Last February e-commerce company Shopify Inc. replaced the “Ottawa, Canada” dateline that began its press releases and earnings reports with a strange new one: “Internet, Everywhere.” The geographical shift came at the insistence of Shopify’s founder and chief executive officer, Tobi Lütke, who tends to view such matters through the prism of cold, hard logic. In May 2020, only a few months into the pandemic, he’d made the early, seemingly rash decision to...
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In some ways, Bridge makes this cover true: we allow small mom and pop stores to offer massive, 'mega' online stores. For example, the Ivy House store in Dallas, Texas, is just 2,000 square feet with three employees--yet with Bridge's software offers a website with 54,383 products.
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September 16, 2019
September 16, 2019
An exhibit highlights the decline of small businesses in NYC. :-(
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June 24, 2018
June 24, 2018
This pizza article could be written about Bridge. :) How this Slice pizza app helps indie pizza shops Bridge helps indie retailers.
Amazon is competing against mom-and-pop hardware stores selling kitchen sinks and screws, report today's WSJ.
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July 9, 2017
July 9, 2017
Will Bridge help your store rank higher in Google? Yes, Bridge will help your store rank higher than Target, Wal-mart, Dillards, and Macy's. Check out these results when a customer searches for a gift registry in Texas. Bridge's indie, mom and pop shops ranked higher than national chains. Our retailers even out gunned theknot.com.
Give it a try: go to Google and search for your "gift registry [your state]". How did you store rank vs. other retailers?
To help ensure authentic results, use ...
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April 9, 2017
April 9, 2017
Main Street has been under fire for decades, shares today's Times. Going back to the 1930s, indie businesses have been competing with larger businesses that buy in bulk and are better connected to the global supply chain. In fact, MSRP pricing was started in the 1930s to help mom and pop stores fight back against growing chain stores.
Notably, the story's headline of the "Myth of Main Street" is misleading. The story acknowledges that Main Street existed, it's just that its been under fire for...
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I was chatting with a sales rep whom I highly admire this week about retail and he suggested that Neimans and Nordstrom could reverse their dipping sales by hiring more people and / or providing better in-store customer service. He likened going to the store as going to a Broadway show where if you offer a good experience, people will pay more and business will thrive.
Here are my thoughts on this: 1. We're not Broadway. Retailers sell commodities: hats, pants, cups, plates, ...
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March 12, 2016
March 12, 2016
Amazon's brick and two mortar stores are profiled in today's Times. Too bad Amazon's two stores and its online business come at the cost of hurting 1,000s of physical locations.
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March 6, 2016
March 6, 2016
How often is Le Creuset mentioned on the Time's home page? Probably not too often - and yet this mention isn't likely the one the storied kitchenware brand wanted: it's about misleading customers. The biggest abusers of customers: online entities like Wayfair, Overstock, and Amazon.
In contrast, indy mom and pop stores don't have the lax morals, chutzpah, nor technical ability to pull the cons these big online players do.
This story is actually good reason to shop with your local store.
Does Wal-Mart hurt local retailers? If so, what happens when Wal-Mart closes? Today's WSJ speculates on what will happen when it closes 150+ stores.
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December 1, 2015
December 1, 2015
Indy retailers are losing the battle to get their part of the online market, according to today's WSJ. Indy retailers online sales year over year didn't grow nearly as much as big box stores' sales. Specialty shops' sales grew 7% while the big box stores grew by 4x that (30%).
How can we help indy stores get their share? We need to give them better websites that are filled with more products. We need to give them tools that help them better share news and sales, and connect with their customers ...
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Today's HFN magazine shares Bridge's progress with helping independent retailers. Bridge would like to thanks its members for helping everyone make it to this milestone.
Article:
Bridge and its Tabletop Partners Reach a Milestone
Bridge founder expects to reach $1.2 million by year's end
Posted on November 6, 2015 by Allison Zisko
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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January 1, 2015
January 1, 2015
Fedex and UPS prices are increasing in 2015. The new pricing model takes into account the size of the box shipped instead of just the weight. For example, to ship a women's shoulder bag may cost 40% more to ship.
How does this affect retailers? One may wish to reduce package sizes and consider using USPS instead. This may also help slow Amazon's encroachment on Main Street, mom & pop stores. However, some people think it will giv Amazon an additional advantage.
This week's New Yorker cover captures the retail industry's current tensions
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May 7, 2013
May 7, 2013
Today's New York Times editorial supports taxing online purchases, in an effort to help local mom and pop businesses.
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May 2, 2013
May 2, 2013
Today's New York Times editorial supports taxing online purchases, in an effort to help local mom and pop businesses.
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February 15, 2008
February 15, 2008
Microsoft Office Live Small Business Suite David Pogue in his New York Times column this week reviews the new Microsoft Office Live Small Business suite. He first notes:
Half the small businesses in America, and 70 percent of one-person businesses, donβt even have Web sites. Obviously, the percentage that exploits Internet marketing tools like e-mail newsletters, search engine ads and online stores is even lower.
The immediately brings to mind all the mom and pop and small tableware companies. For...
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