News and Analysis
Retail Prepares for a Covid-Inflected Holiday Season
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar commerce to digital transactions. It has also forced brick-and-mortars resisting the hybridization of their own businesses to adopt digital methods, turning restaurants and apparel stores alike into both brick-and-mortar establishments and online sellers.
Against that backdrop, retail’s biggest quarter will present novel challenges this year. Retailers will need to optimize for online transactions and contend with fragmented national and global landscapes where it may be safe to go to stores in New York but not in Los Angeles.
Coronavirus Boosts OTT Viewership and Opens New TV Ad Opportunities
To be sure, kids are not the only ones spending more time staring at the TV screen. The coronavirus has catalyzed a golden age for TV viewership and non-traditional formats such as over-the-top viewing in particular, said Sean Buckley, COO of global video advertising platform SpotX.
SpotX announced a strategic investment in CTV and OTT-focused ad serving platform SpringServe Monday. I checked in with Buckley to find out how the partnership will benefit both companies and how the coronavirus year has affected TV viewership as well as video advertising.
Can a Pandemic Inflect Local Commerce Tech? Part II
What about the tech adoption accelerants happening on the supply side? Tech giants who provide marketing and operational tools for local businesses have been in hyperdrive over the past few months to roll out new Covid-era features.
Here are three areas where we’re seeing the most activity … and where we could correspondingly see the most local business evolution.
Commentary
LBMA Podcast: Placed, CityMapper, WeWork
On this week’s LBMA podcast: BAG Networks, Placed, Citymapper, Robomart, REI, BMW acquires Parkmobile, Universal + Amazon Alexa, and WeWork buys Conductor.
How Patch Has Quietly ‘Bootstrapped’ Itself Into 36 NYC Neighborhoods
Patch CEO Warren St. John tells our columnist Tom Grubisich why he decided to bet big on hyperlocal news in New York City while other local publishers were shutting down or threatening to do so, retrenching or selling out.
SurePath Capital Breaks Down Last Year’s Money Moves in SMB Software
Last week, my firm SurePath Capital Partners released its annual State of SMB Software Report, which looks at fundraising and exit activity in the SMB software space in North America.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Google My Business Tests Chat Feature, M-Commerce Sees Conversion Issues
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google My Business Tests a Messaging Feature to Enable Business-Customer Communication… Mobile Smartphone Shoppers Struggle with Navigation… E-Commerce Won Black Friday Weekend. Now Walmart Really Has to Compete on Amazon’s Turf…
What Is the Essential Digital Marketing Bundle for Local Businesses?
Where should small businesses be spending their money (or energy) right now to maximize their digital investment? Mike Blumenthal and David Mihm say it all starts with a website and listings management, and includes a variety of services like email newsletters, reviews management, and even Facebook ads.
Street Culture: How Placeable Employees Own the Company’s Culture
The company offers a number of perks, including membership stock shares making each employee an equity owner. “That’s the kind of tactical ownership that we’re going for,” says CEO Ari Kaufman. “Make everyone own a piece of the company. This is your company. Give a sh*t about it — it’s yours.”
Street Fight Daily: Black Friday Store Visits Decline as M-Commerce Soars, Strong Loyalty for Amazon
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Thanksgiving, Black Friday Store Sales Fall, While M-Commerce Soars… Amazon Enjoys Great Loyalty from U.S. Amazon Shoppers… Marketing the Potential of the Connected Car…
QSRs Are Thriving With Location-Based Data, But There’s a Caveat
QSRs have successfully forged ahead with location-based ad strategies. Not only have we seen an influx of case studies asserting as much, but also a recent report from xAD inferring that foot traffic has spiked for QSRs thanks to location-based marketing, and, perhaps more importantly, the data mined from those efforts.
Sponsored: Black Friday’s Battle of the Brands
Though Toys ‘R’ Us might have enjoyed an edge by appealing customers with its toy-specific specialized product focus, Target held the final advantage, winning this month’s Brand Battle by 75 points.
Moms and Dads Do the Crowdsourcing at New Hyperlocal Network ParentNation
In September, Renee Levine and her husband Josh launched their hyperlocal parent-recommendations site in the New York City suburbs of Westchester County, N.Y., Fairfield County in Connecticut and North Jersey. Here, Levine talks about the birth of ParentNation and why the company is building their content strategy around crowdsourcing.
Street Fight Daily: Location Behavior Drives Holiday Sales, Top Retailers Use Tech for Success on Black Friday
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… QSRs Are Thriving with Location-Based Data, But There’s a Caveat… How Top Retailers Are Using Tech to Score Points On Black Friday and Beyond… Location Behavior Could Drive Sales Online During Holidays…
YP CEO: Tech Companies Have Required ‘More of Our Clients Than We Need To’
In August, YP announced that former Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group President Jared Rowe would take the company’s helm as CEO. Street Fight recently caught up with Rowe to talk about how he’s found the first few months on the job, how he thinks local is evolving, and when he thinks the last print Yellow Pages will eventually be printed.
6 Tools Merchants Can Use to Implement Surge Pricing
Not only can surge pricing bring in more revenue during a business’ busiest times — like during the dinner hour for restaurants, or on holiday weekends for theme parks — but it can also spread out demand, encouraging customers to visit during times when businesses would typically be slow.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Reviews Are Now a Growth System for Multi-Location Brands