News and Analysis

Apple and Snap Signal Local AR Commerce Ambitions

Recent announcements from Snap and Apple at their respective developer conferences point to future connections between AR and local commerce.

Snap’s Local Lenses will let developers create geo-anchored persistent content that Snap users can discover through the camera interface. This will also include the ability for users to leave persistent AR graphics for friends to discover. The use case that Snap has promoted is more about fun and whimsy, including “painting” the world with digital and expressive graffiti. But the development could also include local storefront information.

Moving on to Apple, it similarly continues to show its AR aspirations. The latest is GeoAnchors for ARkit, announced at WWDC.  These evoke AR’s location-based potential by letting users plant and discover spatially anchored graphics that are persistent across sessions and users.

retail order pickup third-party data

During Covid Shutdowns, Brands Target Audiences with High Intent

With consumer behavior changing quickly, and so much about the future in flux, retailers are working harder to get a complete understanding of their shoppers as they go about their journeys between the digital and physical worlds, says Ubimo Co-Founder Ran Ben-Yair. Strategies specifically designed to target high-intent shoppers are moving into the forefront, as large retail brands come to terms with the unprecedented challenges of this new reality.

‘A Buyer’s Market’: Why OOH Is in Demand During the Pandemic

During a time when many other types of advertising have faltered, out-of-home (OOH) advertising is having a moment. Despite a nationwide pandemic, OOH activations are on the rise. Political spending on OOH media is up 75% compared to the same period in 2018, and direct-to-consumer brands are seeing increases in both aided and unaided brand awareness.

What’s driving the push? According to Quan CEO Brian Rappaport, there’s been a distinct change in consumer traffic patterns since the pandemic began. Brands that are capitalizing on those changes are reaching targeted groups of consumers at “firesale” prices.

Commentary

Will AMP Become a Web Standard for the World of Commerce?

“If Google succeeds at improving AMP with Wordpress and AMP for HTML, it will still be two to three years before SMB adoption has significant impact given how slowly the SMB moves on this front,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm in their biweekly column.

BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy

LBMA Podcast: Zara, Caliburger, Cab Digital Media & Telestra

This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan, Rob Woodbridge & Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Zara deploys robots, Cab Digital Media + Telestra, Caliburger goes with facial recognition.

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

“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.

Latest Posts

5 Ways to Use Social Media to Drive More In-Store Sales This Holiday Season

’Tis the season for brick-and-mortar businesses to figure out their digital marketing strategies for the holidays, if they haven’t already. With holiday sales coming up next week, here are some ways that businesses can use social media marketing to get more foot traffic into their stores.

Is Black Friday’s Importance Waning for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers?

As consumers do more of their holiday shopping online, brick-and-mortar retailers are working harder than ever to capitalize on evolving foot traffic patterns. Data scientists at Foursquare analyzed foot traffic trails from U.S. users to try and predict what next weekend’s sales numbers might look like.

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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?

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.