9 Ways Your Bridge Is Different Than Other Online Stores

There are approximately 40 online e-commerce providers. These software providers help other businesses sell online by offering them the ability to run an online store. These providers include Bridge as well as Shopify, Magento, Big Commerce, BigCartel, Square, and Weebly.  Does Bridge offer a different (better?) experience than these other platforms? We believe the answer is yes. We also think our 960 retail clients agree: 99.7% of our retailers retain our service each month.

How can we compare your Bridge to other software?  To do this, let's compare Bridge’s home page to a Shopify home page. In the example, we're showing two home pages for a sample shop called Gifts Galore. One home page is Shopify's home page, and one is Bridge's. I've placed orange dots next to similar features. We've placed pink dots next to features that Bridge has and Shopify does not.  In terms of similarities, both stores have:

•  The store's name in the upper left.
• A "Home" link.  
• A shopping bag button. 

With Bridge, the search field is open and ready to type in. With Shopify, the search is hidden behind an icon, so searching takes one more click.

Let's review the differences between the two (the pink dots):

1. Bridge displays the store's phone number in the center of the page at the top. A business' telephone number is one of the top reasons a customer visits a website. Shopify does not display the telephone number there.
2. Bridge displays the number of products offered ("5,970 Products") and the brands offered ("38 Designers") in the upper right. Shopify does not. These statistics help customers trust the website and feel they are getting access to a large selection of products. 
3. Bridge includes built-in gift registry software with its store. In the upper right, we see a "Start New Registry" button. Shopify does not offer gift registry software, and one must install a third-party app.
4. Bridge's store displays a horizontal navigation that makes getting to products in different manners easy. The links read: Designers, Departments, New, Sale, and Gifts.  This organizational framework and navigation are included out of the box with Bridge. With Shopify, you get a blank slate and have to do all this from scratch. You have to make up your organization as you go or find another website to copy.
5. Bridge gives members default home page slides for services and brands. We have a directory of 2,900 brands. With Shopify, you have to start with nothing and find your home page images.
6. Bridge displays a Contact Card on the left, below the slideshow. This card includes:
   • Message store link
   • Telephone number
   • Address
   • Store hours
   • Link to News page
   • Link to Events page
   • Live to Reviews page
   • Link to send payment
   • Links to social media
   • Shopify does not have an area with similar links. 
7. Bridge includes built-in review software. Customers can review your business. Reviews make up 10% of your Google ranking and are an important feature to offer to increase traffic. Shopify does not come with review software. One must install a third-party app. 
8. Bridge displays a "Shop" card below the Contact Card. In this card, there are links to “Give a Gift Card,” “Gift Registry,” “Shop by Brand,” and “Shop by Department.”  This makes shopping easy, especially via a mobile device. Shopify does not have an area that groups all the shopping links.
9. Of the 2,900 brands in Bridge's Brand Directory, Bridge has partnerships with 110 of them. Partners include Le Creuset, Kate Spade, and Baccarat. These partnerships allow approved retailers to instantly output all the brand’s products on its Bridge Store. Since brands pay for the syncing service, retailers use this program for free. This program saves the store thousands of dollars in labor and months of time.  As a general rule of thumb, a retailer spends about $1 to add 1 product to its website. When a retailer syncs 1,000 products, it saves $1,000 in labor.  Shopify has no product syncing service.

 

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