Google is often considered the first stop when searching for information. Looking for a product? You'll likely head to Amazon.com, where due to its 350m product listings, 25% of purchases reportedly start. Facebook will be your go-to for finding friends and family due to its 2b profiles of people. Airbnb lets you search 5.6m places to stay. These businesses are likely your choice because people want a massive selection when conducting a search. Many of the world's most ...
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In 35 states, Bridge Stores appeared on page one of Google when doing a wedding registry related search. In many states, Bridge Stores dominated the results. For example, for Georgia and South Carolina searches Bridge Stores claimed six spots on Google's first page.
Study Details:
We Googled "gift registry" and the state’s name.
We researched results for 48 states. (Bridge has clients in 48 states; the only states that don
In the early 2000s, the board game Cranium became a hit. The game combined elements of Scrabble and Pictionary with the goal of helping more people enjoy playing a game. Richard Tait, who created Cranium and sold it to Hasbro in 2008 for $77.5m, passed away in July. Like Mr. Tait, I had been a paperboy, but he went beyond what I ever offered: he came up with a new service that sold breakfast sandwiches along his newspaper route. He increased profits and made customers happier. ...
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When I was a kid, my mom instilled in me a lesson to always get paid for my work. When I went to mow a lawn or do my newspaper route, she’d remind me, “Be sure you get paid.” As an adult, these flashbacks are vivid like a scene from Citizen Kane—just swap out the Rosebud sled with my newspaper delivery bike. Today, this lesson still resonates when running Bridge. When calling a store that hasn’t paid its Bridge bill, I’m confident in asking ...
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When is the last time you received a Starbucks gift card? I’ve received them as holiday gifts, and I’ve given them to sales reps as thank you gifts. Starbucks gift cards, like their shops, are ubiquitous. They are almost as popular as gift cards from our nemesis: Amazon.com. Just about every month, a company offers me an Amazon gift card if I sign up for a service. WBGO, the local, Newark-based, non-profit radio station known for jazz, recently offered me an Amazon gift ...
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Whenever I visit my 76-year-old mom in Myrtle Beach, SC, she picks me up and the oldies station is playing in her car. I’ve tried changing that dial, and one has a better chance of outmaneuvering tennis star Daniil Medvedev. I imagine the oldies music brings her back to her youth. I read a study that people’s favorite song is often when they were 17 years old. That’s right: the 'best songs’ may not be the best songs but rather simply be what you heard in ...
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Your Bridge has a new feature. You can now more easily manage your gift registry bonuses.
Background:
Your Bridge Store's Gift Registry software has a marketing program built in. This program gives registrants (e.g. brides) a monetary bonus if they complete five steps. Previously, when registrants reported that they added a link on their social media page, a store would have to ask the registrant on which platform they added the link. The same process occurred when the registrant reported ...
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Botanic Garden, a pattern from the brand Portmeirion, is celebrating its 50th anniversary shares Tableware Today magazine. The pattern, which is based on an 1817 herbal book’s illustrations, was unconventional at the time because it came in unmatching sets. Store buyers feared it wouldn’t sell. Fifty years later, the pattern has sold more than $1b and accounts for about half of Portmeirion’s sales. The company’s daughter created the pattern after ...
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I don’t own a car, yet I have a strange desire to read Dan Neil's car column each weekend in The Wall St. Journal. Why would someone who doesn’t own a car, won’t be buying one soon, and hasn’t owned one in 25 years read a car column? It's a mix of enjoying the design and technology of automobiles, wanting to know what Dwayne Johnson may be buying next, loving Dan’s witty writing style, and, confession, simply being 13-years old at heart. Cars are ...
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In this e-commerce age, a store being found on page 1 of Google is very important. Online advertising has become much more expensive recently, making being found even more important. Being found in Google saves the store on costly advertising.
Sometimes a potential client asks me if their store uses Bridge Store software, will their store rank higher in Google? The answer: Yes. In this example, we Googled "gift registry texas." We see that Bridge retailers claimed ...
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This graphic shows the situation in which many retailers find themselves. Many retailers are stuck trying to connect their digital wholesale buying and their stores’ websites.
On the left, we see wholesale software operators, including MarketTime, Juniper, Faire, Bridge, etc.
In the middle is the retailer.
On the right we see retail (D2C) software providers, including Bridge, Shopify, Big Commerce, etc.
The software entities on the left should connect ...
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Bridge has teamed up with 23 premium brands to offer an exciting promotion. A retailer can place an order at the Atlanta show and get $200 off its wholesale order. The store will receive a free Bridge account. The account will contain the products the store ordered. With this solution, a store can quickly promote and sell what it just bought at the show. The store's Bridge account will also contain other products that the brand offers. With this approach, the stores can quickly...
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Bridge has teamed up with four brands to offer an exciting promotion. Stores can place an order at the Dallas or Atlanta shows and get $200 off their wholesale order. The store will receive a free Bridge account. The account will contain the products the store ordered. With this solution, a store can quickly promote and sell what it just bought at the show. The Bridge account will also contain other products that the brand offers. With this approach, the stores...
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My friend works at the Swiss running shoemaker ON. She recently texted me and suggested I try their running shoes. Three weeks later, I was handling two boxes of their Swiss engineered shoes. On one ON shoe, there is a little Swiss flag and the words “Swiss Engineering” printed. When I get a pair of Nike’s, they don’t say "Beaverton-engineering" or "US-engineering." Nor do Adidas shoes proclaim “German engineering.” ...
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In the past, we’ve used spin classes and gyms as inspiration for Bridge. We see them as metaphors for helping retail business owners. The founders of SoulCycle, Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, must have been eavesdropping on us: they are expanding their spinning approach to another sphere. The Times reports they have started Peoplehood, a business that seeks to help people via self-help (group-help?) sessions. It’s SoulCycle for the soul&...
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Bridge has added a new feature to your retail shop. At the top of your Bridge Store, there is now a banner that promotes shopping local. This banner quickly conveys that buying from your Store helps your store and your community.
The text says, "Thank you for supporting your local shop & people in your community."
Introduction banners like this are important. We see them on a variety of sites, including on Bookshop.org and Faire.com. (Read more about the ...
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While eating a slice of coal-fired pizza at Arturo’s in Soho yesterday, and getting an occasional whiff of Houston Street garbage, I had to admit: I was at a loss for insight to share with my coworkers this week. Each week, I send out a motivational message to my team that precedes a summary of what they accomplished. We call this report the Brick report. This would be my seventy-second Brick introduction: What else could I say--and would they miss it if there was not an introduction...
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