News and Analysis
With Shoelace, Its Latest Foray into (Local) Social, Google Aims to Do for Friends What Tinder Did for Dating
Perhaps Shoelace is less ambitious than Google+. But is finding friends, or others with whom to socialize, not the most central and yet unachieved aim of social networking? One that hinges on location and would be a gold mine for advertising, as it captures users far down the sales funnel, all the way at the point where they are ready to get together to spend some time at a local business? What if, in the same way online dating has gone from disreputable to de rigueur over the course of 10 years, finding friends online is something young people all do in 10 years, an engineering problem that Tinder rival Bumble is already trying to crack?
That would be a pretty big social network. The ambitions may not be so modest.
Retailers Are Using AI for Onboarding, Associate Retention
The retail landscape is going through an evolution, with mom-and-pop stores on Main Street being replaced by e-commerce outlets that rely on sophisticated algorithms to manage virtually every aspect of business operations.
While most headlines about the transformation of retail focus on the consumer-side of the equation, there’s even more change going on behind the scenes. Competition between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar is forcing innovation in the way retailers approach the challenges that come with onboarding and retaining in-store associates.
Retailers Leverage Prime Day to Boost Offline Sales
Unlike other shopping “holidays,” like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime Day is specific to a single retailer. But as the event grows, other retailers—both online and offline—are finding ways to leverage the anticipation that consumers are feeling.
Last year, 63% of Prime Day shoppers said they visited competing websites to compare prices. This is a major opportunity for online retailers to capitalize on the spike in traffic and provide consumers with personalized and targeted offerings and exclusive deals.
Commentary
Survey: Merchants Gain Social Media Sophistication, Rate it Most Effective Tactic
Over the past several years, Street Fight has seen these local merchants shift their marketing budgets away from traditional media like newspapers, print Yellow Pages, and local broadcast towards digital marketing and media. That trend continues in a new survey that we conducted earlier this year.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: HERE Wants to Compete with Google Maps, Yahoo’s Grim Financials
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Seeking Investments from Microsoft and Amazon, HERE Signals Intent to Compete Aggressively with Google Maps (Search Engine Land)… Yahoo Paints Grim Financial Picture as Deadline for Bids Nears (New York Times)… Why Pinterest Forces You Off Its Mobile Site and Into Its App (VentureBeat)…
Street Fight Daily: HomeAdvisor Growing Fast, Mcommerce’s Customer Service Impact
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Diller’s Home Services Bet Could Hit $1 Billion in a Few Years (Bloomberg)… How Mobile Commerce Is Changing Customer Service (VentureBeat)… Second Measure Is the New Secret Weapon Investors Are Using to Outsmart Each Other (Business Insider)…
7 Smart Ways to Deliver Loyalty Rewards Based on Buying Patterns
Hyperlocal vendors are increasingly marketing their high-tech loyalty programs at small and mid-size businesses, with easier ways for business owners to deliver loyalty rewards based on data captured through the point-of-sale. Here are seven ways merchants can use purchasing behaviors to offer more relevant rewards.
Street Fight Daily: Comcast-backed Firm Bets $250M on Groupon, OOH Advertising’s ‘Renaissance’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Comcast-Backed Firm Makes $250 Million Investment in Groupon (Bloomberg)… Technology Fuels Renaissance in Out-of-Home Advertising (AdAge)… Does Google Stand a Chance Against Facebook in Mobile Display? (Marketing Land)…
Automating Local Commerce: Rise of the Chatbots
Bots could displace apps just as apps displaced search. “Search started with consumers typing into a box,” Pingup’s Ron Braunfeld said recently. “[AI] is all about knowing where you are, time of day, what’s in your refrigerator; and giving you the right information without having to search.”
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