Indie Stores Report Double-Digit Growth in 2017 by Sharing Products
Forty-two brick and mortar Main Street retailers that participated in Bridgeβs annual survey said their sales grew up to 50% for a brand by using Bridgeβs product-syncing service.
"I do about 20% more business a year by being a part of the Bridge network,β said Mary Beth Wood, owner of the Crystal Plate in Gainesville, Georgia, and a user of the Bridge software. "It gives me more time to sell ...
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December 21, 2017
December 21, 2017
How is your business gaining new customers? Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and other retailers are battling with online-only entities like Wayfair to gain new customers. Wayfair is gaining new customers on Google via authentic placement and paid search ads. This video by L2 research shares how a large, well funded, ambitious company like Wayfair is competing with traditional retailers and Amazon.
Here's a lesson in how to ruin your registry business. This retailer changed three default settings in Bridge that help brides promote the store. Since the store changed these settings, the store is losing $1,000s in sales to Walmart, Crate & Barrel, and Amazon. You can see how on the left most registries have $0 or little in sales. Instead, family and friends are shopping on competitors' sites.
To avoid this mistake, please be sure to do the following: A. You will want to be sure that select 'yes'...
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May 1, 2017
May 1, 2017
Did you miss this column in Tableware Today, DOES YOUR BRIDAL REGISTRY WORK?
You can read the entire column here:
SOME PEOPLE READ COOKBOOKS OR mystery novels. I read bridal registries. In my consulting gig for Bridge Catalog, an e-commerce platform for the tabletop industry, my role is to train subscribing retailers on how to utilize the platform for better sales. Since wedding registries are the cornerstone of online sales for many independent retailers, I thought I should know what brides are ...
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May 16, 2016
May 16, 2016
Warren Shoulberg reminds us in this month's HFN that services are a nice add on to the retail store experience. Whether it's tech help, handyman help, or coffee & tea service, these amenities help differentiate a store from a cold website like Amazon.
If ur a home goods store, does ur store offer on-site engraving and monogramming? Does ur store offer custom printing or can it refer a supplier? Does ur store offer cooking classes?
Crate & Barrel has an online relationship with invitation ...
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We're happy that Tableware Today asked Bridge founder Jason Solarek to share his thoughts about e-commerce. In this month's Last Word column, you can read about e-commerce trends that independent, Main Street stores are facing. Jason also shares some potential solutions.
Full article:
THE BRIDGE TO MAIN STREET
A Connecticut retailer recently told me that it lost a bride's registry worth $10,000. The bride reviewed the store's outdated website and online product offering and wasn't ...
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October 11, 2014
October 11, 2014
Crate & Barrel is a major competitor to most independent retailers. What can we learn from its gift registry marketing?
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December 28, 2007
December 28, 2007
Domino Magazine's Top Tableware Picks for 2007
When Domino Magazine announced its top table and flatware picks for 2007, I was excited to check out the websites for the selected brands. Since these brands are the 'top' picks, I thought the websites would be easy to use and smart. Sadly, most of these websites are not. These are my grades for each brand's website:
What the Tableware Industry Can Learn From Rupert Murdoch's Takeover of the Wall Street Journal
This past August Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. captured the crown jewel of the publishing word by purchasing The Wall Street Journal from the Bancroft family for $5 billion. What does this event have to do with us in the tabletop industry? I propose that there is a lot the industry can learn from Murdoch's coup. The main lesson is that investing in technology-and in particular online operations-is ...
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