News and Analysis
Crack-of-Dawn Black Friday Lines Are Already a Thing of the Past, Data Shows
How is the increasing appeal of e-commerce and other digital options such as BOPIS—buy online, pick up in-store—affecting retail’s biggest day of the year? One consequence, data from Reveal Mobile indicates, is the end of the notoriously colossal lines that used to mark the beginning of Black Friday.
What Will AR Mean for Consumer Brands?
What’s driving AR today? And what does it mean for big consumer brands? Our lead analyst Mike Boland tackles these questions in this week’s Road Map column, which delves into the tech giants’ investments in AR and what they mean for the future of XR-driven brand advertising.
5 Big Takeaways from Black Friday 2018
As Cyber Monday gets underway, another Black Friday looms behind us. Below are the highlights of brick-and-mortar retail’s big day as we prepare for the windfall expected from its digital counterpart.
Commentary
Why Social Recommendations Are Vital for Local Online Marketplaces
There can be little disagreement that building a word-of-mouth platform is difficult. But if social recommendations are the gold standard, why should we expect users to pick solutions that provide the convenience of scheduling and booking but lack the trust of word-of-mouth?
Geofencing at Events: How to Reach Potential Customers Live and On-Site
Businesses have been taking a closer look at the potential for geofencing and proximity marketing for trade shows, events, and festivals. The technology offers some rich opportunities for interactive messages, and can ensure that promotions are especially relevant.
Latest Posts
Case Study: Using Pre-Order Apps to Streamline Lunch Operations
Given its location in the mid-Market area of San Francisco, Alta CA has a unique clientele. The bustling neighborhood restaurant has customers who are willing to try out the latest apps and services, and as a result it’s become a sort-of testing ground for hyperlocal marketing solutions…
What 500 Local Merchants Want: It’s All in Our Latest Report
We’re thrilled to release the third edition of Street Fight’s “The Local Merchant Report” — a 70-page, 500-merchant study featuring dozens of charts, rich data, case studies, market analysis, and even pitch strategies…
The Connected Local Economy: A New Way to Understand Innovation in Local
As a new generation of local technology companies approach the public markets, it’s critical for us to agree on what “local” actually means today — and how that differs from the its definition a decade ago.
What the Rise of Slack and HipChat Mean for Small Business
On the surface these messaging app seem to offer businesses better internal communication. In reality their value is rooted in real-time, contextual streams of business data within an environment that invites collaboration. That’s a fancy way of saying these are chat apps with loads of integrations…
Street Fight Daily: Verve Mobile Buys Beacon Startup, MindBody Files for IPO
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Wallets, Smart Coupons, And iBeacons: Verve Mobile Acquires Fosbury (VentureBeat)… Wellness Startup Mindbody Isn’t the Cure for This Ailing IPO Market (Pando)… Google’s Amazing Location-Aware Search Finds Answers About Nearby Places (Search Engine Land)…
With New Software, Apple Looks to Bring Together Local Search and Commerce
Apple showed off updates to its three operating systems Monday, announcing improvements to Apple Pay, Maps and Passbook that have implications for the local search and commerce sectors…
How 10 Top Media Execs Think About Audience and Engagement
Here are fresh, sometimes iconoclastic thoughts on how to engage modern audiences. They come from media executives who have demonstrated they know how to do it, and have been assembled by the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications…
Street Fight Daily: Apple’s New Software, Facebook Hands Out Beacons
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… With New Software, Apple Looks to Bring Together Local Search and Commerce (Street Fight)… Facebook Is Handing Out Free Beacons to Retailers (Recode)… Google Capital-Backed Thumbtack Hit With Manual Action For Unnatural Links (Search Engine Land)…
Can Home Services Really Be Uber-ed?
Homeowners don’t “Uber” a $15,000 window replacement job. They don’t contract for a new sunroom on their mobile phone. And they don’t sign on for a $30,000 kitchen remodel without spending hours of real time with a designer and salesperson…


















































Why Restaurant PR Matters for Local Growth