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.
Is Amazon Primed for the Data Privacy Era?
In a world that favors first-party networks — especially those with ample web traffic outside of iOS apps — it doesn’t get much bigger than Amazon. The question is if the e-commerce giant can attract advertisers en masse with the reach of its ad network plus the unfettered targeting and first-party contextual relevance of the world’s largest online store.
Commentary
Identity Crisis: Optimizing a Brand While Pursuing Omnichannel
Andrew Witkin: When viewed as a way to raise brand awareness and impressions, a clicks-to-bricks move can still net an overall gain—if the traffic from the retail space driven to the website costs less than what it would to purchase those impressions through online advertising. The end goal of an omnichannel strategy is not only to engage customers with an experience that isn’t available online but also to use this unique experience and brand awareness to boost online sales.
LBMA Vidcast: Coachella and Amazon Lockers, DoorDash Raises $500M
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Coachella + Amazon Lockers, Colruyt uses Google Assistant, DoorDash raises $500M, Kroger launches mobile pay app, Crate & Barrel + Handy. Special co-host: Carsten Szameitat.
How Mobile and OOH Can Defy a Dip in Traffic to Coffee Shops During the Otherwise Hot Winter Season
With AAA reporting that 91% of the 112.5 million people in the US who travel during the holiday season take a road trip during that time span, it’s intuitive to dovetail mobile creative with digital out-of-home creative, targeting all these travelers who are undoubtedly moving about the country … and outside their usual stop-for-coffee routines. Below are some strategies to bear in mind when trying to reel in the customer at year’s end.
Latest Posts
How Brands Are Targeting Moms with Localized Campaigns
Moms control the purse strings year-round, but their influence on the retail sector is especially strong during the fourth quarter, when back-to-school and holiday shopping give the industry a much-needed boost. Here are five examples of hyperlocal strategies that brands are using to target moms right now.
Street Fight Daily: Marketers See Opportunity in Amazon, Facebook Boosts Brand Safety
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… As Amazon Opens Up Its Ad Business, Marketers See an Opportunity to Shake Up Search… Facebook Updates Ad, Content Guidelines to Woo Advertisers and Publishers… Why Bonobos Thought Selling to Walmart Was Better Than Going Public…
PlaceIQ Study Examines the State of Integrated Marketing
A generational shift is impacting the way consumers interact with brands, downplaying the role that physical stores play in the traditional retail environment. According to Duncan McCall, CEO of location intelligence firm PlaceIQ, the changes that brands have seen thus far are just the tip of the iceberg.
Street Fight Daily: Digital Habits Disrupt Grocery, What New iPhones Mean for Brands
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Deloitte Study Shows 51% of Grocery Purchases Influenced by Digital, Urges Action… End of an Era: Amazon’s 1-Click Patent Expires, Opening Practice to Rivals… Google Relaxes Policy on Subscription Sites, Lending Publishers a Hand…
New iPhones May Open the Door for Brands to Experiment With AR
The new iPhones are an opportunity for brands to reach potential customers in new ways, especially when merged with location, says Wendell Lansford, co-founder of Wyng, a digital campaign platform for agencies and brands.
Taking the Pulse of the Location Data Ecosystem
Companies selling location and proximity data and services themselves concede that it’s a pretty small market, but that location data is an increasingly critical signal for a variety of marketing, operations, and product features well beyond mobile advertising.
Where Will VR Fit Into Local Advertising?
How will advertising play out in (admittedly nascent) VR, especially in local? We’ll likely see the same early and ongoing misfires, such as banner ads. Or, as in video experiences, we’ll likely see a fair share of legacy formats — like pre-roll ads — ham-handedly shoehorned into VR.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Guides Retailers on Mobile, US Ad Firms Prepare for Data Regulation
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… A New Facebook Feature Will Help Print Catalogs Translate to Mobile… GDPR Is Coming, and Many U.S. Ad Tech Firms Are Not Ready… Yelp Claims Google Broke Promise Made to Regulators…
The New ‘Location, Location, Location’ in Retail
“The new consumer (and search) paradigm favors small-scale, hyper-focused boutiques close to population centers as opposed to horizontal big box retailers on suburban commercial strips,” David Mihm says to Mike Blumenthal in their bi-weekly conversation.
How Cinnabon Uses Digital Tools to Thrive Despite Declining Foot Traffic
“Everyone’s going to use the buzzwords like omnichannel, but the bottom line is you have to figure out how your brand is going to play in the new world and be accessible to people in the way they want it,” says Joe Guith, president of Cinnabon.
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