News and Analysis
Back to School 2021: Supply Chain Shortages and High Demand
Preparing for back-to-school shopping this year, retailers faced a tremendous challenge: anticipating consumer needs at a time when Covid case numbers are shifting month to month and the conditions of in-person learning remain unclear. Add supply chain squeezes and rising consumer expectations, and BTS, which is supposed to be among many retailers’ best seasonal events, risks proving disastrous.
Delta Variant Leads to Shift in Consumer Behavior â Marketers Respond
With Covid-19 Delta variant cases on the rise, social distancing and sanitation have once again become top priorities for consumers. According to new data by Avionos, consumers are growing increasingly wary of shopping in physical stores due to the rise of the Delta variant. Among those consumers who shopped with a new brand during the pandemic, almost one-third cited safe in-store experiences as a top reason for choosing that brand.
Commentary
The Blind Spot in Facebook’s Vision of Privacy
Insofar as Facebook’s pivot to privacy fails to reward its users for the data that has made it one of the world’s most powerful and profitable companies, I see it as a modest change that is more reactive than proactive, more inevitable than forward-thinking. It is likely that Facebook is only beginning to lay out its moves on privacy, and more ambitious changes may lie ahead. But for now, when it comes to the most pressing, fundamental ethical challenges that are inciting political fervor and increasing the likelihood that serious regulation of Big Tech is on the way, Zuckerberg is dragging his feet. With visionaries like Lanier and Zuboff raising public awareness about Facebook’s business model, the truth may just catch up with him.
Things Not Strings: Googleâs New Hotel Profiles Exemplify Its Approach to Entities
Google’s Knowledge Graph ambitions are expanding to include obviating heavy reliance on secondary sources like Wikipedia and being able instead to classify and cross-reference information as a native, self-sustaining activity on web pages themselves. Thatâs what makes a recent patent filing different from the evidence of the Knowledge Graph weâve already seen in the wild.
While this more ambitious way of surfacing information about entities is not yet standard, in researching Googleâs new interface for hotels, I think Iâm seeing evidence of a real-world example.
Latest Posts
Why Commercial Banks Are Turning to Proximity Technology
That location intelligence firms are able to use foot traffic patterns to predict the financial performance of businesses is nothing new. But a new report released shines a light on the ways commercial banks and investment companies are upping the ante by using location data to get the most out of the market.
How Thanksgiving Day Store Closures Impact Black Friday Sales
Shoppers say they donât want retailers opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day, but research from Foursquare tells a different story. Analyzing proprietary foot traffic data at major retailers, Foursquare found that stores that open earlier on Thanksgiving Day drive more visits and steal share from their competitors.
Street Fight Daily: Big-Box Retailers Report Best Earnings in Years, Mashable Sold for Change
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Investments in Digital Transformation Pay Dividends for Big-Box Retailers… Mashable Sold at Fire-Sale Price of $50 Million to Ziff Davis… Topix Was Getting Crushed by the Duopoly. Now It’s Making Millions Off Them…
Facebook Local: The Launch Weâve All Been Waiting For?
Last week’s rebranding of its Events app as Facebook Local could be Facebookâs long-awaited foray into serious competition with the Googles and Yelps of the world for market share in local search. Meanwhile, another Facebook local product, Marketplace, has proved to be a sleeping giant.
NinthDecimal Launches Website-to-Store Attribution Solution
Mobile programmatic and audience intelligence platform NinthDecimal has launched a new website-to-store attribution solution in a bid to help marketers more efficiently connect digital assets to offline sales. The product is being billed as the first of its kind, providing retailers with a clearer picture of the interplay between e-commerce and in-store activities.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Authentic Storytelling: Real-Life Scenarios Showcase Brand Values and Build Trust