David CardResearch Director

October 2015

TECHNOLOGIES & TACTICS FOR THE

CONNECTED LOCAL ECONOMY

Taking the pulse: Survey of 30+ industry movers and shakers

What’s hot or not: Tech investment strategiesMost difficult challengesOpportunities in connected local economyWhat to watch and key takeaways

AGENDA

WHAT’S HOT (OR NOT)

HYPERLOCAL MARKETING & ADVERTISING: TOP BUDGET INVESTMENTS

“Marketing clouds”

Streaming audio/video

Beacons

Programmatic advertising

Geotargeting/geofencing

Content marketing/native advertising

Data and analytics

Social media

Mobile advertising

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

6%

9%

11%

17%

23%

29%

43%

46%

51%

Share of respondents (top 3)

HYPERLOCAL COMMERCE: TOP BUDGET INVESTMENTS

Wearables

Data and analytics

Next-generation POS

Beacons

Booking/scheduling platforms

Mobile or alternative payments

On-demand services

Ratings and reviews

Social media

Mobile commerce

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

3%

14%

17%

17%

17%

20%

26%

31%

37%

40%

Share of respondents (top 3)

“HOT TOPICS” PREDICTED TO FADE

On-demand services

Beacons

Wearables

“Marketing clouds”

Programmatic advertising

Content marketing/native advertising

Next-generation POS

Facebook stores/buy buttons

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

11%

11%

20%

20%

23%

23%

29%

51%

Which “hot topics” will we not even be talking about next year?

Share of respondents (top 3)

BIG PLAYERS WITH MOST IMPACT IN 2016

Other

Square

Yelp

Apple

Uber

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

20%

11%

17%

23%

29%

Share of respondents

KEY CHALLENGES

BIGGEST CHALLENGES: PRODUCTS AND SERVICE

Training and servicing local merchants

Proving ROI to customers

Selling low-cost products at scale

Creating products with low enough price points

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Share of respondents, ranking 1-5

Most difficult Least difficult

BIGGEST CHALLENGES: CUSTOMER ACQUISITION

Identifying prospective customers

Selling to national brands

My company’s brand awareness

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Share of respondents, ranking 1-5

Most difficult Least difficult

OPPORTUNITIES

NEW TECH “PERFECT STORM” COMING SOON?

It will take a big company like Intuit or Google to make it happen

There’s a great opportunity to connect front and back office ops

There’s a great opportunity to connect front and back office data

That’s an interesting idea, but it’s still a few years away

Most local businesses aren’t sophisticated enough

0% 20% 40% 60%

11%

23%

31%

40%

51%

Intersection of mobile, next-gen POS, new mar-tech

Share of respondents

MEANWHILE, WHERE LOCAL MERCHANTS SAY THEY NEED THE MOST HELP

Loyalty marketingReputation monitoring and review generation

Deals/promotions/couponsOnline display/banner advertising

Mobile marketingBlogging/online content creation

Paid search advertisingTraditional media

Getting our listings information publishedFacebook and/or social media marketing

Company website, EcommerceSearch engine optimization

0% 5% 10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

9%10%10%11%

13%15%16%17%18%

24%24%25%

Small local merchant respondents

VENDOR PERCEPTIONS OF HELP NEEDED – SLIGHT DISCONNECT

Back officeOffers, coupons

Paid searchListings management

Online display advertisingPayments and POS

Loyalty programsE-commerce

Search engine optimizationCompany websiteMobile marketing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

6%9%

11%17%17%17%

26%31%

37%49%

51%

Share of respondents (top 3)

HEADING INTO ELECTION SEASON

No impact Up to 10% increase

10% to 25% increase

25% to 50% increase

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80% 71%

14%9% 6%

Predicted impact of political spending on your company’s business

Share of respondents

WHAT’S NEXT

Mobile marketing Search implications Walled gardens of data and users

Digital commerce Window(s) for new POS equipment, payments Connecting dots between marketing and sales

Front office/back office promise

WHAT TO WATCH

Mobile is hot, but early for small local merchants

Social is still a shiny new toy, and a short cut to mobile for many

Adtech that’s more important elsewhere: Programmatic, native

Publishers: Brand awareness; possible channel?

Connecting the dots: marketing before operations

KEY TAKEAWAYS