News and Analysis

Amazon Rolls Out Free Whole Foods Deliveries for Prime Members in San Francisco & Atlanta

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Further encroaching on one of hyperlocal’s oldest verticals, Amazon sent shivers down the spines of grocers in San Francisco and Atlanta on Tuesday, announcing it would begin delivering Whole Foods orders for free to Prime members in those cities.

SMB Index: Local Stocks Take a Hit in February

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In a turbulent February, which saw stocks give back gains from January over 2 days (Feb 7–9), the SCP SMB Index retreated 2% during the month.

SMB OS Operators, Part I: Upserve

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The first in our series of interviews on SMB OS is Upserve founder and CEO Angus Davis. Formerly Swipely, UpServe had been living out the principles of SMB OS long before we started calling it that.

Commentary

When Credit Card Companies Can’t Process Hyperlocal Risk

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If you are working with merchants in any capacity and processing payments for them, then you can probably expect credit card processors to give you a hard time. They might accept your account and then shut you down, or charge you prohibitive fees and cap the amount you can process, stifling growth…

Why Isn’t Mobile Display Advertising Huge Yet?

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Instead of trying to force web paradigms onto mobile, advertisers should be rushing to localize their message and take advantage of the 1-2 punch of smartphones’ portability and location…

Local Stores Become Showrooms for Online Buying (Part II)

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Following up on a recent column about mobile local shopping data (and the dreaded “showrooming” effect), I had the chance to catch up with eBay’s head of local, and Milo founder, Jack Abraham to talk a bit about where the space is headed…

Latest Posts

When Will Big Retail Rethink Point-of-Sale? Sooner Than You Think

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Revel Systems wants to bring the tablet-based point-of-sale model upstream and disrupt the entrenched cadre of existing business software providers, which generated billions in revenue last year. Revel’s founder Lisa Falzone, a Stanford grad and one-time hedge funder, spun the company out of an online ordering app in 2010. Since then, Falzone and her team have raised over $14 million in venture funding, and have activated over 5,000 accounts…

5 Tools Local Retailers Can Use to Build Digital Storefronts

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The majority of local retailers — including those with basic websites that are optimized for mobile — still aren’t offering customers tools to browse listings and complete purchases with their smartphones. Here are five platforms that local businesses can use to quickly (and cheaply) set up digital storefronts where customers can purchase goods and services via mobile…

Street Fight Daily: Square CEO’s Gift, Groupon Expands Point-of-Sale

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.Square’s Dorsey Returns 10% of his Shares (Fortune)… For Groupon, The iPad is its New Passport to Global Markets (Washington Business Journal)… UrbanSpoon Hires New Top Exec, Hopes to Emerge from Restaurant Discovery Pack (PandoDaily)…

DemandForce CMO: There’s No Limit to Where We Will Want to Go

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If Google’s acquisition of Waze was the biggest exit in local tech over the past few years, Intuit’s buy of Demandforce was arguably the most important. Since shelling out nearly half of a billion dollars for the retention marketing software provider, the company has quietly executed on a strategy to position itself an integrated solutions provider for small businesses…

Openings and New Hires at Patch, Callfire, Kenshoo and Radiate Media

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Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new hires and jobs at BIA/Kelsey, AOL, User Friendly Media, and more…

LBMA Podcast: LIVE From MoDevEast!

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On the show: UC Berkeley tests image-based indoor location; Qualcomm’s Gimbal sensors hit the street; Mojiva partners with Retailigence; and Pitney Bowes partners with Twitter. Special guest is Barg Upender, founder of Mobomo…

Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Raises Another $35M, eBay’s Strategy for Offline Commerce

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.…. Foursquare Raises a $35 Million Round and Adds DFJ’s Schuler to the Board (AllThingsD)… EBay’s Strategy for Taking On Amazon (New York Times)… Nextdoor Talks Growth, Now Being Used In One In Six Neighborhoods In The US (TechCrunch)…

Why Small Local Sites *Must* Have Multiple Revenue Streams

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“If there is a ‘model’ for community news, it’s finding the right mix of diverse revenue streams that are best suited to the particular conditions of a news organization’s local market and journalistic mission,” says Jake Batsell of NewsBiz. “But that diversity of revenue is critical, because news outlets depending on a single stream of income are leaving themselves vulnerable…”

Case Study: Caribou Coffee Amps Up Holiday Sales With Mobile Gift Cards

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In an effort to enhance Caribou Coffee’s mobile marketing capabilities, and spur a boost in gift card sales during the important holiday shopping season, vice president of marketing Michele Vig launched an eGift card initiative in early November. Now, customers who purchase eGift cards online can send their gifts to friends via email. Recipients can then redeem their gifts by showing their smartphones to a cashier or printing the gift card at home and handing over a paper printout…

Street Fight Daily: Moovit Raises $28M, Local’s Next IPO

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.Moovit Raises A $28M Sequoia-led Funding Round For Its Public Transit Service (PandoDaily)… Local Heroes: The Public Companies of Tomorrow (AllThingsD)… Hey Uber, Lyft Is Growing Faster Than You (TechCrunch)…