We're happy that REI, with 154 stores and $2.4b in revenue, is finally catching up to Bridge.
REI, the outdoor gear retailer, made news last week when it announced that it was offering an expanded selection of gear online from big brands like Salomon (the outdoor, athletic shoe company).
Excerpt:
The expansion allows customers to choose from a wider range of products. "This functionality opens up so many doors for our customers and gives them access to new sizes and styles of products that we could not stock previously," Curtis Kopf, chief digital officer at REI, said in a company release.
If this sounds familiar, that's because this is what Bridge created: 12 years ago. In 2007, Bridge helped two gift shops connect online to the entire product catalogs from ten premium tableware brands. Today, Bridge helps 450 retailers more show 60,000 products online from 120 partner brands. In addition, retailers can easily sell products from 2,000 other brands.
Bridge and REI know that it's imperative for brands to help retailers create massive online selection and deliver products quickly. Customers want this, and it helps retailers (and brands) stave off Amazon.
Due to cost and time, a retailer can NOT accomplish these steps on its own. They need the brands to partner with them.
When Bridge started highlighting these facts10 years ago, few brands would listen. And to this day, many brands still fight with retailers about helping them. Many brands balk at helping retailers show product online, they complain about drop shipping, and they seek online avenues to cut out long-standing retailers.
I believe that brands not wanting to drop ship is especially ironic when the brand sells direct: they obviously have the warehouse and manpower capabilities to ship small orders.
One may ask: are some brands consciously working to avoid programs like the one REI and Bridge created? Online business is growing each year, and Amazon is killing off indie stores. Brands may be thinking, "Why invest in programs that help retailers online when we could get 100% of a sale via our direct-to-consumer website?"
Thankfully, REI, Solomon, and Bridge's community of businesses see the light.