News and Analysis
Big Data Helps Predict Which Brick-and-Mortar Locations Will Thrive and Fail
While the Gap says its decisions are being made based on traffic trends and profits—the brand saw a 7% decline in quarterly comparable sales—data scientists from top technology firms are working feverishly behind the scenes to use big data to predict which store closures could come next. Having a heads up on which retail locations have a high likelihood of closing could benefit those in the commercial real estate sector, as well as retail brands looking to decide on future store locations.
After Amazon-Whole Foods, Microsoft-Kroger: The Grocery Revolution Is Happening
Microsoft and Kroger are teaming up, challenging Amazon’s dominance in grocery innovation and pushing back against its takeover of an increasing number of corporate verticals, including cloud infrastructure in the form of Amazon Web Services. (Street Fight’s Mike Boland has predicted that Amazon will sell its grocery tech just as it’s done with AWS, taking an in-house innovation and transforming it into a cash cow.)
How 5 Brands Leverage Voice Search Technology
Twenty percent of mobile searches now are voice-initiated, with voice technology users most likely to ask about business addresses, directions, and hours, followed by whether stores carry specific items. Let’s look at how five of these brands are taking advantage of voice search, and what other industry players could be learning from their approaches.
Commentary
The Power of Pairing: 4 Reasons Matching Is Gaining Traction in Local Home Services
When variables such as trust, uncertainty, availability, and geography are at the core of decision-making — as they so often are when it comes to hiring professionals to perform home services — matching, especially when coupled with ratings and reviews, offers consumers peace of mind. It also provides an immediate connection in an often urgent and sometimes complicated time of need.
Why Location Management Matters in the Age of Mobile and Social
If SEO is about websites and marketing is about brand awareness, location management is about brick-and-mortar businesses and removing friction along the customer journey from online search to offline purchase. Ignore it at your peril.
Why 2016 Will Be a Big Year for iOS 9
Apple has established a new standard for conducting “nearby” searches, thanks to an enhancement to the Apple Spotlight search functionality. This moves the consumer down the path to purchase in a few significant ways, including proactive local search content and results that change by time of day.
Latest Posts
Placed Builds Out Attribution Platform, Connecting Store Visits to Dollars Spent
Location-based analytics provider Placed is looking to prove that mobile ads have the power to drive sales. The company today unveiled a new tool that collects data on whether consumers bought anything at a store for which they saw a mobile ad, and how much they spent.
Sponsored Content: 6 Strategies for Success in Social Media
Business owners should be developing comprehensive social marketing strategies. Those merchants who haven’t taken the first step by creating Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for their businesses are losing out on customer loyalty, as well as new opportunities for growth.
Q2 Earnings: Mobile Users Driving Yelp’s Growth, Levchin Resigns From Board
“Consumers are turning to apps for everything,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, the company’s chief executive said on the company’s quarterly earnings call Tuesday. He said that the company’s executive team is guiding Yelp toward a revenue stream composed mainly from localized advertising.
Street Fight Daily: Yelp Shares Drop After Q2 Miss, Google’s Location Hours Feature for Mobile
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yelp Drops 14% After Reporting Profit Miss In Q2 On Stronger-Than-Expected Revenue Of $133.9M (TechCrunch)… Google Now Featuring a Location’s Popular Hours on Mobile Devices (Blumenthals)… New Breed of Digital Publishers Just Say No to Ad Tech (Wall Street Journal)…
The Future of Retail: ‘In-Store Mode’ and In-Aisle Payments
Wouldn’t it stand to reason that higher receptivity to promotional messaging comes when consumers are truly in buying mode. And wouldn’t the probability of that mode be greatest when someone is in-store, as opposed to browsing Instagram on their couch?
6 Tools to Merchants Can Use to Quantify the Impact of In-Store Events
Being able to attribute offline marketing to in-store sales closes the loop for retail marketers and generates a better understanding of how various factors can impact sales.
Street Fight Daily: Stripe Scores Major Funding and Visa Partnership, eBay Shutters Delivery Service
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Stripe, Digital Payments Start-Up, Raises New Funding and Partners With Visa (New York Times)… eBay is Killing Its Local Delivery Service and Specialized Apps (The Next Web)… Why PayPal’s Independence Will Have A Huge Effect On Your Business (Forbes)…
Technical.ly Finds Big Revenues in Niche Markets Along the Mid-Atlantic
Growing quickly in five different cities along the Northeast Corridor, Technical.ly focuses its content and events on local tech startups and the personalities driving them. Its substantial revenues have put the company among the top “indie” hyperlocals.
Sponsored Content: Ad Improvements Could Strengthen Local Appeal of Costco, Sam’s Club
Members of the wholesale retail chains Sam’s Club and Costco swear by the low costs that come with buying in bulk, and locations cater their offerings to the local market. But these two companies could take a fresh look at their branding strategies and interactions with customers.
Why the Contractor-Employee Conundrum Isn’t a Fatal Liability for the On-Demand Economy
The recent California Labor Commission ruling, classifying one Uber driver as an employee has led to a lot of chatter about cracks in the business model underlying the “on-demand economy.”
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem