Retailers Turn to AI to Assist with Forecasting Challenges
With machine learning and AI, retailers have been able to navigate the continued imbalance between supply and demand. This is especially true for digital-first retailers and on-demand businesses. The number of online grocery shoppers increased by 35 million during the pandemic. That opened the door to new opportunities, but it also opened the door to certain logistical challenges that grocers never experienced previously. For example, online grocery shoppers expect the items in their mobile apps to be in-stock and available for delivery immediately, which is different from a shopper who casually browses store aisles to see what’s available at a brick-and-mortar location.
How 5 Brands Adapted Their Loyalty Programs for a Post-Covid World
According to McKinsey, more than 75% of consumers tried new brands, places to shop, or methods of shopping in 2020. The reason? Product availability was high on the list, but so were price and the availability of promotions. Now, as the vaccine rollout continues and states work to get back to normal, brand marketers are finally coming up for air and looking at how they can adapt their loyalty and rewards programs for the post-Covid world.
Verizon and Catalina Partner to Power Online-to-offline Attribution
Seeing a void in the marketplace, ad tech vendors are stepping in with tech solutions designed to help brands link in-store and online transactions to digital ads in real-time. Just this month, Verizon Media partnered with Catalina, a provider of consumer-driven marketing solutions, to help CPG brands more effectively connect digital campaigns with sales. The partnership matches Catalina’s sales data to Verizon Media’s identity graph, which means Verizon Media is now the first DSP to be integrated with a top CPG sales data provider.
Gimbal, NextNav Go Vertical with Next-Generation Location Offering
Gimbal, the location intelligence platform, and NextNav, the developer of geolocation technologies, are coming together on a new vertical dimension that could help brands and retailers more accurately understand how customers are moving through physical spaces. The potential applications are vast, but executives at both firms see fulfillment options like curbside and in-store pickup as being some of the most immediate use cases.
BeOp Launches in US, Pointing to Contextual Campaigns’ Resurgence
Is contextual ad targeting the answer to our cookieless future? As brand advertisers plan for a world without third-party cookies, they’re homing in on contextual ad platforms as a possible solution to their advertising woes. That push is leading to the development and growth of a number of platforms focused on contextual, conversational, and cookieless advertising.
SafeGraph Raises $45M to Democratize Access to Places Data
SafeGraph — which powers analytics for organizations like Sysco, Ares Management, Choice Hotels, US Foods, and Verizon Media — picked up $45 million from Sapphire Ventures, as well as returning investors from previous rounds like Peter Thiel and Alex Rosen of Ridge Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to capitalize on the expanding market of data buyers and offer new ways for customers to buy data. Through a growing partner network and new data delivery mechanisms, SafeGraph will be allowing interested parties to access the exact data they need, wherever they need it.
Marketers Weigh the Downstream Effect of Changing Privacy Regulations
Virginia became the latest state to pass digital privacy legislation when Governor Ralph Northam signed the Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) earlier this month, but it won’t be the last. The piecemeal approach to privacy standards happening across the United States right now is creating a challenge for marketers who are faced with complicated, and sometimes conflicting, regulations.
Digital Marketers Deploy AI to Break through the Noise
Chief among the newest strategies brands are adopting is the use of artificial intelligence in digital marketing. Brands are increasingly willing to try AI to gain a better understanding of customer behavior, so they can spend more time on creativity and delivering more relevant content, says Mary Schneeberger, director of the integrated marketing practice at Avionos.
What Gannett’s Partnership with Snap Means for Local Marketers
Despite its obvious benefits from a marketing perspective — with the ability to connect to more Gen Z consumers than Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger combined — Snapchat’s youth-focused advertising tools haven’t always been easy for small and mid-size businesses to take advantage of. A new deal with Gannett could change that.
StitcherAds Offers a Digital Substitute amid the Paper Coupon’s Demise
National retailers like CVS and Walgreens are betting that the changes in shopping behavior they’ve seen during the Covid-19 pandemic will last long after vaccines have been rolled out, and technology companies are following their lead with a host of new digital products designed to accelerate the print coupon’s demise.
