News and Analysis

New Hires at Kobie, AppNexus, Rewards Network

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Every two weeks, our jobs columnist Geoff Michener provides a roundup of the latest hires in the digital marketing and media ecosystems. This week’s edition also includes new hires at Digital Ocean and Acceleration Partners.

Shirking the Tech Giants’ Mobile Wallets, Kroger Unveils One of Its Own

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Kroger is flexing on Apple and Google this week, passing on the opportunity to accept Apple Pay or Google Pay at its stores and choosing instead to launch its own mobile wallet that doubles as a loyalty card, WCPO reported in Columbus.

food

How Online Grocers Are Using AI to Cut Food Prices

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The distinction between real-world supermarkets and online-only grocers has come down to price. The introduction of a new technology to lower prices for consumers may be what the industry needs to finally push it past the tipping point.

Commentary

Sussing Out Google’s Master Plan in the Post-App Era

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Google’s counter-attack to the world of apps can be seen in several places. In fact most Google moves are to drive mobile behavior through its front door. This principle underpinned nearly every announcement at Google I/O.

As Google Doubles Down on Mobile, How Can SMBs Keep Pace?

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Google has been refocusing its efforts to create a “better web” by not only increasing the importance of mobile-friendly websites and better mobile browsing experiences but by fundamentally redefining what the mobile web experience is altogether.

Weighing the Local Promise of Bots and Conversational Commerce

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Are bots the future of the internet? Maybe, maybe not; like the buzz around Google Glass in 2013, we’re in the midst of a moment when it’s hard to tell the difference between hype and technological breakthrough.

Latest Posts

5 Tools Local Merchants Can Use to Segment In-Store Visitors

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Loyal customers are incredibly valuable to local merchants. A new class of hyperlocal platforms is helping small business owners pinpoint and engage with repeat visitors using a combination of in-store beacons, geo-location tools, and customer segmentation technology. Here are five platforms that enable merchants to track visit frequency and send highly targeted promotions to maximize sales among their most valuable customers.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Q3 Success Fueled by Mobile, Jet.com’s Emergency Fundraising

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook’s Transformation into a Mobile Company Is Complete (Gigaom)… Facing Cash Crunch, Retailer Jet.com Racing to Complete Funding Round (Wall Street Journal)… Hiku’s New Connected Grocery Scanner Lets You Order Groceries from Walmart and Peapod (TechCrunch)…

Q3 Earnings Roundup: Shift to Mobile Presents Commerce Challenge for Yelp, Angie’s List, Groupon

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Consumers are spending more time on their mobile devices than ever, a shift that is affecting both traditional and digital businesses. Recent earnings reports from Yelp, Angie’s List, and Groupon indicate that some of these publicly traded local mainstays are handling the transition better than others, particularly the rising challenge to effectively combine content, commerce, and services.

Zenchef CEO: The Restaurant Tech Sector Is Booming

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French company Zenchef, which offers an all-in-one marketing solution for restaurants, has taken on the challenge of uniting thousands of European eateries on one platform. With 2,500 customers in France, Spain, and the UK, and plans to expand to Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Turkey in 2016, co-founder and CEO Xavier Zeitoun said “the key in this market is distribution.”

Street Fight Daily: Groupon Replaces CEO, Slack Partners with Lyft and Foursquare

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Groupon Replaces CEO Eric Lefkofsky with COO Rich Williams (Recode)… Slack’s Newest Feature Lets You Call a Lyft (Fast Company)… The Artist Formerly Known as Ecommerce (Venture Inside)…

Case Study: Restaurant Group Takes a Data-Driven Approach to Email Marketing

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Data is changing the way large restaurant groups cater to their highest-value customers. Richard Sandoval Restaurants, the upmarket restaurant group with more than 35 locations worldwide, is looking for more strategic ways to use data for customer retention and acquisition. It has started harnessing its email database to make more data-driven decisions using tools like customer analytics and marketing platform Venga.

Constant Contact CEO Touts ‘Distribution Benefits’ After $1.1 Billion Acquisition by Endurance

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Endurance International Group, which operates a stable of small business-oriented services, has acquired email marketing giant Constant Contact, in a transaction valued at $1.1. billion. Constant Contact will become the largest brand under the Endurance umbrella. “It’s taking our mission further by getting broader distribution. That’s the number-one rationale for the acquisition,” said Constant Contact CEO Gail Goodman.

Street Fight Daily: Google’s Drones to Hit Skies by 2017, Apple’s New Indoor Mapping App

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Plans to Deliver Packages with Drones by 2017 (Business Insider)… Apple’s ‘Indoor Survey’ App Maps Venues Using Radio Frequencies (The Next Web)… Amazon to Open First Brick-and-Mortar Bookstore (Wall Street Journal)…

#SFSNYC VIDEO: Booker CEO on the Tricky Process of Expanding into New Local Verticals

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Booker CEO Josh McCarter opened his Street Fight Summit keynote address with a question that’s on the minds of many small business solutions providers: “How do you take a system that’s designed for one vertical and take it across more categories?” Factoring in the differing needs of various service-based businesses makes that question even more complex. But given the size of what McCarter termed the “local service commerce” opportunity, answering it could be tremendously lucrative.

How Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Uses Quality Journalism to Pay the Bills

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Like other dailies, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has taken big hits in advertising and distribution revenue on the print side, but it’s still profitable. To find out how the Journal Sentinel uses quality journalism to stay in the black, Street Fight spoke with editor and senior vice president George Stanley.