BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy
Here we go again…another beloved retailer shutters its brick-and-mortar operations. Soft Surroundings filed for bankruptcy this week. This MULO (multi-location) women’s clothing brand once had 80 locations physical locations (reduced to 44) and is now shuttering all of them. The company, which released its first catalog in 1999, also sold home goods and accessories. However, […]
Captify, Adform Partnership Creates First End-to-End Contextual Activation
A new partnership between the search intelligence firm Captify and Adform, a programmatic platform, is creating an industry-first end-to-end contextual activation that bypasses the need for cookie identifiers. The collaboration between the Captify and Adform enables privacy-first, audience-based programmatic buying for marketers, opening the door to greater scale across inventory pathways, which are often deprioritized […]
5 Consumer-Permissioned Data Platforms to Watch
The concept of data privacy has taken center stage in 2023. As consumers grow more aware of the value of their personal information — and the potential risks associated with its misuse — a new paradigm that places power back into the hands of individuals is beginning to emerge. Consumer-permissioned data platforms are at the […]
Generative AI is Revolutionizing SMB Marketing, But Creating New Data Privacy Challenges
The AI revolution has just begun, and small business owners are already reaping the rewards. Ninety-one percent of SMBs currently using AI say the technology has made their businesses more successful, but Scorpion Chief Data Scientist Matt Bentley believes the greatest benefit to generative AI is below the surface, and not yet realized by many […]
LOMA Wants to Fund Hyperlocal Marketing
Alex Nocifera is the founder and CEO of LOMA, which launched in market this past July. Backed by top Los Angeles-based venture funds, Wavemaker, Slauson, and Impulsum, LOMA stands for “local marketing” and is an always-on, data-driven platform that has raised more than $2 million in a pre-seed venture-capital round. LOMA’s equity dollars help businesses […]
Retail Media Networks – Opportunity vs. Reality
Retail media networks have grown in popularity amid the growing emphasis on ROI across today’s complex consumer purchase journeys and recent restrictions on third-party cookie usage. Many advertisers are eager to take advantage of retail media’s unique targeting opportunities. These include a blend of online and offline data gleaned from retailers themselves and available within […]
Retailers Revolutionize Store Location Selection with Geospatial Intelligence
It’s a tale as old as time. A retailer picks a storefront, leases a building, and renovates a space — only to discover that the location itself is a dud. Maybe there isn’t enough foot traffic, or parking is too difficult. Or maybe shoppers in the neighborhood just aren’t interested in buying whatever products the […]
StoreConnect, a Trailblazing Force in E-commerce, Raises $9 Million
E-commerce has come into focus as a critical solution — sometimes the only solution — for small and mid-size businesses that want to sell outside their physical stores and collect insights into consumer behavior. Given the important role that online sales now play in local commerce, it’s no surprise that firms focused on the e-commerce […]
Search Fails May Cost Retailers as Much as $13.8B in Sales This Holiday Season
MULO (multi-location) retailers struggle to compete with Amazon, the online giant. But they are never going to win that battle if they don’t focus on search for the holiday season. A new study by Nosto reveals that as much as $13.8B in sales may be lost on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) because when consumers […]
Party On! Bankruptcy for Party City May Not Be the End
The media is filled with stories these days of MULO (multi-location) retailers closing stores and doors and declaring bankruptcy. Our BUST series covered Bed Bath & Beyond, Jenny Craig, Christmas Tree Shops, and others. But before you start ringing the death knell on one more MULO brick-and-mortar retailer or restaurant, be aware that the party […]
Mailchimp Launches GenAI-Powered Marketing Assistant for SMBs
The email marketing and newsletter giant Mailchimp is at it again. Earlier this week, the company launched its latest game-changing solution for SMBs — a marketing assistant powered by generative AI. Intuit Assist for Mailchimp is expected to help businesses generate content, personalize their marketing, and learn faster from their marketing mistakes. Rather than being […]
Head of the Class — Back-to-School Marketing Language Trends
Very few seasons connote change the way the back-to-school season does. Even for those of us who are no longer in school, the shorter days and cooler mornings mean that a new school year (and, by default, autumn, if you live somewhere lucky enough to experience it) is soon upon us. And every time summer […]
Brand Halloween Holiday Creep 2023
Before you could even put away your beach chair and utter “Pumpkin Spice,” Halloween accessories, boxes of tinsel, faux trees, and December lights began thier holiday creep and began to appear on store shelves. MULO (multi-location) retailers have changed the traditional sales cycle and accelerated the holiday shopping schedule. Halloween 2023 began in July, as […]
Grocers Navigate the Shift from E-commerce to In-Store
More than half of e-commerce grocery customers have left the channel since last year. Where have they gone, and what can grocers do to bring them back? That’s the question many supermarket chains and retail marketers are trying to answer. According to new data from SymphonyAI Retail CPG, 52% of e-commerce grocery customers have left […]
BUST: The Wrong Time for Rite Aid
Bankruptcies and store closings have hit the retail world hard this year. Bed Bath & Beyond was the most notable, and Christmas Tree Shops and Jenny Craig are among the other retail brands that closed doors in 2023. Rite Aid is the latest MULO (multi-location) brand to suffer the impact of retail shrinkage. Although the […]
Labor Day Retail Trend: In-Store Shoppers Search for ‘Seasonal Delights’
As Labor Day weekend approaches, consumers across the United States are gearing up for a unique shopping experience. While online shopping has become a significant part of daily life for most Americans, the holiday weekend is expected to witness a surge in in-store shopping. A recent survey of Labor Day shopping preferences conducted by Vibenomics, […]
AdTech Leaders Navigate Ethical Frontiers for Generative AI
Generative AI has had a breakout year in 2023, but as more adtech companies adopt the technology to optimize campaigns, analyze behavior, and personalize both online and offline experiences, consumers are pushing back. According to a survey by Salesforce, there’s a growing distrust of AI and companies that use it. The race to build out […]
New Partnership Seeks to Address CTV Advertising Gaps
Let’s hear it for the lower funnel: that could be the rallying cry of QSR and financial-services clients this fourth quarter. Amid possible economic softening, the lower funnel is a tried and true performance-marketing path for all kinds of KPI’s from engagement to sales. To more effectively measure sales outcomes from lower-funnel marketing, Attain, a permissioned-commerce […]
Rowan: The Innovative Brand Piercing a Market Need
Piercings (ear, nose, tongue, and other unmentionable body parts) have existed for centuries. In fact, some of the earliest evidence of body piercing dates back 5300 years! You can be pretty sure that when the mummy had their ears pierced, the conditions were less-than-sterile. Ear- and body-piercing studios are commonplace these days, as body modification […]
Seedtag Analysis: Parents More Focused on Children’s Health for Back-to-School
As Managing Director, U.S., for Seedtag, Brian Danzis must be keenly aware of trends and changes in all aspects of digital and linear media to drive growth for the company’s clients, which have included Applebee’s, Gillette, JetBlue, and the NBA. For the past several weeks, he’s been focused on the back-to-school shopping season and how […]