News and Analysis
Street Fight’s December Theme: Leaving 2020
What will the “next normal” look like in the post-Covid era of local commerce? Will things go back to the old normal or be a hybrid reality that cherry-picks components and new perspectives from the past nine months? Will e-commerce dip back down to pre-Covid levels or keep surging?
We’ll be answering these questions and others throughout the month, along with 2021 predictions (’tis the season) for our theme, Leaving 2020.
Qualifying and Quantifying 2020’s E-commerce Surge
Spending hasn’t declined — it’s just shifted. One of the themes we’re seeing is that the standouts of 2020 are those who have shifted with it. We’re talking here about a broad definition of e-commerce — not just ordering things online, but any digital or mobile purchase.
For example, in local commerce, these digital fulfillment models include mobile order-ahead functions in QSR and coffee. They also include curbside pickup for physical goods. And in an even broader sense (and looking forward), they will include touchless or cashier-less retail in a post-Covid era of physical retail.
Survey: Consumers Are Taking a Cautious Approach to Black Friday
Despite the somewhat complicated outlook, there are things retailers can do to change their fate. NMI found that 43% of consumers plan to avoid shopping with retailers that don’t offer contactless payments. Retailers that quickly adapt and add contactless payment options, and then market those changes aggressively over the coming days, still have an opportunity to win back customers who would otherwise be staying home.
Commentary
Brands More Skeptical of Facebook than SMBs in Wake of Controversies
Although most multi-location brands say they’re not changing how they use Facebook for marketing, well over one fourth of the ones that use it are re-examining or decreasing their use of it due to recent scandals, according to Street Fight’s latest survey of enterprise local marketers.
GateHouse Media Shows How Media Orgs Can Offer Value for SMB Advertisers
“Most newspapers and Yellow Pages (and Yelp?) are basically ad-selling machines. GateHouse, in selling HR, IT, and financing services as well as digital services, understands that once you know how to sell one service, you can sell (or more likely upsell) any service. It’s critical for legacy organizations to bite the bullet and figure out services,” writes Mike Blumenthal.
LBMA Podcast: MomentFeed & Yelp, Vendasta, Verizon
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Creator’s robot restaurant, MomentFeed + Yelp, iOS 12, Vendasta, Verizon, Amazon Alexa in hotels, Cisco buys July Systems, Sift + Digital Element. Special guest: Mark Michael of DevHub.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Intel Buys Mobileye for $15.3B, NJ Journalists Start Local Paper
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Intel is Paying $15.3 Billion to Acquire Mobileye… After Punishing Layoffs, New Jersey Journalists Start Up Their Own Local Paper… Optimizing Digital Marketing Performance to Drive Business Performance…
5 Platforms Connecting Local Customers to their Online Footprints
More than half of marketers expect cross-channel measurement and attribution to occupy most of their time, attention, and resources in the coming year. Many of these marketers will be exploring new technologies that close the loop on attribution and unlock the hidden connections between web viewing sessions and in-store purchases around the globe.
Raise Report: New Funding for Instacart, Kabbage, Drizly
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 Goldbely, Peerspace, Workfit, and Cordial.
Street Fight Daily: AirBnB Raises $1 Billion in Series F, Facebook Tests New Measurement Tool
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… AirBnB Just Raised a Massive $1 Billion Round that Values It at $31 Billion… Facebook to Release Advanced Measurement Tool… Brands Cool on Chatbots…
LOAC Notebook: As Platforms Ascend, Some Blunt Words for Legacy Media
“You’re going to have to change the way you do business,” CBS’s Ezra Kucharz told media executives earlier this week in a keynote at Borrell Associates’ Local Online Advertising Conference in New York. “The world is changing and we have to change with it.”
How San Angelo LIVE! Makes Programmatic Work in West Texas
When the West Texas oil bust hit San Angelo hard in 2015 and LIVE!’s CEO Joe Hyde turned to programmatic advertising to make up the difference in lost sales from struggling local merchants. To maximize that impact, artificial-intelligence platform Ezoic showed Hyde how to create longer revenue-generating sessions with users.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Tackles Brick-and-Mortar, WhatsApp Tests Chat Tools for Businesses
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Confirms Plans for a 10th Book Store, Demonstrating Commitment to Brick-and-Mortar… WhatsApp Tests Business Chat Tools in Search for Revenue… Joe Ricketts, Local News Publisher and Trump Backer, Acquires Gothamist Websites…
Google’s Pragmatic Approach to the Truth, and Its Pitfalls
If enough people believe something, should Google consider it to be true? In a world where questionable news is very popular, it’s not so surprising that Google’s logical assumptions might sometimes produce unexpected results. After all, trustworthiness at root is a matter of how many people are willing to trust you.
NinthDecimal Decouples Its Data, Expands Partnerships, and Moves Into the Black
The location data company announced this morning that it has crossed the line into profitability and CEO Michael Fordyce believes NinthDecimal has found an approach that will help it scale up in a big way. Fordyce and chief revenue officer Brian Slitt spoke with Street Fight recently about the need to measure and understand audiences across a myriad of media and channels.
Street Fight Daily: Instacart Amasses $3.4 Billion Valuation, Uber Seeks COO
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Grocery-Delivery Startup Instacart is Valued at $3.4 Billion… Travis Kalanick Wants a No. 2 Executive… Boston-Based Localytics, a Mobile Engagement Platform, Acquires Berlin’s Tapglue…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem