News and Analysis

95% of Consumers Plan on Buying Most Holiday Gifts Online

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While brick-and-mortar sales remain a robust part of the holiday shopping experience, online shopping is asserting clearer dominance than ever before this year. A walloping 95% of consumers plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping this season online, according to multi-channel engagement platform Leanplum.

5 Ways to Improve the Customer Experience for Holiday Shoppers

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The retail space starts to feel chaotic this time of year, with brands pulling out all the stops to win over holiday shoppers. Amidst all the talk of sales and discounts, retailers this year are looking at integrating new customer experience initiatives designed to bring in first-time shoppers and encourage long-time loyalists to spend even more than usual.

To learn even more about the customer experience strategies retailers are launching this year, we checked in with a few industry experts. Here are their thoughts on the best customer experience strategies retailers are trying out this holiday season.

Which Emerging Social Platforms Will Win Big This Holiday Season?

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Retailers looking for an edge this holiday season are testing the waters with newer, emerging social platforms in a bid to generate awareness and market their products to huge audiences of tech-savvy teens and twenty-somethings.

On TikTok, a mobile app for creating and sharing short videos, retailers are poised to connect with a base of more than 500 million users.

Commentary

Where Will VR Fit Into Local Advertising?

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How will advertising play out in (admittedly nascent) VR, especially in local? We’ll likely see the same early and ongoing misfires, such as banner ads. Or, as in video experiences, we’ll likely see a fair share of legacy formats — like pre-roll ads — ham-handedly shoehorned into VR.

The New ‘Location, Location, Location’ in Retail

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“The new consumer (and search) paradigm favors small-scale, hyper-focused boutiques close to population centers as opposed to horizontal big box retailers on suburban commercial strips,” David Mihm says to Mike Blumenthal in their bi-weekly conversation.

The Shift in B2SMB: It’s All About Platforms

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Major changes are coming to SMB marketing as the market shifts away from media towards cloud-based services, artificial intelligence, marketing automation and location marketing. This cluster of tech movements represent real opportunities to help SMBs target and engage customers, and become more efficient.

Latest Posts

Openings and New Hires at Zenreach, Rocketspace, TruMeasure

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at SweetIQ, AdviceLocal, and more.

Raise Report: New Funding for Kiip, Sprinklr, Shipt

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Civil Maps, Brandcast, Peek.com, and Density.

LBMA Podcast: Snapchat, Life 360, McDonald’s, Google Nearby

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Welcome to This Week in Location Based Marketing, a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Uber + Digital Globe, Placed, Samsung LANdry, Snorelax Alarm Clock, Vivid VR Cinema.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Posts Record-Shattering Q2, Whole Foods Enters Meal-Kit Delivery

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Beats Expectations with $857 Million in Profits Driven by AWS, Prime… America’s Meal-Kit Craze Attracts a Big New Competitor… GrubHub Announces More Investments Following Strong Q2…

Report: Beacons a Slam Dunk for Sports, Recouping Over $1B in Ticket Sales

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The Q2 2016 report by Proxbook shows that since then, there’s been a 33% increase in global sensors since the beginning of the year. And according to the new report, proximity technology has enabled sports teams and their venues to reclaim ticket revenue at a time when fewer fans are going to stadiums.

Parse.ly’s Audience Analytics Help News Sites Make Stronger Case to Advertisers

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Audience analytics firms Parse.ly aims to give community news sites the same kind of in-depth information that platforms like Facebook provide about how users are responding – and not responding – to content. The company aims to help editors and reporters make decisions that can go right to the bottom line, leading to higher revenue.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Profits Skyrocket, Gannett Expansion Faces Ad Difficulties

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Profit Nearly Triples on Mobile Ad Sales and New Users… Gannett’s Expansion Strategy Runs Into Bad News on the Ad Front… How Businesses Creating New Website Platforms Can Optimize for Search…

7 Call Analytics Platforms Using Machine Learning to Identify Caller Intent

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Providers are introducing adaptive learning technology to categorize data and generate insights from inbound phone calls, giving merchants the ability to better understand what types of telephone calls are being driven. Here are seven examples of call analytics and attribution providers using advanced technology to identify caller intent.

Street Fight Daily: Shopper Intent and Location, Brands Tap Pokémon Go

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… flok Launches Chatbots to Bolster Customer Engagement for Local Businesses… Can Insights on Shopper Intent Improve Location Data?… This Brand Found a Clever Way to Connect with Pokémon Go Players…

flok Launches Chatbots to Bolster Customer Engagement for Local Businesses

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With chatbot technology, communications between local businesses and their customers via flok can now evolve into more complex conversations. These conversations yield better data for the business owner and more detailed information as well as a more engaging customer service experience for the consumer.