Can Immersive Marketing Boost Local Businesses?
One of the emerging technologies driving innovation amid Covid is AR. For example, its ability to add real-life interactivity to e-commerce gained traction in 2020. This could extend to a post-Covid world of “touchless” retail for in-aisle virtual product interaction.
Yelp Lets Users Fact-Check Local Business Covid Safety
Despite the vaccine rollout and improving economic sentiment, a majority of consumers remain concerned about engaging with local businesses in many places across the US. Yelp is now allowing businesses to provide more information about health and safety practices to customers in hopes of fueling a quicker recovery.
Card-Connected Loyalty Service LocalBonus Expands Reach
New York-based customer loyalty startup LocalBonus is expanding to four new cities: Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and Denver. The company has also announced that it has raised more than $500,000 in a seed funding round from Payment Ventures, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, and other angels…
Yelp Helps Local Restaurants Beat the Big Chains

Reflections on 2020 in Local: Innovation by Necessity
From a big-picture perspective, innovative tech providers are recognizing that SMBs don’t need all the bells and whistles that may come with an enterprise solution. They need tech that solves critical everyday problems that are common across the local landscape.