News and Analysis

6 Mobile Customer Service Platforms for Retailers

Tech vendors are stepping in with mobile solutions designed to expand the ways store associates interact with customers. These solutions allow employees to do everything from checking inventory and processing transactions on smartphones to accessing real-time information about current promotions and customer purchase histories.

Street Fight Daily: Online Brands Go Brick-and-Mortar, Voice-Assistant Arms Race Escalates

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Why E-Commerce Brands Are Opening Brick-and-Mortar Stores… Amazon and Apple Escalate Battle of Virtual Assistants… Tech Companies, Led by Amazon, Spend More Than Any Other U.S. Companies on R&D…

GTCR Acquires Majority Stake in Simpli.fi

GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Simpli.fi, a programmatic advertising platform that helps brands master local marketing at scale. The Simpli.fi management team, headed up by co-founders Frost Prioleau and Paul Harrison, will remain in charge of the company’s operations.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: iPhone Leaks Show NFC, LivingSocial Sued

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Here Comes Passbook: Latest Leak Points To NFC-Equipped Next-Gen iPhone (TechCrunch)… Marketer That Sued Groupon Now Targeting LivingSocial (CNet)… Marketer That Sued Groupon Now Targeting LivingSocial (CNet)…

Data That Thinks ‘Big,’ But Acts Local

Local media is increasingly colliding with the emerging super-sector known as “Big Data.” This will define the “mobile+local” promise we keep hearing about — that location targeted ads will boost relevance, performance and thus monetiztion. But one thing often missing from the discussion is what the heck we mean by “location targeted?”

Can Mobile Technology Fix What’s Broken in Loyalty Programs?

New mobile and in-store technology allows merchants to utilize relatively low-cost devices, such as an iPhone or an iPad, to take advantage of data-driven programs that do more than simply count down the punches until a customer’s next free sandwich. Here are two ways in which mobile tech has improved loyalty programs for small merchants…

SFD: LivingSocial’s Groupon Problem, Delivery ‘Land-Grab’

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Groupon’s Stock Slide Weighs on Rival LivingSocial (Washington Post)… Delivery Hero Fuels Up for Acquisitions with Fresh $49m Round (GigaOm)…
‘Thunderdome’ Takes Shape at Digital First (NetNewsCheck)…

6 Strategies for Promoting New Mobile Apps

Businesses large and small are increasingly relying on branded apps to promote their products and engage customers on their mobile devices. To find out what marketers, publishers, and brands should do to promote these apps, we turned to the experts. Here are six tips that anyone can use to promote a new mobile app without spending millions in the process…

Echoer App Compiles and Curates Real-Time Feedback About Locations

Four months after its wide launch in iOS, the crowdsourcing, location-based service app Echoer has announced an expansion into Android and a new content partner program with more than 500 media, blogger and event partners. Street Fight caught up with Daniel Cowen, Echoer’s co-founder and CEO, to discuss the app’s progression, the difficulties associated with continually generating real-time content, and how it distinguishes itself from reviews sites like Yelp…

Street Fight Daily: NYC Digital Toolkit for SMBs, Groupon Senior Exec Out

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

New York City Launches Digital Toolkit for Small Businesses (Mashable)…

Groupon Senior Sales Executive Leaving (Reuters)…

Mobile Traffic Tops Desktop for Major Deals Sites (MediaPost)…

Case Study: Taco Del Mar Sends Time-Specific Offers With Pirq

As the owner of eight Taco Del Mar franchises in Washington and Oregon, Jeff Masterjohn has to be careful that the promotions he runs don’t interfere with any campaigns being handled by his corporate bosses or fellow franchisees. One way that he has been able to do this is by running day-parted discounts with Pirq, a mobile deals platform that consumers use to find geo-targeted offers on their smartphones…

LBS Marketing Spotlight: Restaurants

Restaurants that want to stay ahead of the curve need to utilize their mobile apps as a source for offering programs for loyal diners. According to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Forecast, 57% of adult consumers are more likely to choose restaurants that offer a loyalty rewards program. Meanwhile, 40% are using smartphones to look at menus and order take-out…

Street Fight Daily: Mobile Companies Ally, Should Yahoo Buy Foursquare?

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Nokia, Samsung, Sony Mobile and Others Form In-Location Alliance, Seek to Boost Indoor Positioning Technologies (TheNextWeb)… Will Foursquare Be Marissa Mayer’s First Big Acquisition At Yahoo? (Marketing Land)… Groupon’s New Operations Czar Grasps Shaky Helm (Chicago Tribune)…