Babcock Gifts, a gift shop in Tennessee, and Juliska, a tableware brand, don't have to worry about sharing products because they use the Product Syncing service.
Do We Need to Drop Dropbox?
File-sharing services like Dropbox are slowing us down and hurting retail sales. In contrast, Bridge’s Product Syncing service helps our industry work faster and increases sales by 18%. Our syncing service keeps brand’s products in a website-like, shoppable format. Products are searchable and sortable, just like on the brand’s website. A brand loads a product once to its Bridge account, and it will appear in real-time in the accounts of retailers, sales reps, and approved businesses.
Authorized retailers can easily turn their Bridge catalog into a shoppable catalog for their customers. Dropbox and other file-sharing services simply can’t do this; they’re not e-commerce software. More than 111 premium brands use Bridge to sync 64,456 products to 1029 indie stores in the United States and Canada.
Our Industry is Drowning in File-Sharing Links
Most retailers get buried in Dropbox links. What if there was a better way? Product Syncing lets you bypass services like Dropbox.
Retailers that use Product Syncing never have to worry about file-sharing links. They get price changes and new introductions from partner brands instantly.
Dropbox Is Good for Sharing Family Photos...Not Running a Retail Business
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| Brand Sends Retailer a Dropbox Link | Retailer Syncs with Brand on Bridge |
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Time consuming. Requires constant vigilance by the retailer to watch for new Dropbox links with files and images.
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Fast. In seconds, all product data from the brand is 'live' in the retailer's Bridge account.
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Not easy. A brand often sends files to multiple email accounts, thereby placing files in different locations for the retailer.
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Easy. A retailer can use one Bridge account to access content from 111 brands.
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Not organized. Dropbox files are often not organized like a website or product catalog.
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Organized. Products and collections are organized just like a brand’s website or catalog.
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Not complete. A brand often shows just a part of what it offers. Reason: the brand has to manually upload content to Dropbox, and Dropbox’s layout doesn’t match its site.
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Complete. Brands and stores can display 100% of a brand's products online.
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Labor intensive. Often requires a retailer to manually process and upload to a website. Requires computer-savvy staff.
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Doesn't require more staffing. Products appear in a retailer's Bridge Store instantly. Maintenance-free product management.
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Expensive. Costs retailers thousands of dollars to export and import products to
stores’ sites.
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Free. Retailers can sync with an unlimited number of Smart Products for free.
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Inaccurate. Sharing and storing thousands of products with accuracy requires collaboration. There are few mechanisms in place to report issues or crowd-source updates.
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Accurate. Prices and product content are accurate because brands, retailers, and reps crowd-source the maintenance. Bridge has tools to help members report and update content.
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How Does the Service Work?
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We Give Your
Business
A Free Account
e.g.: yourstore.bridgecatalog.com
2
Sync Products
If you are a retailer, you send sync requests to brands that share products via Bridge. Your account can be populated with up to 64,456 products from 111 Smart Brands for free. You can also store and share content that is not from a Smart Brand partner. If you are a brand, you’ll receive sync requests and approve them if you wish.
3
Easily Access Products
& Sell More
As a retailer, you will see your synced products online in your Bridge account. Use the service as an image product library. Search or sort products as if you are on the brand’s website. You can download specific items, collections, an entire brand, or even multiple brands. If you wish, you can activate an online store and make your product library shoppable. Sell these synced products to customers using your free Bridge Store and Bridge Registry service. You can export this data and import it to a third-party website or POS.
How Do Retailers Use the Product Syncing Service?
Solution A
Solution B
Solution C
Retailers can use synced products in two primary ways:
As An Image & Product Library
Use the synced products as an image and product library. You can see comprehensive product data from many brands in one spot vs. visiting many different brand websites. You can use this database as a 'one-stop shop' to get all the current product prices, pictures, dimensions, stock, and descriptions. You can download this data.
To Populate An Online Store & Gift Registry
Use synced products to grow your online business. Output your synced products in your free Bridge Store. You can use this store to sell synced products to your customers. The store includes gift registry software.
How Does the Service Work Behind the Scenes?
Brands load their products to their Bridge account. From there, the products are synced in real-time to other approved Bridge accounts, such as those belonging to retailers, interior designers, sales reps, and trade organizations. The service streamlines how products are shared between industry partners.
Video: How a Retailer Uses the Service
This video shares how the gift shop Sassafras in Mississippi joined Bridge and benefitted.
- Nancy Bullard, the owner, heard about the service from her sales rep and signed up online.
- In just a few minutes, Nancy used Bridge to create an online store and gift registry filled with 12k products for free.
- Nancy saved thousands of dollars and months of work. Shortly after signing up, Nancy received her first order.
Nancy had this to say about her Bridge experience:
"I’m surprised at how fast we received orders after signing up for Bridge Store. In less than a day, I could offer my bridal registry customers thousands of products online. I receive a new order every other day. It's easier than I thought it would be! Customers send us reviews saying how easy it is for them. We win. They win. Win-win. And, great retailer support from coaches!"
Visit the Sassafras Bridge Store: https://sassafras.bridgecatalog.com
Retailers often go through the following steps when adding a product to their website:
- Realize they need a product on their website.
- Google the product.
- From the Google results, identify the correct product.
- Download the product's picture.
- Upload the picture to their own website.
- Add the price.
- Add supporting information (dimensions, description, etc.).
- Review the results and consider the process complete.
Bridge's Product Syncing service helps retailers skip all these steps for up to 64,456 products from 111 brands. All the products from a brand are online instantly. No thought needed. Bridge saves hundreds of retailers thousands of hours on website maintenance.
Please note: a retailer must be an authorized dealer to sync products.
The World's Top Independent Stores Use Product Syncing
1029+ retailers use Product Syncing, including:
- 656 Gift shops
- 484 Home goods stores
- 104 Jewelry stores
- 82 Tableware stores
- 55 Kitchen stores
- 48 Furniture stores
- 45 Women's clothing stores
- 41 Interior design studios
What Are Retailers Saying About the Product Syncing Service?
"In today’s e-commerce world, updating products online is almost impossible. Bridge allows us to operate a website with current prices and current products. When we switched to Bridge Store, we cut our website maintenance costs by 86%. Instead of being forced to manage 35,000 products online all by myself, I only had to manage 5,000 products—Bridge helps me with 30,000 products. That’s big savings for an indie shop like me. And, Bridge helped me increase the number of products we offer online by 40%. We went from offering 35,000 products to offering 56,000. It's fair to say that Amazon.com hates Bridge."
~ Kenny Cohen, Owner • Contemporary Concepts • Pittsburgh, PA
"I do about 20% more business a year. Smart Products save me so much time when looking up pricing or showing a customer pictures. It is so nice to have this all done for me. It gives me more time to sell than working constantly on my website."
~ Mary Beth Wood, Owner • The Crystal Plate • Gainesville, GA
"If I have to add items to my website myself, it is one of the last tasks I get around to doing. It's much easier with Smart Products. With Smart Products, the items are already synced and on our website. We're much more likely to sell items due to Bridge."
~ Terri Gray, Owner • Ivy Cottage • Mobile, AL
Bridge Store + Product Syncing
Bridge Store is the official partner of Product Syncing. Bridge Store is the easiest way to use the Product Syncing service to sell to the general public and gift registry customers. While a business may use the Product Syncing service with any third-party software, Bridge Store is the quickest, easiest, and most cost-efficient route.
The Product Syncing service is free for retailers. Retailers can sync with an unlimited number of Smart Brands and there is no charge. (Brands pay to participate in the Product Syncing Service.)
Recent Updates to Synced Products
$115.00 $145.00
$30.00 • 26%
Reed & Barton
Personalizable Flat Mahogany/Brown Flatware Chest
Updated: Yesterday
FAQ for Product Syncing Service
To sync products with a Smart Brand, you will first send a sync request to the brand. For example, if you want to sync with Juliska, you will send Juliska a sync request. (Syncing allows all of Juliska's items to appear in your Bridge Store without any work needed by you.)
Learn more about the Bridge export feature.
More information about how Bridge works:
Please visit the Bridge Support Portal.
Page tags: automated product updates, self-updating products, image library, image vault, file sharing, image repository, supply chain management, datafeed, social commerce, SoComm, product syncing, optimizing product content, collaboration, team, efficiency, data management, product information management, PIM, Digital Asset Management, DAM, product syncing service