News and Analysis

E-Commerce Booms While Hospitality, Restaurants Suffer Amid Covid-19 Concerns

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Early trends in consumer coronavirus behavior indicate that the already fast-growing e-commerce sector may see an added boost over the next few months as people avoid in-door shopping to practice social distancing during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Media and marketing services firm ENGINE is conducting 1,000-person online surveys of representative samples of US consumers every few days to gauge changes in consumer sentiment and behavior as the quickly accelerating outbreak develops. The firm found that while 31% of consumers said they were increasing their online shopping in surveys conducted March 13-15 and 16-17, 42% said the same March 20-22, a 35% increase.

Brands Struggle to Keep Up When Promotions Explode in Popularity

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When the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich was released last summer, the effect on sales was almost immediate. Customers filled Popeyes locations and waited in long lines to get a taste of the buzzy new sandwich. A Twitter feud between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A caused those lines to grow even longer, and the viral frenzy ended up draining the supply of “little chickens” to the point where a nationwide shortage ensued.

For GSD&M, the agency that handles Popeyes’ social media, the rollout was initially seen as a huge success. From a logistical perspective, though, it quickly turned into a nightmare as Popeyes struggled to keep up with demand.

Womply, FundRocket Launch SMB Stimulus Program

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While Congress continues to deliberate on a stimulus package that will provide as much as $400 billion in aid and loans for small businesses, tech companies that serve SMBs are stepping in to offer their own assistance packages. Among them is reputation management, CRM, and email software firm Womply, which has launched an SMB stimulus program in collaboration with its capital partner, FundRocket. 

Commentary

How Facebook’s Big Changes Impact One Local Publisher — Some Surprising Conclusions

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“It looks as if Facebook’s changes are only going to help New Canaanite’s visibility in the news feeds of our Facebook followers and their networks,” Michael Dinan, the site’s founder, told our columnist Tom Grubisich.

How to Create a Seamless Online/Offline Shopping Experience

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Thanks to advances made in the digital world, in-store identification can be linked to existing digital identifiers and unlock sophisticated, real-time personalization that is seamless across channels.

6 Guidelines for the Path to Voice Everywhere

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I want voice (control of everything), everywhere, but I have strict requirements for how it should be designed, engineered, and implemented. Here are six requirements for a reasonable deployment of voice everywhere.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Lyft Launches Ride Request SDK for iOS, Verizon Acquires SocialRadar

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Verizon Requires SocialRadar to Buff Up Mapquest’s Location Data… Lyft Launches Ride Request SDK for iOS… AOL Lays Off 500 Employees in Restructuring with Eyes on Mobile, Data, and Video…

Unacast, JUICE Mobile Partner to Provide Proximity Data at Scale

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JUICE Mobile will license Unacast’s beacon and proximity data for advertisers to use in attribution and retargeting campaigns. The partnership is one of the first that allows advertisers to use beacon and proximity data at scale in retargeting and attribution.

What Happens When SMBs Get Social?

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Social networks are transformative, and are the most disruptive when they provide a market segment with opportunities previously unavailable. If you look at the history of how selling has traditionally been done, it’s evident that social will transform sales as well.

Street Fight Daily: Snap Files for IPO, Belly CEO Steps Down

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Intel is Investing $250 Million in Self-Driving Cars… Snapchat Files for One of the Biggest Tech IPOs in Years… Simpli.Fi Extends Mobile Geo-Fencing Solution With Event Targeting Feature…

Why Social Media Is a Battleground for Prompted Search

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In a world of omnichannel search, a business’s social media spaces are places where consumers can find what brands have to offer at a local level. As consumers search across a larger palette of devices and channels such as social, a brand needs to view its social spaces as battlegrounds for prompted search.

How Physical Retailers Can Improve Conversion Rates on Black Friday

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Sales forecasts for this upcoming holiday season haven’t been as optimistic as many hoped, but there are some highlights that retailers shouldn’t ignore. Here are seven strategies that retailers can use to increase conversion rates on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season.

Street Fight Daily: Snapchat Taps Foursquare For Sharper Location Data, xAd Raises Additional $42.5M

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Signs Data Deal with Foursquare for Better Targeted Geofilters… Verizon Invests Further in Location Data, Ad Capabilities, Buying LQD Wifi to Expand IoT Strategy… Samsung Buys Harman International for $8 Billion in Bet on Connected Cars…

Which Apple Will Show Up For Local’s Next Revolution?

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Apple’s relative inaction on VR/AR thus far could either indicate that the company is missing this next tech shift (which I’ve speculated), or that it’s playing the long game. The latter could involve a deliberately late entrance to VR and AR, just as it did with previous technologies.

How Should SMBs Track ROI From Local Search?

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It’s likely that many local merchants misunderstand the importance of using tracking metrics to inform their marketing practices, or they feel overwhelmed at the thought of adding yet another task to their overcrowded plates. To find out how these business owners could be doing a better job of tracking local search metrics, we asked top experts in the field.

Street Fight Daily: Keeping Up With Mobile Shoppers, Google’s Mobile-First Index

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook, In Cross Hairs After Election, Is Said to Question Its Influence… FAQ: All About Google’s Mobile-First Index… How Walgreens’ App Update Will Leverage Beacons to Improve the In-Store Experience…