News and Analysis

A First Glimpse Into Street Fight LIVE 2025

A First Glimpse Into Street Fight LIVE 2025

Street Fight LIVE made its comeback in 2024. Now, we’ll give you a sneak peek at the 2025 version. Although dormant for several years (due to the pandemic), the curated and dynamic event at Meta’s headquarters in Chicago was met with rave reviews from attendees, sponsors, and speakers. We believe it’s the only think tank conference that […]

The MULO Dozen: February in Review Street Fight

The MULO Dozen: February in Review

The MULO (multi-location) ecosystem is continuously re-inventing, expanding and shrinking, and enhancing the consumer experience with a wide range of new products, technologies, and ways to buy. Here are the trends of the month. Have news to share? Please e-mail [email protected] and join us in September for our Street Fight LIVE 2025 gathering, which will […]

Netflix Takes on YouTube. Should Podcasters and Advertisers Rejoice? Street Fight

Netflix Takes on YouTube. Should Podcasters and Advertisers Rejoice?

If we’re “Netflix and Chillin,’” consuming movies, streaming series, and other entertaining and inspiring content, why don’t we listen, watch and learn from podcast content creators too? Now we can. Netflix is entering the podcast market, leveraging its massive database of more than 300M subscribers (and growing). Podcasts also show no sign of slowing down […]

Commentary

2023’s Web3 Opportunities

As we embark on a new year, we look back at 2022 as the year brands took a leap into the Web3 space, creating novel campaigns to engage with their customers in the digital space. In 2023, we expect brands to continue these efforts to create new, fun ways to improve their customer engagement through Web3 activations.

Why Ad Spend Growth Will Likely Decline in 2023

Ad spend growth is likely to decline in 2023. That’s partly due to the looming recession, but macroeconomic factors are hardly the only ones in play.

Why Social Media Giants Are Embracing Conversational AI

ChatGPT Isn’t a Panacea for Local Marketing Content, But Here’s How It Can Help

AI can help create content at scale, and it can give marketers ideas that help them write competent blog posts even if they are unfamiliar with a vertical.

Latest Posts

he Power of Place: Retailers Revolutionize Store Location Selection with Geospatial Intelligence

Retailers Revolutionize Store Location Selection with Geospatial Intelligence

It’s a tale as old as time. A retailer picks a storefront, leases a building, and renovates a space — only to discover that the location itself is a dud. Maybe there isn’t enough foot traffic, or parking is too difficult. Or maybe shoppers in the neighborhood just aren’t interested in buying whatever products the […]

StoreConnect, a Trailblazing Force in E-commerce, Raises $9 Million

StoreConnect, a Trailblazing Force in E-commerce, Raises $9 Million

E-commerce has come into focus as a critical solution — sometimes the only solution — for small and mid-size businesses that want to sell outside their physical stores and collect insights into consumer behavior. Given the important role that online sales now play in local commerce, it’s no surprise that firms focused on the e-commerce […]

Search Fails May Cost Retailers as Much as $13.8B in Sales This Holiday Season

Search Fails May Cost Retailers as Much as $13.8B in Sales This Holiday Season

MULO (multi-location) retailers struggle to compete with Amazon, the online giant.  But they are never going to win that battle if they don’t focus on search for the holiday season. A new study by Nosto reveals that as much as $13.8B in sales may be lost on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) because when consumers […]

Party On! Bankruptcy for Party City May Not Be the End

The media is filled with stories these days of MULO (multi-location) retailers closing stores and doors and declaring bankruptcy. Our BUST series covered Bed Bath & Beyond, Jenny Craig, Christmas Tree Shops, and others.  But before you start ringing the death knell on one more MULO brick-and-mortar retailer or restaurant, be aware that the party […]

Mailchimp Launches GenAI-Powered Marketing Assistant for SMBs

The email marketing and newsletter giant Mailchimp is at it again. Earlier this week, the company launched its latest game-changing solution for SMBs — a marketing assistant powered by generative AI. Intuit Assist for Mailchimp is expected to help businesses generate content, personalize their marketing, and learn faster from their marketing mistakes. Rather than being […]

Head of the Class — Back-to-School Marketing Language Trends

Very few seasons connote change the way the back-to-school season does. Even for those of us who are no longer in school, the shorter days and cooler mornings mean that a new school year (and, by default, autumn, if you live somewhere lucky enough to experience it) is soon upon us. And every time summer […]

Brand Halloween Holiday Creep 2023

Brand Halloween Holiday Creep 2023

Before you could even put away your beach chair and utter “Pumpkin Spice,” Halloween accessories, boxes of tinsel, faux trees, and December lights began thier holiday creep and began to appear on store shelves. MULO (multi-location) retailers have changed the traditional sales cycle and accelerated the holiday shopping schedule. Halloween 2023 began in July, as […]

Grocers Navigate the Shift from E-commerce to In-Store

Grocers Navigate the Shift from E-commerce to In-Store

More than half of e-commerce grocery customers have left the channel since last year. Where have they gone, and what can grocers do to bring them back? That’s the question many supermarket chains and retail marketers are trying to answer. According to new data from SymphonyAI Retail CPG, 52% of e-commerce grocery customers have left […]

BUST: The Wrong Time for Rite Aid

BUST: The Wrong Time for Rite Aid

Bankruptcies and store closings have hit the retail world hard this year. Bed Bath & Beyond was the most notable, and Christmas Tree Shops and Jenny Craig are among the other retail brands that closed doors in 2023.  Rite Aid is the latest MULO (multi-location) brand to suffer the impact of retail shrinkage. Although the […]

7 Ways to Use AI Responsibly for Multi-Location Marketing

AI is no longer a thing of the future. It’s something that’s here—and it’s here to stay. In fact, more than 80% of marketers are currently using AI tools. But what are some practical applications of AI for multi-location marketing and how can you use it to streamline processes and improve campaigns? We’re sharing seven […]