News and Analysis
5 Retail Tech Solutions Keeping Shoppers Safe During Covid-19
Beacons, sensors, security cameras, and touchless payment solutions are all being used in ways they haven’t been before. Technology vendors are even changing up their offerings, or in some cases pivoting altogether, to better serve the retail market during this ongoing pandemic.
Here are five examples of technology providers offering innovative solutions for enhanced social distancing and improved shopper safety during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Curbside Pickup Moves Into Primetime, But Retailers Struggle With Implementation
Petsmart and Kohl’s have it. So do Best Buy, GameStop, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and dozens of other national retailers. With social distancing orders in place across most of the country, curbside pickup is becoming an increasingly popular checkout option for retailers. Integrating curbside technology into existing ecommerce fulfillment programs hasn’t been without its challenges, though, especially given how hastily many of these programs have been rolled out.
Ad Tech Execs Weigh in on Coronavirus Ads, Google and Twitter, and Misinformation
I turned to a number of ad tech execs for their expert perspectives on the risks and rewards of digital advertising on this extraordinarily high-stakes issue. While expectedly optimistic about the benefits of coronavirus-related messaging for savvy brands, the business leaders diverged on the responsibility and capability of Google and Twitter to monitor the veracity of the content they host. They also made distinct cases for advertising at a time when brand messaging requires extra sensitivity, arguing that both brands and their customers have something to gain if businesses provide accurate information, focus on customers’ needs, and showcase the ways they are adapting in a time of crisis.
Commentary
Will 2018 Be a Tipping Point for Voice?
“There may only be 6-7 ‘commands’ that we use regularly with voice, though I’m willing to bet that as people get more and more accustomed to the interface, the horizon of possibilities expands,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal in their biweekly column.
Addressing Multi-Location Brands’ Digital Marketing Pain Points
Street Fight’s 2017 State of Hyperlocal analysis showed that selling to enterprise local marketers was one of the toughest challenges facing suppliers, right up there with raising their own company’s brand awareness and showing marketing attribution and ROI.
With Data and Local Guides, Google Maps Stays Ahead of the Rest
Justin O’Beirne marvels that, with the AOI initiative, Google has figured out how to “create data out of data,” meaning that AOIs are a mashup of 3D modeling and data extraction from images. Looked at more broadly, this is not the only example where Google has built features on top of features within the Maps universe.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Majority of Consumers Will Pay for Same-Day Delivery, Google Expands Waze
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Most U.S. Digital Buyers Would Pay for Same-Day Delivery — If They Need It… Google Quietly Expands Ride-Sharing Service… Chute Launches Service for Brands to Find and Manage Influencers…
Yext Integrates With Uber as Local On-Demand Becomes More Ubiquitous
With the new integration, clients of Yext’s Location Cloud for listings and local site management can let their customers book an Uber ride to their store from a local website, app, or email campaign via a “Ride with Uber” button. Once the customer catches a ride, the business can show an offer or other information to the rider.
The Google My Business API Takes Another Step Forward
Google has many paths for sourcing local content, from user edits to third party licensed data, but none provides as comprehensive or accurate a source of truth as data that comes directly from businesses, so there’s every reason to remove friction from that path wherever possible.
Street Fight Daily: Google Expands Free Measurement Tech, Social Gains More of Marketers’ Budgets
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Expands Free Measurement Tech for Its Marketing Cloud… Yext Integrates with Uber as Local On-Demand Becomes More Ubiquitous… Social, Not Search, Gaining More of Marketers’ Budgets….
5 Tools for Buying Local Ads in National Publications
By placing localized ads in national publications, smaller businesses and national chains with physical locations can cut down on wasted spending and ensure their ads are only being seen by consumers in the markets they serve. At the same time, these businesses are getting access to high-quality publications for a tiny fraction of the typical cost.
Burbio Creates Smarter Community Calendars for Local Events
Calendar and event sites in surburban towns have a “massive pain point,” according to hyperlocal entrepreneurs Dennis and Julie Roche. Their company, Burbio, tailors calendar information for consumers so that they can more easily keep up with everything that’s going on in their communities.
Street Fight Daily: Salesforce Launches Retail Platform, 55% of Online Shoppers Start on Amazon
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Salesforce Announces Cloud-Based Retail Platform for In-Store, Online (MediaPost) As part of the Customer Success Platform, retail brands on the Salesforce Commerce Cloud can transform how they connect with their customers at every step in the journey: from discovery, engagement, and transaction to […]
Verve CEO: Eliminating Uncertainty in Location Data Is ‘Critical’ for Mobile
Street Fight recently caught up Nada Stirratt to talk about how brands are coming to understand location as a part of their mix, why high-quality location data is so vital for marketers, and where the “white space” is in local tech.
Pingup and EatStreet Set the Table for Simple Digital Food Ordering
Ordering dinner is getting a little bit easier. Two powerhouses in the chain that links that Chicken Phad Thai to the plate on your table are partnering to simplify the process of actually getting it there. EatStreet, the digital ordering service with more than 15,000 restaurants in over 250 cities in its quiver and transactional tech developer Pingup (connecting scores of […]
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Eats Up Warehouse Brand Market, Figures on AMP’s Progress
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Prime May Be Cannibalizing Traditional Warehouse Brands’ Customer Pool… Need for Speed: Google Shares Its Progress on AMP… How Millenial Journalists Are Unraveling Local News for their Peers…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem