In Test of On-Demand Economy’s Durability, Postmates Files to Go Public
There’s nothing more hyperlocal than the on-demand class of startups, which feed off the everyday use cases spurred by a mobile-first world: whipping one’s phone out to order food from a local restaurant (Postmates, GrubHub, DoorDash), hail a ride (Uber and Lyft), or cut out a trip to the grocery store (Instacart, Shipt). Postmates’ founding ingenuity was to apply the convenience of ride-sharing to product delivery. Eight years later, it’s a food-delivery powerhouse, and its value may strike nearly $2 billion.
Local Advertising’s Next Sleeping Giant: Uber
Mike Boland: Given the attribution possibilities, its scale, recent delivery partnership with Starbucks, and existing Uber Eats infrastructure, Uber’s move into advertising looks pretty inevitable. Of course, it would have to gain internal competency as an ad company, so look for acquisitions or talent hires (or both) in 2019. And look for more rhetoric about the latest company to challenge the duopoly, this time in a very local way.
LBMA Vidcast: Amazon Go Takes Cash, Macy’s Launches ‘Story’
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Goodwill, Bose + Coachella, Improving traffic with “Flo,” Amazon Go takes cash, Macy’s launches “Story,” Uber goes B2B with vouchers.