A retail client recently decided they'd like to delete some past wedding registries to "save money." This raises the question, "Does deleting old registries save money?" We assessed the question and found that deleting old registries likely doesn’t save a retailer money. The reason is that it costs more to replicate our automated marketing efforts with more costly manual efforts.
How to update your retail settings on the Online Store tab.
March 16, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: it's now easier to access settings for your Online Store. We've moved all of your Online Store settings to their own tab in your Business Profile. Previously, these settings were combined with other information on your Profile Home tab.
With this update, your store can easily see just your Online Store settings.
In the book The Cold Start Problem, Andrew Chen says that the 'network effect’ is really three effects:
The acquisition effect
The engagement effect
The monetization effect
In the beginning, a business seeking to build a network has to concentrate on acquiring users, even if they are non-paying. Companies often give away the service, especially software companies, and we can see that with Facebook, Slack, TikTok, and many others. Bridge didn’t do ...
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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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This week's Times shares that brides are increasingly asking for cash gifts. This trend pulls back the curtain on the underbelly of wedding gifts. Over the last 20 years, a trend emerged where a bride would ask for a traditional gift (i.e. a crystal champagne flute set, a fine china plate, etc.) but then redeem the credit for a television or vacuum. The stores that were especially adept at this were the big-box stores with a wide variety of offerings like Macy's and Target. They would use ...
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An article in today’s Times cites the high cost of acquiring customers, which ranges from $100 to $800. Excerpt:
“Estimates of an often-cited retail metric known as customer acquisition costs range from $100 to more than $800 per customer, said Daniel McCarthy, a professor at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business, who has done extensive research in the field.”
Physical retail is one of the most expensive ways to acquire customers. An online ...
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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.
The WSJ’s illustration by Lars Leetaru of Santa atop a cargo container sums up nicely our current holiday supply chain. I recall my dad telling me about the halcyon days of his dad making Christmas toys in the basement by hand for the family.
The article suggests that consumers, flush with cash, will gift more digital goods and gift cards in lieu of out-of-stock goods.
Your Bridge now makes it easier to speed customers to popular areas of your site. Your header now displays links to your gift card page, popular products page, and sale products page.
These three links appear if you have fewer than six custom links. If you have more than six custom header links, these default custom links will not appear. If this is the case for your store, you are welcome to add these links manually.
If your site does not have any products on ...
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You can now more easily view the credit status for a registry item. When viewing an order, just look below the product's name, and your Bridge will show you the registry accounting status. In the example shown, there is credit due to the registrant for the value of the item shown.
Accurately managing registry credit is an important part of keeping your registry accounting books accurate and making registrants and gift-givers happy. Let's imagine an order has three products in it. With ...
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Material Possessions, a gift shop in Illinois, needed a quick solution to boost its online presence. With Amazon and Covid-19 nipping at indie stores' heels, stores need to quickly boost their online offering.
In just 24 hours, Material Possessions opened a Bridge account and is currently offering 15,000+ products for sale. The retailer can sell these products directly from its Bridge Store--or it can export the products and import them into its parent website (https://...
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What can indie stores learn from hotels? Sell now, redeem later. Hotels are selling gift cards and future stays at a discount—sometimes up to 33% off. Your store can likewise sell $100 gift cards for $66. Lesson: Do what it takes to get the money today.
I also recommend offering a gift card subscription service. Your customer pays, for example, $80 per month and you send it a $100 gift card. This brings in recurring revenue.
Spread some Joy !
Our day-to-day world feels anything but normal. Our shop sits quiet and dark. We no longer make those daily face-to-face connections with our team and with our dear customers.
And yet, we can look around us and find comfort and yes, a sense of normal, in connecting with our loved ones and friends even if it's from afar.
Send a gift to someone you love.
Cheer up someone in your life.
Pay it forward and buy a gift card to use now or later.
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I believe that no business will survive the COVID-19 pandemic alone. Together, we can help indie stores survive this crisis.
Here is what Bridge is doing to help members:
Bridge is hosting COVID-19 preparation webinars for retailers, brands, and sales reps. For retailers, we hosted three trainings this week. You are invited to watch a replay of the COVID webinar for retailers here: https://vimeo.com/402693440/844cc20eec Our webinar
We are here and ready to help you with your gift for weddings, showers, birthdays, births, oops I did something wrong, or just because gifts. We will wrap your purchases beautifully and bring it out to the car! Just call 864-229-4000 or email us at http://www.thayersfurnitureandfinegifts.com. You can also text me 864-993-9913.
During these interesting time, we truly appreciate your support.
Thank you, Taylor Tucker
...
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Gift cards are becoming a popular way for customers to support indie stores. Your Bridge Store software includes gift cards. Friends, family, and shoppers can buy gift cards in any amount from your Bridge Store.
Steps to promote your gift card service:
1. Please visit your Bridge Store.
2. On your home page, on the left-hand side, please click on "Give a Gift Card."
3. Once on your gift card page, if you are logged in, you can add a custom picture of your store's...
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Pay customers to shop with you: that's what it will take to stay afloat.
We can learn a lot from this Best Buy email:
1. Promote free shipping with a very low threshold. Best Buy requires just a $35 order. What do your competitors offer?
2. Give away money to shop with you. Best Buy is offering me $5 knowing that I'll likely spend $50.
3. Show smiling faces in your advertising and emails. Show real workers--do not use stock photos.
4. Set a deadline by when customers can ...
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