News and Analysis
What’s Shwell in Attracting Hourly Workers?
No, that’s not a typo. MULO (multi-location) convenience store (C-store) brand Sheetz is opening a massive “Shwellness Center” across the street from one of its major locations in Pennsylvania. This center will offer some of the lifestyle benefits of its current Shwellness center (see below), as well as routine medical appointments, physical therapy, and behavior […]
The Freezer Beyond the Grocery & C-Store
Cryotherapy is one of the latest categories to scale in the health, wellness, and longevity space. In this column, we’ve detailed how brick-and-mortar businesses have expanded far beyond the typical gym as the population ages and become more concerned about staying healthy longer. Highly specialized brands and franchises are offering body-related services like IVs. I […]
Early Spending Results are In! MULO BOOMs this Holiday Season
As of this writing, Black Friday and Cyber Monday (now seemingly extended to Cyber Week) are behind us. MULO (multi-location) pundits and agencies involved in retail and restaurant analyses and predictions are starting to call the winners and losers in the holiday Street Fight, which now involves battles between brands, products, SMBs, and MULO chains, […]
Latest Posts
Steak & Ale Makes a Brand Comeback
We’ve written before about “nostalgia” brands and those franchise businesses that have survived 50+ years. Steak & Ale would seem to fit right in there. Steakhouses are alive and well despite the surge in plant-based dining! So we weren’t totally shocked that Steak & Ale, a business created in 1966, is priming (pun intended) for […]
Unlocking Marketing Success: The Power of ID Resolution
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, the customer journey takes center stage as brands strive to craft compelling marketing and advertising campaigns. However, the abundance of customer data, often scattered across various identifiers like web browsers, mobile apps, and in-store interactions, poses a significant challenge Without the right tools and systems in place, this data fragmentation […]
BOOM: Lessons from Build-A-Bear
Stuffed bears have been around since 1903 and became a multi-million dollar business. Despite the popularity of electronic gadgets, VR, AR, and AI, the simple toy lives on! In fact, according to a recent Retail Dive article, Build-A-Bear is on the upswing and has major deals with big brands like Marvel, the NFL, Disney, and […]
Claravine Aims to Revolutionize Marketing Data Management
Claravine recently unveiled Claravine AI, a suite of solutions designed to redefine how marketing teams approach data management. This new offering, fueled by proprietary technology, promises to empower marketing teams with unprecedented control and insight into marketing taxonomy and metadata. By fostering collaboration across the content supply chain and automating the classification of creative assets, […]
Mark Michael Speaks About Today’s Franchise and Tech
DevHub CEO and Founder Mark Michael describes his company as the “torso” of the franchise brand ecosystem. DevHub specializes in building front-end websites that power the entire franchisor-to-franchisee-to-consumer experience. Their technology has more than 75 integrations with other commonly used platforms, and he often speaks about the power of human relationships in solving problems and […]
Compliant Launches Publisher Platform to Combat Illegal Data Sharing
In response to the pressing issue of illegal data sharing on digital publishing platforms, Compliant, a leading data compliance technology company, has introduced a new publisher platform. This platform utilizes advanced AI, termed Compliant Audit Technology, to identify and eradicate compliance risks and vulnerabilities within a publisher’s site. The move follows alarming findings by Compliant, […]
Conversational Commerce: The Next Frontier in Personalized Customer Journeys
In the fast-evolving landscape of e-commerce, a renewed emphasis on personalization has reshaped customer experiences. Guided shopping, propelled by tools like chatbots and quiz platforms, has become commonplace. Now, as cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies come into play, a new frontier emerges in the form of conversational commerce. But what exactly is conversational commerce, […]
AppsFlyer Fortifies Privacy-Focused Analytics with devtodev Acquisition
The recent acquisition of devtodev by AppsFlyer, a global leader in marketing measurement, attribution, and data analytics, has sent ripples through the industry. In a discussion with Oren Kaniel, AppsFlyer CEO and Co-founder, he shed light on the significance of this acquisition, emphasizing how it positions AppsFlyer as the pioneer in analytics within the newly […]
The 3 Technologies MULO Restaurant Businesses Need Today: A Chat with Eric Seymour
Eric Seymour is the VP of Channel Programs at me&u. The company provides tech-powered ordering to restaurants. He believes strongly that the right technologies, combined with the best possible human-customer interaction, can help solve many of the problems multi-location (MULO) restaurants face today in terms of service and satisfaction today. What are the top three […]
Applying the Golden Rule to Omnichannel Retail Marketing
Tim Mason is not only CEO of Eagle Eye, a SaaS company that provides global personalized retail marketing via its loyalty and promotions platform, AIR, he is also a 30-year retail industry veteran, author, and keynote speaker. Before becoming head of Eagle Eye in 2016, Mason held senior executive positions at Tesco, the largest multinational […]
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