News and Analysis

This E-commerce Startup Is Helping DTC Brands Navigate the Pandemic

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While other firms in the retail infrastructure and logistics space are struggling, Whitebox is closing on a Series B funding round of $18 million. CEO Marcus Startzel says timing has played a key role in his company’s success. Whitebox was focused on solving e-commerce challenges for brands before the pandemic began, but the opportunities to work with major brands to improve and automate the e-commerce process have only grown over the past few months.

Has Covid Killed the Single-Day Sale?

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Limited-time offers and one-day sales are a mainstay of the holiday shopping season. But this year is unlike any other, and retailers are taking a different approach.

With Covid-19 restrictions limiting the number of customers who can be inside a store at any given time, retailers are looking at extending the shopping season to accommodate socially distant crowds.

Brands Are Struggling with Customer Loyalty in 2020. Here’s Why

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The pandemic has sparked changes in consumer behavior. Some changes are predictable, like people stocking up on toilet paper when lockdown orders first went into effect.

But other changes occurring over the past seven months have been more slight and easier to miss. Now, with the holiday shopping season getting into full swing, brands are discovering that these minor shifts in consumer behavior have the potential to wreak havoc on their seasonal marketing strategies.

Commentary

Google’s Path to Becoming the Transaction Layer of the Web

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“Google is controlling the entire local experience—discovery, presentation, and transaction—and there’s just nowhere for agencies to add value, or make any money from that value,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal in their biweekly column.

LBMA Podcast: Uber, Hyundai & Amazon, Compass

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On this week’s Location Based Marketing Association podcast: Compass, Taiwan’s STOMAP, Grocery app Cooklist, Diageo goes AR with Bulleit bourbon, Hyundai + Amazon, Uber’s new features, and HERE teams up with Locomizer.

Top Lesson for News Sites in SF Innovation Tour: Identify Users and Win Them Over One by One

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Revenue was, naturally, very much on the minds of the 12 publishers, broadcasters, and other news media executives who took part in the Local Media Association’s June 2018 San Francisco Innovation Mission. But Jed Williams, LMA’s chief innovation officer, said the event focused on audience engagement.

Latest Posts

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.

Street Fight Daily: Lyft Raises $500 Million, Facebook’s M Suggests Local Services in Messenger

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Rival Lyft Raises $500 Million in Funding… The Public Debut of Facebook’s M is a Step Toward a Do-It-All AI Assistant… It’s Time for Google and Facebook to Freak Out About Amazon…

3 Location Marketing Lessons That Healthcare Brands Can Teach Other Industries

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When the location marketing experts discuss best practices, they often focus on industries like retail. But the healthcare industry can teach us a lot about location marketing. Partly because healthcare faces constant turmoil, healthcare is a source of constant reinvention.

LifeStream’s Personalized News Empowers Users, Protects Their Privacy

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The soon-to-launch news service from Graf Mouen and Bill Densmore plans to deliver highly personalized news and other information to consumers, while still maintaining the privacy they don’t currently have on the rest of the Web.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Challenges Slack, Deliveroo Launches Platform for Delivery-Only Kitchens

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Looks to Seize Control of the Workplace with Free Offering, Workplace Standard… Deliveroo Launches Platform for Restaurants to Open Delivery-Only Kitchens… Audience Measurement Struggles to Keep Up with Changing Viewing Behavior…

The Coming Polarization of the SMB Software Market

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Strangely, despite the size of the opportunity you don’t find too many SMB companies in most VC portfolios. You see plenty of consumer and enterprise-focused startups, but much fewer on the SMB side. The reason for this is that it’s “hard” for companies serving SMBs to grow at the rate that can deliver “venture” returns.