Booker CEO Josh McCarter opened his Street Fight Summit keynote address with a question that’s on the minds of many small business solutions providers: “How do you take a system that’s designed for one vertical and take it across more categories?” Factoring in the differing needs of various service-based businesses makes that question even more complex. But given the size of what McCarter termed the “local service commerce” opportunity, answering it could be tremendously lucrative.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Kills Its Groupon and Square Competitors, the Rise of Hypertargeted Ads
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Kills Two Businesses: Local Daily Deals and Its Square Competitor (Recode)… The $21.8 Billion Reason Ultra-Personal Online Ads Are Coming (Fast Company)… Pondering Homejoy’s Failure (Medium)…
#SFSNYC Recap: 5 Key Takeaways from This Year’s Summit
The annual Street Fight Summit assembled more than 350 marketers, solutions providers, technologists, and media executives to discuss pressing issues and developments in the connected local economy. Here are five key takeaways from the day’s keynotes, panel discussions, and fireside chats.
Street Culture: Booker CEO on Interviewing for Fit and Creating Company Values
“When I interview, I’m interviewing for fit. Skills and competency and willingness to learn, those all come after fit,” McCarter said.
MyTime Raises $9.25M More to Push Into Back-Office Software
In addition to funding, the San Francisco-based MyTime is announcing a deeper push into back-office software to compete with Booker, MindBody and others.
Can Amazon Bring One-Click Purchasing to Home Services? Here’s What Experts Think
Earlier this week, Amazon launched its widely-anticipated Home Services marketplace where you can book plumbers, painters and other professionals. We caught up with a handful of small business experts to breakdown the news and handicap Amazon’s chances of transitioning its dominant position in ecommerce to a complex and scattered service landscape…
7 Online Booking Platforms for Independent Businesses
online booking platforms are providing a way for independent businesses to meet a rising demand from consumers who want to schedule, confirm, and in some cases even pay for local services through their mobile devices…
Booker Raises $35M More From First Data, Bain Capital and Others
The New York-based Booker, a software firm that built a big business selling to the service industry, has raised $35 million more from a range of investors, including a strategic investment from payment processing giant First Data…
Street Fight Daily: Groupon’s Wine Label, Porch Keeps Growing
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… Groupon Uncorks Its Own Wine Label (Chicago Business Journal)… Can Porch.com Become LinkedIn For Your House? (Fortune)… For Location-Tracking Startup, a Data-Privacy Odyssey (Wall Street Journal)…
The Rise of Marketing Automation in Local’s Next Act
Marketing automation isn’t just for the biggest companies in the world anymore. Thanks to companies like Booker, Signpost, Shopkeep, and others, small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) have access to the data and the tools to reach their customers in smart, efficient ways while minimizing the hassle on the backend…