Street Fight Daily: Mondelez Warms to Retail Tech, SMBs Embrace the Cloud
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Mondelez Makes New Call to Startups for Retail Tech (AdAge)
Chances are that shoppers will make fewer impulse buys when using modern shopping methods like curbside pickup, at-home delivery and speedy self-checkout. And that’s a problem for gum and candy brands that have long enticed shoppers with check-out aisle displays.
Where Does Local Search Fit in a World of Apps? (Street Fight)
Mike Boland: Where is Google’s place in a world where the browser is no longer the front door? On the desktop, trillions of web pages compel an index and a friendly entry point. But an app-heavy mobile environment — already siloed into neat little buckets — doesn’t beg for a core search engine.
Small Firms Shift Toward Cloud-Based Software (Wall Street Journal)
Owners of small businesses, from clothing retailers to restaurants, are increasingly signing up for subscriptions to cloud-based software, representing a fundamental shift in the way they use technology. Businesses with fewer than 20 employees last year spent about $630 on software, up from $590 in 2013, a 7% increase.
#SFSW15: At McDonald’s, Digital is about ‘Fun and Convenience’ — Not Branding (Street Fight)
At Street Fight Summit West in San Francisco Tuesday, Julia Vander Ploeg, US VP Digital at McDonald’s, sat down with Street Fight’s COO David Hirschman to talk about how her digital team is weaving technology into the fabric of one of the world’s largest franchise brands.
Uber CEO: “I’m Not Perfect and Neither Is This Company.” (Mashable)
“I can come off as a fierce advocate for Uber,” said Uber CEO Travis Kalanick during a five year-anniversary event. “I also realize that some have used a different ‘A’ word to describe me. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect and neither is this company.”
7 Ways Local News Sites Can Grow Their Digital Audiences (Street Fight)
“Creating a ‘sticky’ hyperlocal news site is certainly something that publishers need to work toward,” says Bryan Marovich, publisher of the Newport Dispatch. Here are seven strategies that hyperlocal publications are using to make their websites sticker, in the hopes of attracting and retaining a larger base of readers.
Apple Pay Adoption Rates Show It Still Has a Long Way to Go (The Street)
When Apple announced its mobile wallet service Apple Pay last fall, it arguably brought the whole discussion around mobile payments to a new level. Nonetheless, a survey that came out Wednesday shows a long road ahead for the tech giant. Just 13% of consumers who have the option to use Apple Pay have already done so.
Study: Forget About Average Organic CTRs, They Mean Nothing (Search Engine Land)
According to a massive keyword performance study by Keylime Toolbox, which looked at nearly 5 million queries across a range of industries, there is so much variation by vertical category and site that averages “didn’t provide much actionable data for a specific site.”
How Hospitals Hope to Boost Ratings on Yelp, HealthGrades, ZocDoc And Vitals (Washington Post)
As out-of-pocket costs for health care have risen, people are increasingly shopping for their medical care and comparing reviews. And younger consumers who have grown up on Yelp and Rate My Professors expect the same seamless, digital experience with health care that they have used in other aspects of their lives.
Coming Soon: Instantly Shoppable Radio, Outdoor and In-Store Ads (AdAge)
The tags are QR-code-like images embedded on magazine, outdoor or in-store ads (or inaudible audio signals in TV and radio ads) accessed by mobile apps that instantly place advertised items in shopping carts for checkout. The PowaTag app also stores payment information, addresses and other contact details.
85% Look to NFC for Deals & Coupons (MediaPost)
In a new survey, 70% of consumers said NFC addressed inconveniences they have and almost all (95%) of those who have tried NFC said they were satisfied with it. And therein is the key challenge of NFC: most people have not tried it, never mind heard of it.
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