There are many e-commerce platforms from which to choose. A store owner can choose from more than 30 platforms including Bridge, Shopify, Big Commerce, and Big Cartel. Unfortunately, very few software providers are easy to set up and use. Most importantly, they may not improve retail sales. A store owner is surely mindful of increasing costs and wasting time on software.
Bridge, our e-commerce platform, helps more than 700 indie stores offer a website and bridal registry that...
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We offer a universal domain service (UDS) to retailers, brands, and sales reps. What does this service do? The universal domain service elevates your business' brand and may increase your Google ranking. Specifically, the service hides ("masks") the 'bridgecatalog' part of the website URL.
In the example shown, we Google two stores' names in Texas. The two stores both use Bridge Store to power their online business. The Ivy House does not use the universal domain service...
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In last week's RetailDive, Kaarin Vembar penned an article about small businesses and their pains during the pandemic. Ms. Vembar and RetailDive promote the groundswell to e-commerce but sadly shortcut its existence in their very article.
She interviews the owner of Adorned Abode in Tacoma but doesn't add a link to the store's website--which would've boosted the store's Google ranking and increased clicks from readers, and she doesn't give much attention to the store's website offerings. ...
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Online selection is very important. This leads one to ask: from how many dining and entertaining brands can your customers shop? How many bedding brands?
Your Bridge now quickly tells you and your customers this information. Please:
Visit your Designers page.
Look to the right of the department name. You will see a dynamic brand count. e.g. "Decorating & Accessories: 44 Brands"
At the top of the page, your Bridge displays the total numbers of brands ...
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Your Bridge Store ranks highly in Google. As a test, try this: Google "Juliska Dinner Plate." In the results, you'll see two indie stores outperform Zola (a million-dollar funded online retailer) and Houzz (another well-funded, venture capital-backed player). The two indies stores do not have any venture capitalists or bankers funding them. They simply use: Bridge.
Thalia and Dahlia, an Ohio-based store, use Bridge. It ranks just below Saks Fifth Avenue--and it's just 3 ...
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Part of my job is to review registry software. I ensure that it works well for retailers, registrants, and gift-givers (family and friends). I also assess whether it offers good value (price vs results).
A retailer recently shared with me that it uses the service MyRegistry.com. I reviewed the retailer's site and how a customer would make a registry purchase via MyRegistry.com. For privacy purposes, I changed the name of the store in the screenshots shown.
E-commerce sites get 21% of their traffic from organic Google searches, followed by Facebook (9.6%) and Instagram (1.5%), shares a study b Oribi. In other words, boosting your Google ranking is twice as important as posting on Facebook because more than 2x of your sales come from Google.
Sadly, I see many stores spending their 'marketing efforts' posting Facebook content--thereby helping Facebook sell ads to the store's competitors--and the stores inadvertently ignore the bigger sales ...
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2. Please search for the store "Paddiwack" or its city "Gainesville".
Why is the find a store feature important? The find a store feature, which Bridge offers to all brands, distributors and sales reps for free, helps drive shoppers ...
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December 10, 2019
December 10, 2019
Indie retailers are being hunted online by Amazon, Zola, and brands using their direct to consumer sites. They are triangulating around their prey. These entries are picking off their online customers and thereby their ‘supply chains‘ that keep them afloat online. Without online sales, the indie stores are starved of the one area in which the retail industry is growing.
Amazon and brands target general public orders. Due to the lower prices, brand name, and marketing, they'll get those ...
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Your home page now shows more pictures of registrants.
Benefits:
+ This will increase you sales.
+ This will increase your Google ranking.
Details:
Your Newsfeed now shows:
+ A congratulations for those celebrating a wedding.
+ A reminder for those registrants celebrating anniversaries.
+ When a registrant opens a registry
When potential a registrant see these posts, she or he will be be more likely to register at the store. When a registrant or customer scrolls down your Newsfeed...
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I developed Bridge Network, an e-commerce platform, that is not included in this article. Here are some things I have learned over the last 20 years of e-commerce development:
1. The article’s ranking criteria includes themes and templates. I believe you don't need an assortment of templates to have a functioning (or successful) e-commerce site. Just look at ...
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July 21, 2019
July 21, 2019
I believe that offering greater online selection is increasingly important in retail.
Greater selection is important for many reasons including:
1. Giving shoppers more choices. More choices lead to more sales.
2. Helping stores be more competitive. Shoppers know that big online retailers like Amazon offer millions of products, and thereby millions of possible price points and features. Offering something similar is the natural route to get those orders back from Amazon.
3. Boosting a ...
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June 16, 2019
June 16, 2019
Business lunch: how retail is changing :)
Old retail is 80% analog. This consists of: the physical store, staff, customer service training, etc. What you’d expect walking into a Saks or Macy's. And it's about 20% tech: computers, cash registers (POS systems), mobile shopping, Google ranking, apps, hiring social influencers, Instagram, etc.
Today, the retailers that are well positioned, growing, and 'hot' carry the opposite equation: they're 20% analog and 80% tech.
According to Google, Bridge is helping indie stores beat big box stores in the gift registry SEO race. In a study of searches by state, Bridge ranked above Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Dillards in Google's results.
Bridge conducted this study by using Google 'Incognito Mode' to search for: South Carolina Gift Registry Alabama Gift Registry Georgia Gift Registry
In the attached Google results screenshot, I’ve highlighted Bridge's stores in green, Target in orange, Dillard's in purple, and Bed ...
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April 20, 2019
April 20, 2019
Do you want to boost your Google ranking and better promote your store?
Try 'domain masking.' Domain masking is a service that Bridge offers that hides the 'bridgecatalog' part of your domain name. With domain masking, your website addresses will be 'cleaner,' you'll increase your Google ranking, and you'll enjoy other benefits.
As an example, Vieuxtemps (a gift shop in Charleston) uses domain masking. Its website urls are:
Happy to see all the 5-star customer reviews posted to Suzanne Roberts Gifts’ Bridge page.
Please share with us your successes and experiences with reviews. Reviews help increase your Google ranking, boost staff morale, and inform your potential customers.
What's new in Bridge 2.0? Many things. For starters, your news is much more prominent in 2.0. Your Bridge account's home page shows news first and foremost.
What do you need to do? Add news to your Bridge account today.
Benefits to you: 1. Posting news is a free way to promote your products to 1,000s of shoppers. 2. Increase your Google ranking for free. Google ranks sites with current news higher.
Note: your products will look less desirable if old news ...
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January 27, 2019
January 27, 2019
Amazon gives people products to review and doesn’t charge them for the gifts. This shows the power of reviews in driving purchases and in boosting a Google ranking. Amazon started its Vine review program more than 10 years ago—giving it a huge lead on competitors.