News and Analysis

Can a Pandemic Inflect Local Commerce Tech?

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Could forced adoption of alternative shopping methods like curbside pickup lead to user acclimation? Will millions of shoppers get exposed to the merits of these streamlined options and like what they see? Will new habits be born that sustain throughout normal times?

If so, these technologies — along with virtual-office enablement — could benefit from this period as a blessing in disguise for exposing their value propositions. But who stands to benefit most? We’ve identified five local commerce tech areas to which this could apply.

Cannabis CBD

Cannabis Businesses Are Running More Geofenced Campaigns. Here’s Why

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While geofenced campaigns and foot traffic attribution are old hat for mainstream brands, they represent a new frontier for cannabis businesses.

Despite widespread legalization in many states, the cannabis industry has been shut out from many of the most effective marketing and advertising strategies. In some cases, those restrictions come in the form of strict state and federal laws. In other cases, it’s simply due to a lack of ad tech platforms willing to accept their campaigns.

But times are changing, and new doors are opening up to businesses in the cannabis industry.

Ridesharing Inches Forward as Industry Looks for New Path

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Years of rising demand for ridesharing services came to a full stop this spring, as coronavirus spread and communities across the globe were put under lockdown. Now, as ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft begin inching their way forward toward a new normal, they’re looking at how to adapt to the completely new environment in which they find themselves.

Commentary

Back to Basics: Why Every Business Should Invest in SEO

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Contributor Kelsey Taylor goes back to the basics, laying out a case regarding the fundamental usefulness of SEO that might be presented to local business owners or industry newcomers. 

AR Cloud: The Linchpin for Local AR

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What about the non-Googles of the world? How will they create AR and visual search apps that can map environments reliably and return the correct info or graphics? The answer is the still-theoretical but critical AR Cloud.

LBMA Podcast: Placed, CityMapper, WeWork

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On this week’s LBMA podcast: BAG Networks, Placed, Citymapper, Robomart, REI, BMW acquires Parkmobile, Universal + Amazon Alexa, and WeWork buys Conductor.

Latest Posts

Local’s Next Hurdle: The Impressionable Use Fallacy

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No matter how good the targeting, creative, and “right person, right place,” the vast majority of our time contains urgencies that render us immune to push-based mobile ads. It’s basically a question of how often we’re actually idle, and therefore impressionable to being rerouted from a deliberate course.

Street Fight Daily: Lyft’s Impact on Hyperlocal Commerce, Facebook’s Ad-Counting Troubles Persist

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Touts Its Benefits for Hyperlocal Commerce… Facebook Reports New Issues with Ad-Counting Tools… In Smart Home Race, Microsoft, Google, Amazon Vie to Be ‘Hub of Everything You Do Online’ …

How to Foster Culture at Early Startups? Stylu Founder Says Just ‘Be Yourself’

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“Startup culture is very unique,” says Stylu’s CEO Justin Colombo. “There’s no such thing as rules. It’s good to have structure, but we’re very open-minded. We’re just moving forward naturally according to our culture and our style.”

LBMA Podcast: Adquick, Spotify, McDonald’s and Blippar

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This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Hormel, Talians app, Tree Elves and King of Pops, Commerce Signals, PlaceIQ, Broadsign, Here Maps and Twitter, and Apple Maps.

Street Fight Daily: Target Uses Data to Boost Brands, ProPublica Aims to Fill Local News Void

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Target Capitalizes on Shopper Data, Collaborates with In-House Brands On Programmatic… Attempting To Fill A Local News Void, ProPublica Launches Illinois Unit… Major Retailer Leverages Social To Score During Holiday Season…

5 Ways E-Commerce Retailers Are Creating Local Footprints

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New technology platforms are making it possible for online retailers of all sizes to expand locally into brick-and-mortar outlets. In other cases, technology is taking a back seat as e-commerce businesses form old-fashioned partnerships with stores on main street.

TownNews Founder: News Sites Will ‘Perish’ Without Latest AdTech

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In 1989, Marc Wilson’s Montana news bulletin board put editorial content into the hands of other local-news publishers more quickly, abundantly, and cheaply. Today, Wilson’s TownNews.com serves 1,600 newspapers — big and small, daily and weekly — as well as pure-plays and other digital publications

Street Fight Daily: Twitter Struggles with Publishers, Retail Marketing and Measurement

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Falling Behind Snapchat and Facebook, Twitter Struggles to Attract Publishers… How Retail Marketing Changes As Measurement Tools Improve… Where the Digital Dollars Have Gone: How 15 Major Media Companies Have Invested in Digital…

PlaceIQ’s New Service Looks to Give Brands the Full Competitive Picture

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As more and more brands invest in location-based marketing campaigns, there’s a crucial need to zoom out and see the big picture. In an effort to bring marketers to this full circle moment, PlaceIQ today is debuting LandMark, a new data-as-a-service capability that allows brands access to their location-based audience and insights platform.

Why Omnivore’s POS-Connection Platform Is Really an ‘App Store’ for Restaurants

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The platform, which connects apps to POS systems, is making it easier for restaurants to find and test new technology. We recently caught up with founder and CEO Mike Wior to talk about the unique issues facing restaurant tech, and how Omnivore’s service can enable more experimentation and innovation.