I recently saw a car with the license plate: WHYWRK. I had a sad feeling for the driver, who perhaps wasn’t as lucky as I to have the best job in the world – getting paid to shop for the most beautiful goods in the world – which I am now retiring from. After 40+ years as a buyer of tabletop and gifts in Buffalo, I have the opportunity to put the dishes away, polish the flatware, and store the stemware. As a small specialty store, we’ve been through our share of ups and ...
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How online calendars can help retailers manage and save time.
October 4, 2023
One of the main problems that businesses have is efficient use of time. A retailer (or brand or sales rep) seeks on a daily basis to manage their time and optimize results. (I was reminded of this while reading a The Wall St. Journal article about time management for the family.) Businesses use a variety of tools to manage and save time, including email, texting, and Zoom.
Shop Local helps businesses in their quest to save time. We offer businesses a variety of services to help ...
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BERTIL VALLIEN is a gift to glass. The impressive portfolio of this prolific artist is haunting, memorable, and mesmerizing.
His 60-year career, spent advancing the craft of sand-casting, is a study of one man's existential questioning actualized on hypnotic works of art.
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BERTIL VALLIEN IS A 60-YEAR KOSTA BODA ICON, DESIGNING FOR THE BRAND SINCE 1963.
He is one of Sweden's most celebrated glass artists with numerous awards and museums exhibitions around...
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Shop Local analyzed the websites for the top-20 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industries. We assessed what discounts brands offer when one signs up for a newsletter.
Brand Study Findings:
Of the 20 brands, 5 (25%) offer a discount when one signs up for a newsletter.
For brands that offer a discount, the average discount is 15% off.
Some brands offer other promotions for signing up for a newsletter, including free shipping and a raffle entry.
Cucina Fresca, meaning Tuscan Kitchen in Italian, is inspired by the Tuscan landscape: the warm color of wheat, the rich red earth, the fresh greens of nature, the soft creams and whites of clouds, and the cool blues of skies and streams. The classic shapes are reminiscent of 14th-century pottery, and the lush glazes and raw terra cotta edges honor the essence of Tuscany. Stop by Glassworks to get a rustic, handcrafted authenticity to your table!
Thanks to Susan Gravely for a wonderful event ...
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Brighten up your home with a touch of Sicilian tradition by VIETRI. Sicily has a tradition dating back generations of displaying female and white sculptural heads, and they are often used as planters on doorsteps, porches, and balconies. No matter the placement, these handcrafted Sicilian Heads are sure to be a conversation starter. There are 7 different styles to choose from. Stop in to see our selection.
Join us for an irresistibly Italian experience with VIETRI's Susan Gravely! She will be...
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How a company's sales and growth can be affected by the message it conveys to customers.
July 18, 2023
Allbirds stock is down 95% since its November 2021 initial public offering. People may say the company launched the wrong products (did you buy one of their puffer jackets?) or tried to grow too quickly. I believe there is a larger reason: you can’t scale a company by leading with an environmental message—which is Allbirds’s pitch. Consumers rank saving the planet as one of their least pressing concerns when making a purchase. The leading factors consumers look for when ...
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In celebration of vietri’s 40th anniversary, Susan Gravely, vietri Founder and CEO, has written a memoir and a cookbook.The 240-page book features 52 recipes straight from the kitchens of Susan’s dearest Italian friends. In addition to these treasured family recipes, each chapter tells the story of how Susan met each friend and the meals and memories they have shared together over the years. The book also includes glimpses into these friends’ beautiful Italian homes and gardens...
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We've made a new showroom flyer and display piece for brands and reps in Atlanta. This can be put in an upright display as well as printed and given to retailers.
You are invited to print the attached PDF.
Bonus:
We'll send you $50 for displaying the sheet in an upright display.
We'll send you $20 for printing these materials in order to hand them out in the showroom.
Shop Local analyzed the websites for the top-40 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industry. We assessed what promotions and discounts, such free shipping, brands offer. Shop Local did this because a product's price, which is impacted by discounts, is often the leading factor when shopping online. 70% of the brands surveyed by Shop Local offer free shipping.
How we can acquire new prospects by leveraging our existing network of customers.
June 2, 2023
In Andrew Chen’s book The Cold Start Problem, he breaks the network effect into three parts: engagement, acquisition, and economize. At Shop Local, we rely on the network effect and its three parts. I feel that we’re succeeding in terms of engagement but need improvement in acquisition.
Engagement
We use the 64,000 products in our Syncing service to engage 1,200 our retail clients. We email them new intros, price updates, archived items for these synced products. Once they ...
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Before May 31, 2023, send an email to your retailers inviting them to join you on Shop Local's e-commerce platform. We’ve written for you a sample email template you can send to them. Please find that template below. You can copy this template and send it using your email program (Outlook, MailChimp, etc.).
When you send your email, please BCC [email protected] or forward it after you send it.
I was happy to see Tableware Today magazine share our experiences and lessons regarding the power of free shipping.
You're invited to read the article below:
.........................
THE LAST WORD
FREE SHIPPING PAYS OFF
by JASON SOLAREK
Most indie stores don’t have the technical ability or people power to track pricing and offer discounts like free shipping. Indie stores need this information or they’ll be left behind. This information can make a difference: in ...
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Art and design play a crucial role in creating a unique and memorable brand identity. However, designing compelling art and graphics can be a challenging task, especially for brands and retailers looking to create something that stands out in a crowded market. Midjourney, a new AI-based service, may provide valuable inspiration when designing products. Brands may be able to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Midjourney is an image creation software that reads whatever ...
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Bridge analyzed the websites for the top-40 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industry. We assessed what promotions and discounts, such free shipping, brands offer. Bridge did this because a product's price, which is impacted by discounts, is often the leading factor when shopping online. More than 67% of the brands surveyed by Bridge offer free shipping.
How having the right defaults makes decisions easier for clients and helps them be more successful.
January 27, 2023
When you look at your driver’s license, it lists if you’re an organ donor. Twenty years ago, only 20% of people were donors, but today 80% are—thereby saving millions of lives. Did people become more kind? No, the question on the application was changed from opt-in to opt-out. People signing up for or renewing a license are now by default enlisted in organ donation. Lesson: the right default answer in medical care can save millions of lives. Similarly, the right defaults ...
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More than 65% of brands surveyed by Bridge offer free shipping, while just 14% of indie stores do. Brands often charge just $118 to quality for free shipping, while stores charge $190 (a $72 difference). Where would you shop?
Bridge analyzed the websites for the top-40 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industry. We assessed what promotions and discounts, such free shipping, brands offer. Bridge did this because a product's price, which is impacted by discounts, is often the leading ...
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Your Bridge has a new feature: You can now easily assign your business's POS and website software.
In the example shown, the store has selected Intuit: Quickbooks as their POS software. When assigning Intuit: Quickbooks, Bridge software shares that 59 other businesses also use this POS software.
The store has selected Shopify as their website software. By assigning Shopify, Bridge software notifies the store that 103 other businesses also use this website software.
...
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When we talk about prices, there are two prices that are important:
The price that we charge clients.
The price our clients charge their customers.
We normally talk about the former, aka how our prices compare with other competitors, like Shopify or wholesale services like Faire.
Of increasing importance to us is what our retailers charge their customers. Walmart recently announced that it was taking brands to account and pressuring them to keep ...
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Ronald Reagan said, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Reaganomics usually refers to tax cuts and trickle down economics, yet I propose that we take the Gipper’s quote and ask: How can simplicity contribute to a business's success?
When we share what leading companies do, we can often skip an explanation and sum it up in a brief sentence. Examples: