Trevor Sumner
The 4 Key Principles of Modern Product Design

Great products today are defined by great design, especially in the age of social media, where what consumers say about you matters as much as your direct marketing plan.

Having led multiple product teams, advised numerous startups and most recently served as the CTO of an online marketing solution for small- and medium-sized businesses, I’ve seen firsthand how design has evolved. In the age of mobile, social and data, here are four key principles to keep in mind as you approach the design process.

The 4 Key Principles of Modern Product Design
Trevor Sumner
What's Driving the 5 Biggest Internet Trends

As the CTO of a marketing technology company, my main challenge is to keep up with rapid changes in technology and consumer behavior in order to create differentiated growth.

In the last 10 years, mobile and social media have disrupted advertising, software and consumer electronics. Just like the rise of the PC and internet a decade before, these are foundational disruptions.

Multiple groundbreaking technologies are looking to change how we interact with products, companies and each other, and they are being driven by a perfect storm of dependent innovation.

It's an exciting time, particularly in five key areas.

What's Driving the 5 Biggest Internet Trends
Trevor Sumner
How Facebook Could Dominate Local Commerce, ...

As president and co-founder of an online marketing platform, I’ve seen tremendous shifts around local commerce the past few years. Local news and print marketing have been upended by online equivalents that offer more personalized discovery, powered by social feedback. Local businesses already know that the lion’s share of their marketing should be online, and that’s how they’re earning customers’ loyalty today.

We’re increasingly seeing winner-take-all economics, and it’s no surprise to see industry leaders investing to capture their market. One company that is uniquely positioned to run the gauntlet is Facebook FB -2.94%, which has been less publicly putting together assets that could disrupt local search, local news and loyalty marketing — and, in the process, solidify its local advertising proposition. But for Facebook to establish itself in the local space, it will require bolder steps and an integrated vision. Here’s what that might look like.

How Facebook Could Dominate Local Commerce, Advertising and News
Trevor Sumner
Native Advertising Is Not a Dirty Word - Even ...

As the publisher of the largest local business newswire, I know there is a great and growing demand from organizations, businesses and community leaders seeking to push their messages out to a largest possible audience. Why not? 78% of CMOs think that custom content is the future of marketing.

Native Advertising Is Not a Dirty Word - Even on the New York Times
Trevor Sumner
What Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report Means ...

t’s always with great anticipation that I open up Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report.  The report always includes some really interesting data that helps me understand how the Internet and technologies associated with it are changing and there are always several big themes that create new foci for the year ahead.   This year is no different and I thought I would share some of those takeaways in the context of the local marketing industry.  Arguably how the Internet affects local commerce was one of the biggest themes this year and that starts with mobile…

What Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report Means for the Local Marketing Industry

2022 Retail And Retail Technology Predictions

Every year I put out my Retail and Retail Technology Predictions and it’s such a fun process. Last year, my predictions went viral and ended up #1 on Google. I think part of it was making some bold ones like how Retailers would become financial institutions, predicting the Buy Now Pay Later craze, and the new model of restaurant, see Virtual Dining Concepts and Tik Tok restaurants. So this year, I have some bold ones at well. Just make sure to read the full 2022 Retail Predictions analysis to understand the driving forces and supporting research.

2022 Retail And Retail Technology Predictions!

  1. 2022 Will Be The Year That Accelerates A Multi-Billion Dollar Shift Into Retail Digital Signage

  2. The Reckoning Of Delivery Economics Will Lead To Consolidation As Consumer Usage Declines

  3. Retailers Will Unbundle Their Services Creating New Models Of Industry Collaboration

  4. Post-Sale Services Will Become A Key Point Of Differentiation

  5. Brands En Masse Will Embrace NFTs And DAOs To Drive Early Product Feedback, Personalization And Customer Loyalty

  6. Brick-and-Mortar Retail Completes It’s Return To The Throne Defining Winners And Losers

There’s never been a more exciting time for retail!

2021 Retail Industry And Retail Technology Predictions

Every year I try to take some time to step back and be truly thoughtful about the year ahead. The full article is on Perch’s Retail Marketing Blog, 2021 Retail And Retail Technology Predictions and includes graphs, 3rd party research, quotes from retail leaders and in-depth original perspective. Here are the top predictions in summary format, but you should read the article to get the color commentary.

  1. Retail spending will beat consensus estimates for 2021. $1.3 trillion in extra savings post-pandemic. December stimulus. New stimulus. 21 state minimum wage increases. And faster return to retail than restaurants and events. All will drive a record year.

  2. 5G Gets Real And Accelerates IoT Adoption By Order Of Magnitude. 5G is here with Walgreen’s implementing it across 9,000 stores this year. This and a variety of other factors will lead to a 10x adoption of IoT including retail smart shelves in the next 4 years.

  3. The “New Normal” Means A Faster Pace Of Retail Technology Rollout. Covid forced a rapid acceleration of technology progress with a can do attitude. Now that the ROIs are rolling in, there is no going back to the old pace.

  4. Retail Technology Finally Empowers The Retail Sales Associate Customers Deserve. Tablets. Voice activated microphones. Better CRM. Better product data and omnichannel availability. All at the fingertips of super sales associates.

  5. Local Stores Will Become Broadcasters And Narrowcasters. With retailers looking for new ways to leverage real estate space, and social media morphing into social shopping, local stores will find new ways to stream content online, both nationally and locally.

  6. Major Retailers Will Start Providing Payment Services Directly. With the rise of loyalty programs, low cost processing, new financial microservices, buy now pay later services and even cryptocurrencies, retailers now have the infrastructure they need to capture new margins and offer differentiated financial offerings that boost spending.

  7. Amazon Will Make A Big Move In Brick-And-Mortar. What Will It Be? Amazon lost eCommerce share to physical retail, despite posting a great year. And their physical retail lost share as well. They need to make a bigger investment to maintain growth rates in 2021. I have some ideas on what it might be…

  8. A New Model Of Restaurant Group Snatches Up Empty Storefronts At Scale. The pandemic drove a death knell to the restaurant industry, but consumers will be coming back. Faced with a sudden graveyard of restaurants, a new form of restaurant super group will emerge and get to scale rapidly.

Read the full article on my 2021 Retail And Technology Predictions here. I hope you enjoy them!

And FYI I posted my 2022 Retail Predictions here.

The 4 Key Principles of Modern Product Design

The 4 Key Principles of Modern Product Design

Great products today are defined by great design, especially in the age of social media, where what consumers say about you matters as much as your direct marketing plan.

Having led multiple product teams, advised numerous startups and most recently served as the CTO of an online marketing solution for small- and medium-sized businesses, I’ve seen firsthand how design has evolved. In the age of mobile, social and data, here are four key principles to keep in mind as you approach the design process.

What's Driving the 5 Biggest Internet Trends

What's Driving the 5 Biggest Internet Trends

As the CTO of a marketing technology company, my main challenge is to keep up with rapid changes in technology and consumer behavior in order to create differentiated growth.

In the last 10 years, mobile and social media have disrupted advertising, software and consumer electronics. Just like the rise of the PC and internet a decade before, these are foundational disruptions.

Multiple groundbreaking technologies are looking to change how we interact with products, companies and each other, and they are being driven by a perfect storm of dependent innovation.

It's an exciting time, particularly in five key areas.

How Facebook Could Dominate Local Commerce, Advertising and News

How Facebook Could Dominate Local Commerce, Advertising and News

As president and co-founder of an online marketing platform, I’ve seen tremendous shifts around local commerce the past few years. Local news and print marketing have been upended by online equivalents that offer more personalized discovery, powered by social feedback. Local businesses already know that the lion’s share of their marketing should be online, and that’s how they’re earning customers’ loyalty today.

We’re increasingly seeing winner-take-all economics, and it’s no surprise to see industry leaders investing to capture their market. One company that is uniquely positioned to run the gauntlet is Facebook FB -2.94%, which has been less publicly putting together assets that could disrupt local search, local news and loyalty marketing — and, in the process, solidify its local advertising proposition. But for Facebook to establish itself in the local space, it will require bolder steps and an integrated vision. Here’s what that might look like.

3 Tips to Help Small Businesses Get More Customers in a Post-Google Search World

3 Tips to Help Small Businesses Get More Customers in a Post-Google Search World

Because of the explosion of social media and mobile as the primary, go-to consumer device for local information, Google is increasingly losing search share to local directories, social media sites and maps apps. In the local space, about 50% of searches are done on directories and map apps – further fragmenting an already dizzying number of ways customers find out and select small businesses.

Unfortunately, fragmentation is not going away, but there are some key ways to focus on taking advantage of the opportunity in a post Google dominated world.

First Data and LocalVox: Closing the Loop Between Online Marketing and Local Transactions

First Data and LocalVox: Closing the Loop Between Online Marketing and Local Transactions

Yesterday, we announced a very exciting partnership between LocalVox and First Data, a global leader in transaction processing that is rapidly establishing themselves as a solutions provider for businesses that want to optimize the entire client experience.  They are focused on “delivering an integrated buying experience today’s consumers demand—anywhere, any time and on any device.”  Together, we are poised to deliver the next generation of local marketing services – smarter, more effective and trackable to revenue – the holy grail of local online marketing.

LocalVox Goes Big With a Company-Wide Ice Bucket Challenge for Made In NY Startups

LocalVox Goes Big With a Company-Wide Ice Bucket Challenge for Made In NY Startups

At LocalVox, we tend to go big when rising to a challenge.   Whether it be making the complex world of local marketing simple, effective and affordable OR responding to a social media challenge.

The LocalVox team rose to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge of President Trevor Sumner by doing a company-wide ice bucket challenge and challenging other Made in NY startups to step up and do a per head contribution on their behalf.  Here’s App Nexus CEO Brian O’Kelly.  Still waiting for Howard Lerman at Yext and Stuart Wall at SignPost.