News and Analysis
The MULO Dozen: April Brands in Review
Another April …another 12 innovations, booms, busts, and leadership changes in the MULO (multi-location) world. Retailers and restaurants are always scaling, shrinking, and experimenting with new innovation, footprints, business models, and technologies. In addition to covering many of them throughout the month, these end-of-month wrap-ups are designed to give you even more news and ideas. Speaking […]
BUST: A Timeless Ice Cream Brand Melts
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy was founded in 1927 and is an iconic Midwest retail brand. It recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in the process of reorganizing. The company operates 43 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri. While other ice cream brands thrive, Oberweis owes about $4 million to 20 creditors […]
Hidden Nuggets in Local Address Data for Retail Decisions
It’s no secret that the past few years have been extremely challenging for inventory managers. In 2021 and early 2022, brands faced widespread inventory shortages, while the latter half of 2022 and 2023 saw massive excess inventory levels (as much as $740 billion in unsold goods) as brands worked to counteract the previous year’s shortages […]
Commentary
Marketing in 2022: Data Privacy, Multichannel Engagement, and Tool Centralization
As marketers kick off 2022, they should be on the lookout for three key trends: the shift to first-party data, the increasing importance of multichannel engagement, and the centralization of marketing tools currently causing app fatigue.
Location-Based Marketing Association: Precisely Acquires PlaceIQ
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association discusses Vibes launching a “Mobile Wallet as a Channel” service, Precisely acquiring PlaceIQ, OnQ giving shoppers control of in-store displays, and ESRI introducing it’s ArcGIS indoor positioning system.
Google Search and the Long Pandemic
As 2021 stretched on, with its vaccine controversies and mutating variants, we realized we were really just living through an indefinite phase in the middle of a long pandemic. Consumer habits, rather than getting back to normal, were settling in to a battle-weary pattern of compromise. It seemed unlikely that local search data would tell us much we didn’t already know. But it turns out the data tells a somewhat encouraging story.
Latest Posts
What Makes for a Great Demand Side Platform?
I spoke with Jon Schulz, CMO of the DSP Viant, to answer precisely this question. That is, what makes for a great DSP? What do clients want from DSPs? What are the space’s major outstanding problems? And where are DSPs heading?
How to Harness Public Web Data to Delight Customers
Brands can start capitalizing on public web data by focusing on four key areas: customer reviews, social media sentiment, search engine queries, and competitor listing analysis.
With Prices Soaring, Brands Shift Focus to Customer Experience
Rather than lowering prices to appease frustrated customers, some retailers are going a different direction. These retailers are working to improve customer experience as a way to reach new and returning customers as prices continue to soar.
Location-Based Marketing Association: Facebook Cuts Off Some Location-Based Services
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Facebook cutting off several of their location-based services, AT&T launching a location-based routing service for 911 calls, TikTok and Foursquare partnering on in-store visit data, and Unilever rolling out a hailable ice cream truck.
New Hires at OpenWeb, GeoPath, and Foursquare
The monthly Street Fight new hires roundup features movers and shakers in adtech, martech, e-commerce, localized marketing, location intelligence, and more. This month’s roundup features new hires at OpenWeb, GeoPath, and Foursquare.
5 E-Bike Startups for On-Demand Delivery Fleets
With the vast majority of last-mile deliveries arriving by bike, a new breed of e-bike startups has cropped up to serve the industry. Startups like GetHenry, Ubco ,and Joco are supplying e-bike fleets to on-demand delivery startups through a subscription model. Logistics companies are finally understanding the need for reliable bike fleets that can scale up or down based on real-time demand, and the need for e-bikes has never been greater.
As Retailers Ramp Up Social Responsibility Efforts, Consumers Focus on Prices
ENGINE found that consumers are preferring to make less frequent, larger trips for everyday household items. Walmart and Amazon came in as the two most popular retailers among consumers shopping for everyday items.
The Web3 Brand Mentality: Tips for Marketers
With more companies starting to take the plunge into this new reality, are brand marketers prepared to determine if they, too, should get involved—even if to target NFT-related content? Or does web3 still feel more akin to the latest industry wave brands must ride for fear of missing out?
Yelp Launches Request a Call to Connect Local Service Providers and Customers
Yelp announced this morning Request a Call, a feature that will allow customers to easily submit a request for a call to local service providers. The feature represents Yelp’s acknowledgement that there is still too much friction in the local services customer experience and that listings and review sites can help.
Aircam Pioneers Local Solution for Visual Search
The Rifkin brothers, who also co-founded Burstly, the company behind the mobile app-testing service TestFlight, found a way to pivot by turning their live event marketplace into a geofenced event photography business that offers local semantic photography solutions at scale.
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