Great news: I have created a special training video for retailers for the holiday season. In this video, I share five easy steps to help you improve your home page--and holiday sales.
In her new book ‘Quit,' Annie Duke shares that the best poker players only play 25% of the hands they are dealt, whereas others play 50%. Ms. Duke talks with Stewart Butterfield, the founder of a few startups, most recently Slack (which is an acronym, which I didn’t know). Slack wouldn’t have been born if Mr. Butterfield didn’t drop a video game company to start Slack. Likewise for Twitter which was born out of the failed blogging company Odeo. Ms. Duke's lesson: winners ...
Read More
Scott Galloway, the NYU business professor and firebrand, pens a weekly, attention-grabbing article about business trends. In last week’s post, he noted the rise of the attention economy. (...Yes, my post is an attention-seeker writing about an attention-seeker writing about attention.) Comparing our current economy to those of the past, Mr. Galloway notes that today’s oil is time. He tracks the growth of digital companies like Netflix, Microsoft, Facebook, and TikTok that...
Read More
In the movie Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon, who plays a handsome MIT janitor moonlighting as a math savant (can one say, “Hollywood career vehicle”?), woos a young lady (played by the actress Minnie Driver) by outmaneuvering a few competing, obnoxious cads. When Damon’s character gets the girl's telephone number, he proudly shows it to the other guys and boasts, with his South Boston access, “How 'bout ‘dem apples?” I imagine Tim Cook imitating this...
Read More
Royal Crown Derby is pleased to share a video of the BBC News feature yesterday evening. This video shows a small insight into their premium quality commemoratives, handcraft techniques and their relationship with royalty across the globe.
When I flew home yesterday from Charleston, while most people were seeking relief from their sunburns and reminiscing about their vacations, I was delving into The Wall St. Journal’s profile on Tracy Britt Cool, an ex- Berkshire Hathaway star. Mrs. Cool’s new company Kanbrick invests in businesses with $10m - $50m in revenue. What does Mrs. Cool look for when investing in a company? People and moats.
At Bridge, we’re reading Jim Collins’ Beyond ...
Read More
Some people like to sit on the sofa and eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I roll my eyes at this because I’m very different: I like to read the Wall St. Journal’s Christopher Mims …while eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the sofa. This past weekend, Mr. Mims suggested companies may be reassessing where they source products, some even considering more domestic production. The motivation for this started a few years ago with the U.S.-China trade war, ...
Read More
Businesses like Walmart, Disney, and Discovery are bundling services and adding the “+” suffix to denote them (e.g. Disney+, Discovery+, W+, etc.). In a recent article in RetailDive, we learn that Walmart is giving its customers free, six-month trial Spotify accounts. I think W+ bundling services is smart. Last week, I compared running a gym to offering software. I spoke about bundling services with things that people like to increase their usage, such as work ...
Read More
Peloton’s new CEO, Barry McCarthy, was recently interviewed in the New York Times (Read the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/19/business/dealbook/barry-mccarthy-interview-peloton.html). The authors asked Mr. McCarthy if he thought that everyone who needs a workout bike already had one. They questioned where else a company making stationary exercise bikes can go (…an ironic question for a bike product that literally can’t move). The Times wanted to know what ...
Read More
I recently bought a pair of jeans from the bike-lifestyle company Rapha. I find Rapha's stores, emails, and mission to be inspiring to Bridge, and I'll explain why.
First, you may ask, "What is Rapha?" Rapha is a product company that sells goods for biking, including shirts, shorts, helmets, and accessories. What is unique is the lengths it goes to foster a community (and sales!) by having a coffee shop in it, organizing riding events, offering members-only clothing...
Read More
Scott Galloway, in his Chart of the Week email, shares that Amazon often ships an order within 45 minutes of receiving it. How long does it take your store?
For indie store to compete, we have to offer competitive pricing and shipping times. Bridge's goal is to help retailers offer the same or lower prices and offer the same or faster shipping.
Watch this video to learn five proven steps to grow web sales. Join me and Gina Thesing from Ivystone as we pull back the curtain on industry trends and delve in to solutions indie stores are using each day.
Webinar includes:
Five key steps that a store must take.
A homework check list that you can tailor to your store.
It’s that time of year when we gather for Fall Entertaining. We would love your Customers incredible photos and videos celebrating the season by showing off your friends and family getting together to share appetizers, gathering for drinks or a meal, or your own get-together idea—showing camaraderie, congeniality, and what a treat it is to be together, for a chance win! *Retailers & their families are not eligible.
$100 each will be donated to Feeding America on behalf of 6 ...
Read More
In this video, I discuss:
1. Why indie stores are having a hard-time competing online. 2. What these stores need to do to overcome the obstacles. 3. How Bridge's software can help them quickly.
I recommend that one view their website as a 'fish tank.' For starters, it has to be filled with brands, products, and features. When a store does this, the fish (aka the store) will thrive.
You can view the video larger at Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/639288608
Read More
This video shares how Bridge helped gift shop Sassafras in Mississippi. We helped Nancy, the owner, setup an online store and gift registry filled with 12k products in under 2 hours for free.