News and Analysis

Holiday Sales Are Starting Earlier Than Ever. Here’s Why

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“Retailers are responding to social distancing guidelines [this] year and preparing for potential decreases in spending by kicking off promotions earlier than we’ve ever seen,” says Dosh CEO Ryan Wuerch.

Wuerch says Covid-19 safety protocols require a more elongated approach to holiday marketing. Kohl’s, L Brands, and Macy’s have all referenced pulling forward holiday promotions, and Amazon’s Prime Day later this month seems perfectly timed to pull in early holiday shoppers.

Street Fight’s October Theme: Home for the Holidays

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Entering Q4 means many things, but to us it points to the media and commerce world’s annual culmination. That’s right — in this time warp of a year, we’re entering the holidays. Considering the oddities of 2020, what will this year’s holiday season look like? We know for sure it will not be normal.

Answering that question will be Street Fight’s October editorial focus. Branded with the cheeky title “Home for the Holidays,” (title credit: Damian Rollison), this month’s focus will be defining the holiday shopping dynamics of a socially distanced and sheltered-in-place world. What will be different?

Interactive Maps Help Bring Back Shoppers After Covid Hiatus

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As the pandemic has worn on, marketers have begun to ask what’s next. How do you keep open and click-through rates high, even as consumers shift back from e-commerce to in-person shopping? The answer, for many, involves maps.

Just look at Torrid, the women’s retail chain formerly owned by Hot Topic, with more than 600 stores across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Commentary

Local News Publishers Still Mired in Ad Fraud, New Pixalate Data Shows

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According to new research from Pixalate, a cross-channel fraud intelligence company that works with brands and platforms to prevent ad fraud and improve ad inventory quality, about a quarter of all smartphone app video and smartphone app display activity is “invalid traffic” (the technical term for what is largely fraud).

Will Apple Help Assemble the ‘Internet of Places’?

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The AR cloud is the missing piece in the vision we all have for how AR should work. It’s the spatial map of the world that will let AR devices understand their surroundings. Taking this into account, the news that Apple is collecting its own data for Apple Maps may have implications for AR.

LBMA Podcast: GetMiles, GrubHub & LevelUp, Jido Maps

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On This Week in Location Based Marketing: Jido Maps, the National Park Service, VR waterslide in Germany, GetMiles, Guess? + Alipay, GrubHub buys LevelUp.

Latest Posts

What Happens When Google Can Manipulate the Very News It Seeks to Protect?

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A recent controversy finds the search giant caught in a contradiction. The company has strong financial interest in acting as the gatekeeper to the news. But Google also has a strong interest in portraying itself positively in the news that it effectively controls.

Street Fight Daily: Walmart Leverages Brick-and-Mortar to Win Online, Local Search Ranking Factors Rundown

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Walmart to Discount Some Online Orders When Picked Up At the Store… Just Released: 2017 Local Searching Ranking Factors Survey Results… Uber’s Head of Communications, Rachel Whetstone, is Leaving…

How Samsung’s Galaxy S8 Could Change Local Marketing

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The new smartphone promises increased opportunities to bring local marketers closer to consumers with a new “intelligent interface.” Bixby, the phone’s voice assistant, has “contextually aware” capabilities that can help personalize location, retail and other user experiences.

CloudSponge: Soaking Up Your Contacts to Connect You Anywhere

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The startup is touting tremendous success for at least one company using their service: local (under the radar) giant, Nextdoor, has seen a significant uptick in growth since deploying CloudSponge’s technology. How? We talked with Jay Gibb, the company’s CEO, to find out.

Street Fight Daily: Weather Channel Partners with Lyft, Alphabet Seeks Public Legal Fight with Uber

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Weather Channel Lets You Request a Lyft When Bad Weather Strikes… Alphabet Wants Its Lawsuit Against Uber to Play Out Publicly… Twitter is Expanding Its Video Measurement Partnerships to Help Marketers Gauge Ad Performance

Why Real-time Geofencing Is a Missed Marketing Opportunity for Brands

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Many marketers are focusing too exclusively on the simplest form of location data. Geo-fencing severely limits the potential of location data and also the reach of a digital campaign.

Two Mobile Marketing Studies Sketch Location Data’s Role in Cross-Channel Measurement

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The reports released last week by industry organizations provide useful advice on mobile marketing tactics and using location data. Both studies point to the need to apply integrated, cross-channel measurement techniques, and to use location data for targeting, customer segmentation, and attribution.

Street Fight Daily: How Amazon Shipping Impacts Small Retailers, Facebook Updates Instant Articles

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon’s Free Shipping Pushes Small Retailers, Delivery Firms to Compete… Facebook Updates Instant Articles, Encourages Email Sign-Ups… Native Ad Spend Increased 600% in 3 Years, But Early Adopters Are Bailing…

Case Study: Convenience Store Chain Streamlines Mobile Offer Creation

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Switching from paper to digital coupons usually saves businesses time and money, but that’s not always the case. For Mike Templeton, digital marketing manager at Kum & Go, a convenience store chain with hundreds of locations, personally designing and managing the distribution of digital coupons quickly became a hassle.

Raise Report: New Funding for SOCi, ActionIQ, Chute, Looker

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Bus.com, JoyRun, Picnic, and Snowflake.