Today’s Times shares some of Amazon’s steps during the pandemic to grow its empire.
I used to tell retailers that they don’t know it, but they’re now in: the software business. I missed something in that statement. They are also now in the warehouse business. Websites and warehouses go hand in hand. They’re flip sides of the same coin.
As e-commerce grew, all the major retailers should have been growing their warehouse space. For example: if ...
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In this week's New Yorker magazine, Charles Duhigg explores how venture capitalists may be harming our businesses. The article shares that instead of the best company winning, the charismatic charlatan with the most venture capital backing may be winning. In WeWork's case, the company almost won by reaching its IPO. Yet, even bottomless buckets of money couldn't save the company from the economics of office sharing--and its wildcard CEO Adam Neumann.
We have a few businesses in our retail ...
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This week, Amazon launched its online pharmacy targeting the 3.8 billion prescriptions filled in the U.S. each year. Shares of major pharmacy chains dropped about 10% on the news. Amazon honed this weapon in its Seattle lab and is eagerly unleashing it on retail chains and mom-and-pop pharmacies.
Something struck me while reading this news: Does Amazon remind you of Covid-19? The similarities:
Amazons kills many businesses in industries it touches. Pharmacies are now worried
Two congresspeople are sponsoring a bill to help indie business fight abusive ADA lawsuits, shares Anne Flynn Wear, a writer for Furniture Today.
I know businesses that have been targeted by lawyers seeking to cash in on the ADA law. The defendants, even after they 'fix' their website, often have to settle for thousands of dollars.
The ADA was not written with websites in mind (the law was created in 1990--well before the Internet), and the law doesn't allow businesses a grace period to ...
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Do businesses like Amazon that short-change our community affect our ability to respond to a crisis?
In this pandemic, Bridge thanks first responders and the many people that help our communities work together. When I think of communities during Covid-19, Amazon comes to mind. I do think there is value in looking back at the last 24 months leading up to today and asking: did Amazon slow down our community's ability to respond?
Amazon historically pays less in corporate taxes than other ...
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I’m writing to sadly share that my dad Don Solarek passed away last week. He was quiet, thoughtful, and would gladly walk in New York City from the Battery to Harlem.
Don always had time to chat with me, share a story, give a lesson, and encourage me. He helped me with my paper route at 6 am when it was 3º in Rochester. He came to every high school cross country race and wrestling match—which were often held around 3:30 pm. Likely not ...
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December 27, 2019
December 27, 2019
The retail store floor is being transformed in to an ‘app store,’ shares todays Times. Employees armed with mobile phones are helping customers using specialized apps.
The Times article also shares that retail clothing jobs in NYC shrunk 9% between 2013 to 2018.
How can you prepare for Black Friday / Cyber Monday? Here's a checklist:
1. 'Seed the sale' by telling customers to expect deals. "Promote sales, promote sales, promote sales," said Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst of e-business and channel strategy at Forrester. "It's the number one thing that shoppers look for during the holidays." (Source: Retail Dive)
You can do this via posts on Bridge and social media.
2. Craft an irresistible offer.
3. Organize your upcoming sales / discounts. You can do ...
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August 29, 2019
August 29, 2019
Amazon and Chinese companies have teamed up to bypass Main Street and ship goods directly to doorsteps. This is hurting American manufacturing as well as local city governments. To accomplish this, they're misleading Americans by putting out press releases that cherry-pick statistics.
Follow these 3 steps to see the issue at hand:
1. In an Amazon press release last week, Amazon claimed:
"Independent third-party sellers – primarily small and medium-sized businesses – ...
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July 2, 2019
July 2, 2019
Good news: your indie store just gained some ground on Amazon.
About 60% of Amazon sales are via third-party sellers. They pass thru what it calls the 'marketplace.' These Amazon purchases have not historically been taxed because the purchase is made from a business in one state and shipped to another state. But that loophole started to close last year when the Supreme Court ruled that states can collect tax on these types of Internet purchases.
Many state laws have acted on that Supreme ...
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June 10, 2019
June 10, 2019
Steaming music is the future for consumers—and streaming products is the future for retailers. Streaming revenue increased by 300% from 2015 to 2018. Consumers came to feel that downloading each MP3 file was time consuming and tedious. Last week Apple even shutdown its iTunes download store. Likewise, retailers manually adding each item to their website is not doable. Spotify and Apple realized the need to stream music vs offer it piecemeal. Bridge realizes the need for stores to stream entire ...
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March 27, 2019
March 27, 2019
How big a deal is cyber security? It’s about as important as car and highway safety—that’s the last time that insurers teamed up to tackle a topic, according to today’s WSJ.
The number of retailers that purchased stand alone cyber security doubled from 2014 to 2018, shares insurer Marsh.
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March 5, 2019
March 5, 2019
Facebook and Instagram disabled about 2 billion suspect/fake accounts in just the first nine months of 2018. (Notice they don’t use the word ‘closed.’)
Facebook is suing a company’s network or businesses based in a China for $100k for selling fake accounts. The fake accounts were used to spread misinformation and scams. $100k doesn’t seem like much. No word on what the companies charged customers.
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February 6, 2019
February 6, 2019
Your business likely has to pay taxes on your Bridge sales in 2018. While paying taxes may not be fun, Bridge has made it easier.
Your Bridge now allows your business to easily see how much you collected in sales taxes.
How to visit your Tax page:
1. Visit your Bridge. Login. 2. At the very top, click on “Management.” 3. On Management home page, under “Reporting,” click on “Tax Collection.”
Celebrate the championship win with our commemorative football paperweight. Each piece is hand engraved with the 2018 National Championship Team logo. This collectible is a limited edition of 5,000 and comes with complete certificate of authenticity. Priced at $165
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January 7, 2019
January 7, 2019
The boss is gone for the week! So that means we're cleaning house while she's away. Stop by the shop between Tuesday, January 8 and Saturday, January 12 to catch deals on 2018 merchandise.
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January 6, 2019
January 6, 2019
Today’s Times investigates commercial property valuations for the purpose of tax collection. The article suggests that brick-and-mortar retailers are gaming the system to unfairly reduce their property value and therefore pay local governments less in taxes. In Michigan, from 2013 to 2017, this may have cost local government $100 million.
While this a fair investigation to undertake, I ask the Times to investigate the harmful tax effects of millions of shoppers buying at Amazon. Should we be ...
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January 3, 2019
January 3, 2019
New Year, new website! We're so excited to have launched our new website at the end of 2018. Here, customers will be able to purchase product online for an easier shopping experience, including bridal registries and custom gifts. Check it out by clicking here: https://www.barbarastewartinteriors.com/
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December 31, 2018
December 31, 2018
Pop, fizz, clink! Only hours remaining of 2018. Think back and tell us your favorite purchase this year! vietri inc
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