Time with Shop Local
Shop Local's Online Store Can Help Your Business
- Setting up an online store is often expensive and time-consuming.
- Leading e-commerce service providers do not provide an easy way for indie retailers to manage an e-commerce store.
- Shop Local's Online Store is more efficient and affordable to use than other leading software choices.
- Our Store is free. Setup is free.
How Are Businesses Using Shop Local's Store?
Examples
- Businesses wanting a new website
- Businesses with no existing website
- B.C. Clark
- Babcock Gifts
- The Boutique
- Friend and Co.
- Schiffman's (3 locations)
Businesses with an existing website (such as from Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, etc.)
- B.C. Clark
- Babcock Gifts
- The Boutique
- Friend and Co.
- Schiffman's (3 locations)
- Businesses wanting a new website
- Businesses with no existing website
Businesses with an existing website (such as from Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, etc.)
3,158 Brands and Growing
Shop Local's Online Store offers you a directory of more than 3,158 brands to add to your Online Store. By picking a brand from our Brand Directory, you can easily show its logo, add products for it, and more. Save yourself from having to hunt for this information.
Don't see a brand in our Brand Directory that you need? We'll add the brand. Your Store allows you to add any item from any brand.
For 112 of the brands in the Brand Directory, Shop Local has created partnerships with these brands. These brands are our Product Syncing partners.
Do you sell any of the above brands? If so, we can help you instantly add products from the above brands to your Store. The Product Syncing service makes offering up-to-date products to your customers easier and more cost-efficient. Products provided by the service include professional pictures, accurate prices, dimensions, descriptions, care & use, and 40 other important variables. The Product Syncing service is the best solution to provide product content for your e-commerce website. Learn more about the Product Syncing service.
How Much Does Running an Online Store Cost?
When a business offers an online store, it's a costly venture. A business, such as an indie store, brand, or sales rep group, will build the site and then have to maintain it. On a day-to-day basis, the business has to:
- Pay for design and coding of new features.
- Pay for security.
- Ensure its web pages load quickly. This often requires the business to use image-optimization software to reduce the page size and a CDN (content delivery network) to get the content closer to the visitor's geographic location.
- Pay for hosting.
Shop Local bundles the above features and services together as part of our general service offering. This makes it easier and more cost-efficient for clients.
Other providers charge higher out-of-the-box rates and then charge service fees for add-on services. The charges add up and the services become expensive. In contrast, we offer many features out-of-the-box by default with Shop Local Store, so our Store costs less and is easier to use.
In addition, our Product Syncing service drastically reduces the labor needed to maintain an online business. Other providers do not offer a product syncing service.
How Does Shop Local's Store Compare to Other E-commerce Services?
| Feature |
Shop Local | Shopify | Squarespace | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Comes pre-populated with products from your top-selling brands |
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Offers your business built-in gift & bridal registry software |
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Offers your business a continual free plan |
» View a comparison between Shop Local's Store and other e-commerce services
See how Bridge compares to:
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- BigCommerce
» View 11 features comparing Bridge to other software platforms
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| Shopify | Shop Local Store |
Jeffrey Bannon Shopify Store |
Jeffrey Bannon Shop Local Store |
21 Reasons Businesses Choose Shop Local Store
1.
Design
2.
Customers to Shop
3.
Products
5.
7.
8.
9.
Pictures per Product
12.
and Discounts
13.
14.
Reporting Tools
15.
and Tax Management
Tools
16.
and Engraving
Features
17.
Unique URL
18.
Review Software
19.
Products to
Social Media
21.
More Shop Local Store Features
More Shop Local Store Features
Reviews from Shoppers
Shopped at Shop Local retailer Ivy House
Shopped at Shop Local retailer Babcock Gifts
99.3% of Stores Can't be Wrong
Each month, an average of 99.3% of retailers renew their Shop Local Store service. A high renewal rate demonstrates that retailers are happy with Shop Local's software and customer service. This high customer loyalty suggests that Shop Local is providing great value for members.
Questions About Shop Local Store?
- You may choose to accept credit card payments online. If you choose to offer real-time credit card processing, your Bridge Store will ask the customer for their credit card information during checkout. When the customer pays online via credit card, the money will normally be available in your bank account the next business day.
- Your business may wish to not accept credit cards online. When you do not accept credit cards online, the customer can still checkout on your Bridge Store. They will enter their billing information, shipping information, telephone number, and email. If the purchase is for a gift registry, the email will include this information. You'll use the telephone number from the order email to call the customer and collect credit card details via telephone. You will key the credit card number into your in-store terminal.
Please note: a few brands do not drop ship to the customer. If not, the item ordered may be shipped to your store, then you may ship it to the customer.
- Regular purchase. When a general public order occurs, you'll ship what you have in stock. If you do not have the product in stock, you may ask the brand to drop ship it.
- Gift registry purchase. You can give the registrant the literal item or give them a registry credit. Bridge's software is designed to help you manage and keep track of what has been given to the registrant. When a registry purchase is made, the software automatically deducts the purchased quantity from the desired quantity. For example, if the registrant requested 12 dinner plates, and 1 is purchased, the software will automatically show that 1 is purchased and 11 are still desired.
Tags: e-commerce software, self-updating store, smart store, small business, small shop, best, indie store, alternative to shopify, competitor to shopify, collaboration software, shopping cart software
