News from Bridge

  1. News from Bridge
  2. News from Members
  3. Bridge Events
  4. Press
  5. Strategy: Dollars & Sense
  6. New Software Features & Updates
  7. Training Calendar
  8. Training Videos
  9. Jobs at Bridge
  1. News from Bridge
  2. News from Members
  3. Events
  4. Press
  5. Dollars & Sense
  6. Updates
  7. Training Calendar
  8. Training Videos
  9. Jobs at Bridge
+ Bridge in the News - Bridge in the News
Featured News William Yeoward Joins Our Brand Syncing Service
Chalk 23199 picture
Featured News
William Yeoward Joins Our Brand Syncing Service
September 14, 2023
We're pleased to share that William Yeoward Crystal is joining the Brand Syncing service.

A leader in the tabletop & gift industry, William Yeoward Crystal, is joining in order to support its independent retailers.  

Since its founding in 1995, William Yeoward Crystal has grown into a leading, global, lifestyle brand offering:
  • Crystal Stemware
  • Decorative Accessories & Barware
  • Bone China Dinnerware
  • Silverplate & Sterling Silver Flatware
  • Home decor 
...
Read More
Featured News Tuesday, October 3rd: New Features Webinar Tuesday, Today
Chalk 23169 picture
Featured News
Tuesday, October 3rd: New Features Webinar Today For All Members:

You're invited to our next New Features Review webinar on Tuesday, October 3rd at 4 pm EST.

You’ll learn:
  • About new features included in your Online Store.
  • How to save time using these new features.
  • How to use the features to sell more.
Members are invited to ask questions about new and existing features. A Shop Local coach will answer questions and show live examples of answers.  

Why attend?
  • Save time.  
  • Sell more. 
  • Meet other
...
Read More
5:05 PM • Yesterday Porto Brasil Tableware Is Ready for Syncing
Chalk 23261 picture
Porto Brasil Tableware Is Ready for Syncing
5:05 PM • Yesterday
We are pleased to announce Porto Brasil Tableware's products are ready for Syncing.  

Porto Brasil Tableware joins our network of 115+ premium brands that Sync products with 1,300+ fine indie stores. 

Porto Brasil Tableware is a contemporary company passionate about design.  Founded 20 years ago in Porto Ferreira, Brazil, Porto Brasil was the first company in the world to work with digital printing on stoneware.  Their stoneware body is sustainable and is made from an ...
Read More
September 28, 2023 New Feature: Sell to Interior Designers
Chalk 23248 picture
New Feature: Sell to Interior Designers
September 28, 2023
FOR BRANDS AND DISTRIBUTORS

Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: Interior designers can now view interior designer pricing for your brands and make purchases. If an interior designer is approved by your business, they can log in to your account and buy items at the wholesale designer price set by your business.

In the example shown, we see an interior designer logged in to BIA Cordon Bleu's account. The interior designer can place wholesale orders at the designer pricing set by ...
Read More
September 27, 2023 Tableware Today: Babcock Gifts Shares Inspiration
Chalk 23238 picture
Tableware Today: Babcock Gifts Shares Inspiration
September 27, 2023
Marion Samuel, who manages Babcock Gifts, a Tennessee-based gift shop, pens Tableware Today’s Last Word column in this month’s issue. She shares how they have grown over the last 50 years and run their store.

I was pleased to see her tout the store’s Bridge software. Babcock Gifts, which has been a client for 10 years, uses Bridge’s Shop Local gift registry service and Brand Syncing service. Using our service, they showcase 400+ couples’ gift registries online ...
Read More
September 27, 2023 Tableware Today: Vista Alegre Promotes the Shop Local Platform
Chalk 23237 picture
Tableware Today: Vista Alegre Promotes the Shop Local Platform
September 27, 2023
We're happy to see Vista Alegre promote the Shop Local platform in Tableware Today's October / November 2023 issue.

In the advertisement, the brand displays our ShopLocal.org logo.  
  • A brand shows the logo so that retailers know they can easily sell the products shown.
  • When a brand offers our Brand Syncing service, a retailer can instantly display the brand's entire product catalog online.
  • The retailer's customers can buy the products and add them to gift registries. 
  • The
...
Read More
September 26, 2023 Are You a Brand? Shopify Isn’t For You
Are You a Brand? Shopify Isn’t For You
September 26, 2023
Brands may consider using Shopify for their online operations. It’s important to note that brands can’t do many things with Shopify.  A key Shopify problem for a brand is that the brand has to have separate “stores” for retail and wholesale customers.  The reason is that Shopify doesn’t know what to charge the customer because it doesn’t know if it’s a general public shopper (that pays retail) or a retailer (that pays the wholesale price). &...
Read More
September 26, 2023 Shop Local
Chalk 23230 picture
Shop Local
September 26, 2023
Thanks to Ashley, a fan of local shops, for sharing this picture from Salt Lake City.    View Post
September 26, 2023 New Feature: Adjust Price Floors for Your Brands
Chalk 23206 picture
New Feature: Adjust Price Floors for Your Brands
September 26, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: You can now adjust the price floors for your brands. The price floor feature helps your business avoid making a sale to a general public customer that is not profitable and/or that does not meet minimum reorder amounts from the brand.

Previously, all Syncing Brands had the same price floor level, and all non-Syncing Brands had the same price floor level. With this update, your store can update an individual price floor level for each brand you ...
Read More
September 25, 2023 Simplicity ⚪️
Chalk 23229 picture
Simplicity ⚪️
September 25, 2023
When Apple launched its new iPhones this month, one of its most noteworthy updates was replacing its Lightning charging cable with a USB-C. This was not a voluntary move or extension of Steve Jobs’s love of simplicity. Apple changed it because the European Union required them to, according to Ben Cohen in The Wall St. Journal. Now, just about every mobile phone in the world (forget just little ol’ Europe) will have one charging solution (USB-C).

While this may seem logical, it ...
Read More
September 22, 2023 New Feature: Make a Product Tax-Exempt
Chalk 23224 picture
New Feature: Make a Product Tax-Exempt
September 22, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: You can now make a product tax-exempt.

With this update, your store can decide whether or not to charge tax on a product.  This is handy, for example, when selling most food online in New York State, where such purchases are tax-empt.

Please follow these steps to access this feature:
  1. Log in to your Shop Local account.
  2. Browse to the product you wish to make tax-exempt.
  3. On the product's Details page, click "Edit product&
...
Read More
September 21, 2023 Shop Local Merchants Ranks Higher than MyRegistry.com and Shopify Merchants
Chalk 23216 picture
Shop Local Merchants Ranks Higher than MyRegistry.com and Shopify Merchants
September 21, 2023
We recently conducted a study to review Google search results for wedding registry purchasing. In the results for 32 states in which we have clients, Shop Local stores ranked on page 1 of Google ahead of national chains and other registry services, which often have larger customer bases and bigger website budgets.

When conducting the search for "wedding registry [state name]", many Shop Local stores beat MyRegistry.com and Shopify apps, like Gift Reggie.

Search Results
  • Number
...
Read More
September 19, 2023 Standards Matter
Chalk 23210 picture
Standards Matter
September 19, 2023
Google, Amazon, and an array of home appliance companies are teaming up to make it easier for you to dim your home’s lights and lock your front doors. They are adopting a standard called Matter that allows devices to communicate and work together, shares The Wall St. Journal. This allows a giant like Amazon, creator of Alexa devices and Ring doorbells, and Tuo, a small home device tech creator, to use the same platform yet keep their internal, proprietary code base. This standard is like a...
Read More
September 19, 2023 Help Your Stores & Get $70
Chalk 23209 picture
Help Your Stores & Get $70
September 19, 2023
FOR BRANDS AND AGENCIES

We've made a showroom flyer for you.   This flyer can be put in an upright display as well as printed and given to retailers. 

You are invited to print the attached PDF.

Bonus:
  • We'll send you $50 for displaying the flyer in an upright display. 
  • We'll send you $20 for printing these materials in order to hand them out in the showroom.
  • Your total compensation: $70.
  • For redemption of this offer, please email josephine@bridge.
...
Read More
September 19, 2023 Ginori 1735 & Kering in The Times
Chalk 23208 picture
Ginori 1735 & Kering in The Times
September 19, 2023
Ginori 1735, a client using our Syncing service, was featured in a four-page Kering advertisement in the Times this past weekend. The ad promotes imagination and invites readers to enjoy a film. 

We thank Kering and Ginori 1735 for supporting their indie retailers and their imaginations. 

Checkout the film:
https://www.kering.com/en/group/ten-years-of-empowering-imagination/
 
Read More
September 18, 2023 Amazon closes physical shops
Chalk 23205 picture
Amazon closes physical shops
September 18, 2023
The Wall Street Journal gives us an update on Amazon’s plans, ranging from stores, hardware, health care, and logistics.  The article shares that Amazon has closed all of its bookstores and 4-star stores. 

Read the full article: 
https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/amazon-fourth-pillar-3024a3c3 View Post
September 14, 2023 25% of Brands Offer Discounts for Newsletter Signups
Chalk 23196 picture
25% of Brands Offer Discounts for Newsletter Signups
September 14, 2023
Shop Local analyzed the websites for the top-20 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industries. We assessed what discounts brands offer when one signs up for a newsletter.

Brand Study Findings:
  • Of the 20 brands, 5 (25%) offer a discount when one signs up for a newsletter.
  • For brands that offer a discount, the average discount is 15% off.
  • Some brands offer other promotions for signing up for a newsletter, including free shipping and a raffle entry.

How This Affects ...
Read More
Tuesday, November 7th: New Features Webinar Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023
Chalk 23182 picture
Tuesday, November 7th: New Features Webinar Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 For All Members:

You're invited to our next New Features Review webinar on Tuesday, November 7th at 4 pm EST.

You’ll learn:
  • About new features included in your Online Store.
  • How to save time using these new features.
  • How to use the features to sell more.
Members are invited to ask questions about new and existing features. A Shop Local coach will answer questions and show live examples of answers.  

Why attend?
  • Save time.  
  • Sell more. 
  • Meet
...
Read More

» RSVP
September 12, 2023 Store Owner Saves $1,000 by Choosing Save Local Service
Chalk 23181 picture
Store Owner Saves $1,000 by Choosing Save Local Service
September 12, 2023
H Mercantile, an indie store in Louisiana, signed up last week for a free account.
  • The store owner heard about the service from their Ivystone sales rep and signed up online.
  • In just a few minutes, the store used the Brand Syncing Service to Sync with Casafina. It instantly had data for 955 products to create an online store and gift registry filled for free.
  • The owner saved $1,000+ in labor on adding products to a website.
  • The store paid no setup costs to
...
Read More
September 11, 2023 New Feature: Performance Statistics Page
Chalk 23178 picture
New Feature: Performance Statistics Page
September 11, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: We've added a new Performance Statistics page to your account. This page makes it easier to access your account's stats. 

Previously, this page was titled "How Shop Local is Helping My Business?" Now, the page is titled "My Account's Performance Statistics." 

For Retailers, the stats displayed on the Performance Statistics page include:
  • Number of Visitors
  • Number of Shopping Bags Created
  • Number of Retail Orders
...
Read More

Next page

Press: Bridge in the News
Shop Local Merchants Ranks Higher than MyRegistry.com and Shopify Merchants
Shop Local Merchants Ranks Higher than MyRegistry.com and Shopify Merchants
September 2023

Shop Local Helps Indie Stores Rank on Page 1 of Google in 64% of States
Shop Local Helps Indie Stores Rank on Page 1 of Google in 64% of States
September 2023

Tableware Today: Free Shipping Pays Off
Tableware Today: Free Shipping Pays Off
March 2023

Bridge Helps Indie Stores Rank on Page 1 of Google in 76% of States
Bridge Helps Indie Stores Rank on Page 1 of Google in 76% of States
October 2022

HFN: Bridge Experiences Record Growth
HFN: Bridge Experiences Record Growth
August 2021

Press Release: Bridge Membership Surges 50%
Press Release: Bridge Membership Surges 50%
July 2021

Four Trade Publications Report on Bridge's Growth
Four Trade Publications Report on Bridge's Growth
July 2020

HFN Editor Praises Bridge
HFN Editor Praises Bridge
March 2020

Seminars Offer Strategies for Independent Stores
Seminars Offer Strategies for Independent Stores
January 2020

Tableware Today Article: Chart Your Future Before Big Tech Does
Tableware Today Article: Chart Your Future Before Big Tech Does
November 2019

HFN Publishes Jason Solarek's 'Letter to the Editor'
HFN Publishes Jason Solarek's 'Letter to the Editor'
May 2019

HFN Shares Juliska is Joining Bridge
HFN Shares Juliska is Joining Bridge
March 2018

...