News and Analysis

US E-Commerce Brands Need to Localize to Maximize Overseas Opportunities

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International ecommerce sales are skyrocketing, but selling abroad means taking on the challenge of catering to consumers with localized preferences. A recent global ecommerce report by payments infrastructure provider PPRO shows many brands are not currently up to the task.

5 Next-Gen RFID Solutions for Omnichannel Retailers

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Radio-frequency identification, or RFID, has found new life in the post-pandemic retail space. By attaching small strips of metal that can transmit radio waves with information about any product, retailers are finding that they can accelerate and automate the store checkout process. Unlike barcodes, which must be scanned individually, RFID tags can be scanned together and they hold significantly more information.

Marketers Struggle to Balance Personalization and Privacy

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While consumers are increasingly coming to expect personalization in their inboxes, too much personalization can damage trust and steer customers away. Nobody wants to feel like they’re being watched, but recent surveys show consumers are also growing increasingly frustrated with marketing materials that aren’t targeted enough.

Commentary

Google Maps: The Under-Appreciated Discovery Channel

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Blumenthal: Google Maps is/has become the primary discovery tool in many categories. That is a significant shift of which agencies and owners need to be aware.

Mihm: Yep. I’m not sure I would even have had our ThriveHive data science team look for this data point specifically had you not tipped me off. But sure enough, across our dataset of nearly 20,000 GMB Profiles, we found that Maps impressions outweigh Search impressions by nearly 3:1 (72% to 28% over the last 18 months).

LBMA Vidcast: NYY Turn to Postmates, Uncle Ben’s Goes Google Lens

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: New York Yankees using Postmates, Uncle Ben’s goes Google Lens with Innit, Toy R’ Us back with Candytopia, Heineken teams with Grab in SE Asia, Walgreens delivers with Wing drones, Starbucks  Japan let’s you pay with a pen.

5 Predictions for Mobile Technology After the Mass Adoption of 5G

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The new 5G standard for phones is just starting to make a splash. There’s a lot to do in the development department and lots of equipment installations necessary before everyone can enjoy 5G hyper speeds.

While there are some predictions on the transition from the current 4G LTE dominance to 5G, nobody really knows how long it will take. But what happens once it does and 5G is the new standard? 

Here are five most likely to happen scenarios that await us in the near future.

Latest Posts

What Happens When Knowledge Panels Aren’t Actually Knowledgeable?

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In the latest of their biweekly columns, David Mihm and Mike Blumenthal explore what they find to be a troubling practice on Google’s part: granting select platforms the power to insert themselves into a local business’ knowledge panel without any recourse for the business or verifying that the information is accurate.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Adds Services to Marketplace, Sketchy Google Knowledge Panel Practices

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Marketplace Launches New Services Feature in Partnership with On-Demand Startups… A Fifth of Amazon Merchants Sell More Than $1 Million a Year, Double Last Year’s Share… How the Washington Post Is Building Its Tech Platform, Arc…

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

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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.

How Savvy Restaurateurs Make the Most of Online Ordering

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“What increasingly separates top-performing restaurants from the pack is their ability to transform insights from data into strategies to grow,” says Liam Oliver, director of products for Valassis Local Solutions. “Savvy restaurateurs drive incremental revenue by designing promotions that raise the average order value.”

Street Fight Daily: Google to Follow IAB’s GDPR Approach, How Restaurants Can Crush Digital

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… In Significant Move for Publishers, Google Plans to Commit to IAB’s GDPR Approach… How Savvy Restaurateurs Make the Most of Online Ordering… Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns…

Location Targeting Presents Opportunity to Capitalize on Growing Memorial Day Spending

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With eight-in-10 U.S. adults now planning to spend an average of $486 over the holiday weekend, Vistar and MFour found that Memorial Day weekend has become one of the most popular shopping holidays of the year.

NinthDecimal Launches Toolset to Identify True Growth Metrics

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The omnichannel marketing platform NinthDecimal announced major changes to its measurement platform this morning, as it launches new KPIs designed to provide insights into what’s driving customer growth and acquisition for brands.

SMB OS Operators, Part III: Booker

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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.

Street Fight Daily: Adobe Buys Magento, Inside Google’s Rise to Digital Ad Dominance

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Adobe Buys Magento to Become Digital Ad Design Powerhouse… How Did Google Get So Big?… Some Companies Shrug Off GDPR…

Macaroni Kid Leverages Local Influencers to Connect Brands to Consumers

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“Our secret sauce is our ability to connect brands with consumers on a local level, via authentic local influencers,” says Macaroni Kid co-founder Eric Cohen. “Other media outlets can plug into an algorithm to target an audience. We have local moms telling other local moms the scoop as they hand out samples.”