News and Analysis
How 5 Retailers Are Using AR for Covid-Compliant Try-Ons
With hygiene and customer safety now a top priority, more retailers are beginning to use AR to simulate the try-on experience. Whether they’re “trying on” items at home or in-store, AR tools are giving retailers a way to assist customers in their buying decisions as they virtually test out thousands of products using their mobile devices.
Here are five examples of how innovative retailers are taking full advantage of AR in the Covid era.
Foursquare’s New Audio Assistant is a Peek into the Future of Local Tech
Dubbed Marsbot for Airpods, Foursquare’s virtual assistant will whisper insights to users about their surroundings, unprompted, as they move throughout the world. This may be a recommendation for a local coffee shop or a fun fact about a landmark.
For brick-and-mortar businesses and the technology providers that help them connect with customers, the marketing possibilities are tantalizing.
Connecting the Dots on Google’s Visual Road Map
Google continues to double down on visual search and navigation. Its latest move came last week with updates to its Live View visual navigation to help users identify and qualify local businesses. This follows soon after its Earth Cloud Anchors that will let users create digital content on physical places.
Both developments tell us something about what may well be the future of local search: augmented reality-enhanced visuals.
Commentary
Will Apple Help Assemble the ‘Internet of Places’?
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.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Uber Opens Up On Finances, Walmart In Talks to Buy Bonobos
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber, Lifting Financial Veil, Says Sales Growth is Outpacing Losses… Walmart is in Advanced Talks to Acquire Online Men’s Retailer Bonobos… From ‘Zombie Malls’ to Bonobos: America’s Retail Transformation…
Street Fight Daily: Google Uses Image Search for Retail, Instagram’s Snap Clone Surpasses Snap in Users
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google is Trying to Turn Image Search into a Shopping Tool… Instagram’s Snapchat Clone is Now More Popular than Snapchat… The Weather Company Opens Its Data Trove to Marketers on Outside Platforms…
Yext Shares Up Sharply in Initial Day of Trading, Portending Well for Local
Yext’s shares jumped nearly 22% in the company’s initial day of trading, with the price rising as high as $14.25 per share before settling to $13.41 at close. The strong opening was a hopeful message from Wall Street for the local marketing industry, which has been looking to Yext’s IPO as a bellwether.
Are We on the Brink of a Retail Revolution?
Revolutions often happen over short periods of time and leave death and carnage in their wake. What we are experiencing today in retail is more of an evolution — a sort of “survival of the fittest” as both local and big brand retailers either embrace shifting consumer shopping patterns or face extinction.
Street Fight Daily: Yext Set to Raise $115.5M in Today’s IPO, Snap Offers Brick-and-Mortar Attribution
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yext is Set to Raise $115.5 Million in IPO After Final Pricing… Snap Advertisers Can Now See if Their Ads Increase Foot Traffic… Will it Blend? Oath Will Combine Disparate AOL-Yahoo Ad Tech Assets…
Disney’s Deep Dive on Personality Research, and Its Potential Implications for Brand Marketers
A division of The Walt Disney Company has been working on a method to better target marketing by learning more about consumers’ personalities. Research scientist Maarten Bos spoke to us about how consumer personality can be understood and how the information can be used to tailor ads more precisely.
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