Just like those cute little squirrels, we too are making an app. Our app for members and registrants will allow them to more easily and quickly interact with important information, including their orders.
How a checklist can be used as a valuable tool for existing clients or prospects.
December 20, 2023
This past Thanksgiving, Austin Kleon, the author of "Steal Like an Artist" and other inspirational books, shared a free gratitude journal via his weekly email newsletter. (Please view that clever, hand-drawn journal here: https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/a-gratitude-zine) A part of this journal is making a list of what one is grateful for. (He also has an ad lib for gratitude!) I can imagine him having a gratitude checklist. A checklist is a very efficient tool to deliver...
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The Atlantic shares how Chinese factories have found a new way around U.S. retailers and into our homes: Chinese apps. SHEIN and other Chinese apps are bypassing Amazon to be a new leader in Chinese goods. In addition to Amazon, Target, Walmart, and indie shops now have a new group of digital competitors embedded in customers’ pockets.
Except from The Atlantic article:
MATERIAL WORLD
IS THIS HOW AMAZON ENDS?
An open embrace of cheap foreign products has helped ...
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How pre-populating information saves clients time and speeds them along a process.
June 30, 2023
Each April, I scramble to send my tax information to my accountant so I can file my taxes before April 15. Since my friends confide that they do the same, there are likely millions of people like us racing to prepare our taxes. What if there was a way to avoid this painful rush—and even the cost of it? The WSJ shares that Japan, New Zealand, and much of Europe get such relief. The countries prepare tax returns for their citizens using existing data, and the citizen just needs to review it,...
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What Crocs can teach us about gaining new customers and keeping them happy.
May 15, 2023
About 15 years ago, I bought a pair of Crocs sandals in Myrtle Beach, SC. Not only were they hot pink, but the insole was traffic cone orange. My buddies hated them, but oddly others loved them. The sandals were affordable (maybe $20), comfortable, and a conversation starter.
According to last week’s The New York Times' profile on Crocs, I’m one of tens of millions of happy Crocs owners. This happiness is profitable:
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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Today’s Gen Z gift registrants want to do everything online, often on their iPhone 14. They want to start a registry, add products, remove products, edit quantities, and view purchases. They don't want to call the store to do this.
In the adoption of digital tools, another trend is also at play: female shoppers are busier than before. Today, more women graduate from college than men. Women are increasingly doctors, CEOs, and world leaders. (Italy just welcomed its ...
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We All Do!
A word popped into my head this morning as I was driving to the office.
“Polite company.” Hmmm, now that is a thought that can take many twists and turns.
The social interaction that goes with the meal is more important than the plates .But we love it when the environment and the conversation dovetale into a memorable enjoyable gathering.
To have a company or business characterized by courtesy is one way to think of it, but that is not what we are talking ...
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When talking about memberships and subscriptions, these two business models are sometimes interchanged but actually are different. They often differ in their pricing, customers, and offerings. A subscription is often not a membership, but a membership often encompasses a subscription. A membership is often an elevated and more powerful subscription that collectivizes and leverages the subscribers.
What They Have In Common
With both models, you often pay a fee and receive a ...
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In a recent NY Times article about working out, the author Christie Aschwanden gives readers tips on how to make working out more enjoyable. (Read the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/well/move/habits-motivation-exercise.html). In reading this, I saw many parallels between working out and helping our stores get their websites ‘in shape.’ The author encourages readers to not think of working out as exercise and instead think of it as "hanging out with friends...
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Relying on file-sharing services like Dropbox to sell products often costs stores an extra $750 per brand and hurts sales
I work with 900 retailers who tell me they are drowning in a sea of Dropbox folders containing Excel files and product images. What can we do about this? First, let’s review what’s happening: When a brand wants to share products with a store, it emails the store a link from Dropbox or a similar file-sharing service. A store may receive five to ten Dropbox links...
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"Are you happy?” That’s a question you may ask yourself. Your parents and friends also likely inquire (I hope!). While it may seem flaky to say, happiness is important. This topic was the subject of Dr. Edward Diener, who passed away in April of this year. Dr. Diener, who studied happiness and earned the moniker “Dr. Happiness,” reported that happiness often correlates with social relationships, being with others, and not being alone.
Hurray for Grandma’s China! They are hot and selling briskly once again.
“There was a long time when no one wanted to inherit Grandma’s prized wedding china, so valued she only busted them out for special occasions. Potential heirs dreaded the bequest thinking them fussy.” said Rebecca Malinsky of the Wall Street Journal. We agree with her.
But some new thinking has arrived recently, as people, especially young ones, are taking another look.
And they are thinking ...
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How much does Bridge cost vs other marketing tools? Let's imagine a printed catalog costs $10 to print and send to a customer. The customer uses it for 10 minutes. It therefore costs $1 per minute.
The Bridge Smart Products service costs a brand $9 per year per retailer. Over that year, a retailer interacts with that Smart Product data for 104 minutes. This number is approximately 2 minutes per week. (Please note: some retailers view Smart Product data at a much higher rate, such ...
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This is our 'Save Local' seal. Save Local has a double meaning: one can save money by shopping locally and they can support local businesses.
Shopping online may result in shipping charges. When shopping local, one can skip the shipping charges--and receive the item instantly.
A hallmark of indie stores is that they are often in walkable areas. For this reason, the sticker has a shoe and a bicycle. When one shops at big box stores, one often doesn't walk. They drive. Similarly,...
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Are websites a waste? I'll thank they are and I'll explain. But first, it's important to note that websites are different from platforms. A website is something for which your business is solely responsible. A platform is a digital service to which you subscribe that you are not solely responsible. You may add content and pictures, etc. but you do not manage the technical aspects. You likely use platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and Airbnb.
We have a new milestone: mobile orders exceeded desktop orders for the first time this past Saturday on Bridge. This is notable because desktop orders have historically beat mobile orders.
Shoppers choose the mobile route on Saturday because they are most likely out of the office and on the go. But why had mobile not trumped desktop before? We believe that mobile-based purchases are increasing as shoppers get more comfortable with mobile (aka they are making more mobile purchases for other ...
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You and your customers can now 'like' news posts by clicking a heart icon in the post. The heart icon appears on a white circle in the lower right of images associated with the post. Once you like a post, the post's like count will automatically increase.
This feature is active on your home page, Dashboard, news home page, and dedicated news pages.
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March 24, 2019
March 24, 2019
Happy to see Diane Seidle’s lastest strategy article in Tableware Today below. Speaking of hashtags, Bridge created its own ‘$tag’ to similarly offer quick access to product info. Type a dollar symbol “$” before a SKU and the specific item will magically appear below your Chalk.
Tableware Today:
WHAT'S YOUR HASHTAG STRATEGY?
Just in case you’ve been living off the grid for a year or more, a hashtag is simply a word or phrase behind a pound sign. When you use a hashtag that word or phrase becomes ...
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