News and Analysis
By Unlocking Vehicle Data, Car Rental Companies Help Build Smarter Cities
As operator of three of the most recognized brands in the industry — Avis, Budget and Zipcar — Avis Budget Group represents a mobility ecosystem of more than 11,000 locations in approximately 180 countries. The company recently partnered with the connected-car data firm Otonomo to manage its connected cars on Otonomo’s automotive data services platform. Otonomo will help ABG derive insights from its large connected vehicle fleet, including anonymizing, standardizing, and delivering data from Toyota, Ford, Peugeot and GM vehicles.
The deal between ABG and Otonomo is expected to generate more than 4 billion road miles of data this year, and 7 billion road miles of data by 2020, with much of that data being used for predictive maintenance, smart city planning, and streamlining of the rental process.
5 Business Models for On-Demand Delivery
In the on-demand food delivery vertical alone, revenue is expected to reach $94 billion this year. Other verticals, like beauty, parking, health, shipping, and marijuana, are seeing significant gains, as well. Although the space is maturing, investors are still seeing great growth opportunities. Any number of on-demand delivery startups has the potential to take over the space if it continues to grow as its current pace.
To understand where that growth might occur, we need to take a step back and examine which business models are proving most successful in the on-demand delivery space and how startups are implementing those business models for financial gain.
How Retailers Are Reaching Back-to-School Shoppers
It’s that time of the year. As summertime comes to an end, parents around the country have started filling up shopping carts with pencils, notebooks, and binders. Families in the U.S. are expected to spend an average of $696 on back-to-school supplies this year, the highest amount ever recorded by the National Retail Federation.
Back-to-school shopping has become an important event for retailers like Target, Walmart, and Office Depot. While ecommerce is king at other times of the year, parents shopping for their kids’ back-to-school supplies are just as likely to shop in-store as they are online.
Commentary
Report: Solid Opportunity to Sell Marketing and Data Management Services to Local Merchants
As local merchants increasingly shift their marketing spending to digital tactics, they’re becoming more sophisticated in how they manage those programs. Street Fight’s latest analysis of its local small business survey shows a much higher adoption rate of digital dashboards and the like compared with previous research.
SMB Content Marketing: Avoid the Backward Approach
Whether a business is local or not, content drives the bulk of digital marketing. A successful content marketing campaign involves topics that resonate with the intended audience, creates buzz on social media and attracts high quality links. Yet, the approach that many people take to content marketing is backward.
Get Ready for The New SMB Software Market
The SMB market is less homogenous than the consumer market, which makes it difficult to reach and serve the majority of customers with a single software product. Luckily for SMB, that won’t always be the case. Now is the time to get ready for a new SMB software market that will experience more growth than enterprise or consumer.
Latest Posts
PlaceIQ Releases Location Data Accuracy Study, Debuts ‘Dynamic Distancing’ Tech
The company has released the results of an independent, third-party analysis of location data accuracy in 150 locations across five U.S. cities and also announced the launch of its Dynamic Distancing technology, which it says offers comprehensive, “reality-based” data for use by brands and marketers.
Street Fight Daily: Google Maps to Feature Local Ads, Foursquare’s Restaurants Bot
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Maps Will Feature Local Search Ads for Businesses… PlaceIQ Releases Location Data Accuracy Study, Debuts ‘Dynamic Distancing’ Tech… Foursquare Just Quietly Released a Bot for Finding Restaurants…
Sponsored Post: 8 Awesome Content Marketing Ideas that Deliver Local Marketing Results
Sometimes making a small adjustment and re-posting a piece can help you extend your reach to a new audience, build a loyal following and even have a direct impact on converting viewers into customers. Seize the opportunity to repurpose, reuse and recycle already-created content in a new way…
Case Study: Hardware Store Shifts Marketing Mix, Joins the ‘Buy Local’ Movement
Taylor’s Do it Center is never going to be able to compete with corporate heavyweights like Home Depot and Lowe’s. But the company is hoping to turn its locally owned status into an asset, rather than a liability, by partnering with other small businesses and educating consumers on the benefits of buying local.
Street Fight Daily: AmazonFresh to See Major Expansion, Tribune Rejects Second Gannett Offer
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon to Launch Fresh Grocery Delivery Service in New Markets Including U.K. and Boston… Tribune Rejects Gannett’s Second Offer, Talks May Be Ahead… Why Buy Buttons on Pinterest and Instagram Still Haven’t Taken Off for Retailers…
VCs Share 7 Strategies for Hyperlocal Startups Looking to Raise Money
As access to venture capital funding softens within the startup community, it’s becoming even more important for hyperlocal firms to think more strategically about how they’ll fund their great ideas. Here, several top VCs talk about the groundwork that founders need to do to make their funding goals a reality in 2016.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation