Protests

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Drivers Ruled Eligible for Jobless Payments in New York State… Geofeedia is Just the Tip of the Iceberg: The Era of Social Surveillance… BuzzFeed’s Head of Commerce Talks About Shop, Part of Media Company’s E-Commerce Efforts…