News and Analysis
6 Retail Tech Solutions for Addressing Labor Shortages
Retail technology platforms that may have been overlooked before the pandemic are now coming into focus as businesses begin to understand their true value. Using a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and big data, a number of startups have started positioning their platforms as possible solutions to the labor shortages that retailers and restaurants are facing in 2021. Mobile ordering kiosks, autonomous checkout systems, and even machine vision algorithms are all being used to help businesses greet customers, restock shelves, and even clean messy areas with more efficiency.
Fisherman Pioneers the No-Effort Web for Small Businesses
Fisherman is pioneering what CEO and co-founder Ameet Kallarackal calls the “no-effort Web.” Beginning with a focus on restaurants, which still make up about 90% of its customer base, Fisherman is aiming to be the simplest, most automatic option available for small business owners and operators to create websites. The company claims to get the job done in just two minutes and typically has a website ready for a potential customer, often based purely on the business’ name and address, before approaching them.
Commentary
Will Google Ask Businesses to Pay for Listings?
Google recently sent surveys to a number of Google My Business (GMB) users, asking a range of questions about their local marketing activities and their level of interest in certain paid features within GMB. The survey suggests that Google is at least thinking about a paid version of the GMB feature set. For the local search industry, a paid GMB product offered to businesses of all types could be quite disruptive, especially if it ended up gradually degrading the value of organic listings.
Voice Marketing Starts with Smart SEO
How can enterprises better leverage voice search for brand marketing? To start, winning in voice search demands many of the same strategies as search engine optimization (SEO), as the goal in both cases is to get your content to rank position zero on search engine results pages (SERPs) by focusing on authority.
Brand Building Beyond Reviews: Is the Local Marketing Ecosystem Ready?
“I think it makes more sense for a small business to buy ‘brand building’ that includes some community events and link building than for that same business to buy SEO,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. Find out what tech tools can build a local brand and why David disagrees partly with Mike’s suggestion.
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Street Fight Launches Third Annual “State of Hyperlocal” Survey
We’re kicking off our third annual executive survey about the state of the local marketing ecosystem. We welcome readers to share their thoughts on the state of the industry by filling out a short survey on what their companies are prioritizing and what challenges they’re facing. As a thank-you, we’re offering a free report or a discount on Summit tickets.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Adds Local Artisan Products to Prime Now, CPGs Go Digital
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Brings Its Handmade Local Items to Prime Now Through Holidays (TechCrunch) For the first time, handcrafted items from local artisans – including things like home décor, jewelry, art, and more – will be available on Prime Now today all the way through […]
How Closetbox Is Using Location Tech to Disrupt the Self-Storage Industry
The company uses excess capacity in the existing logistics network to pick up and deliver storage in real-time. When consumers order movers via Closetbox’s mobile app, the company finds the nearest moving trucks with available space, and customers’ items get picked up and stored at private storage warehouses right away.
Street Fight Daily: Online Ad Prices Rise, How Digital Brands Can Mirror Amazon’s Holiday Success
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Online Ad Prices Rise As Industry Combats Counterfeit Inventory, a Good Sign for Publishers… What E-Commerce Brands Can Learn from Amazon for Holiday Domination… Publishers Scramble to Make Their Annual Sales Numbers…
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