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  1. News from Us
  2. News from Members
  3. Events
  4. Press
  5. Dollars & Sense
  6. Profile Stories
  7. Updates
  8. Training Calendar
  9. Training Videos
  10. Jobs
+ Bridge in the News - Bridge in the News

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February 10, 2023 Shopping on Amazon Sort of Sucks
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Shopping on Amazon Sort of Sucks
February 10, 2023
New York magazine reports that shopping on Amazon is a mess. It’s got an antiquated interface and lots of spam results and reviews.  It’s not a nice experience and you’re not sure what you’re buying.  

Excerpt: 

“There was the ’90s-retro e-commerce interface, which conceals a marketplace of literally millions of sellers, each scrapping for relevance, using Amazon as a sales channel for their own semi-independent businesses. It subjected ...
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February 5, 2023 71% of Americans would prefer to buy from an independent retailer
71% of Americans would prefer to buy from an independent retailer
February 5, 2023
"A 2021 Harris Poll Consumer Shopping Study showed that 71% of Americans would prefer to buy from an independent retailer over a national chain, as long as they were equally convenient and reliable." 

~ SpotOn

I believe these survey results.  Shoppers want to shop local, but they don't want to sacrifice selection, price, or speed. Consumers will shop with your indie store if you can offer the same selection, price, and delivery speed as, say, Amazon.  Is ...
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February 4, 2023 Legos & Business Strategy
How we can bring clients together to build a larger network.
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Legos & Business Strategy
How we can bring clients together to build a larger network.
February 4, 2023
Economist Bent Flyvbjerg encourages us to find our “Lego” in his new book “How Big Things Get Done.”  Mr. Flyvbjerg, whose new book is reviewed by Ben Cohen in this week’s The Wall Street Journal, says that most large projects that are completed successfully use a modular approach. Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal:

“That’s the question every project leader should ask: What is the small thing we can assemble in large numbers into a big ...
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January 31, 2023 Networks: Let's Tango 💃🏽🕺🏼
How integrating a messaging service into our e-commerce platform can help us acquire new customers.
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Networks: Let's Tango 💃🏽🕺🏼
How integrating a messaging service into our e-commerce platform can help us acquire new customers.
January 31, 2023
It takes a lot of people to build a bridge, but just two to tango. This applies to the analog world as well as the digital one. In the digital space, I'm using tango to refer to messaging between two people. I believe messaging is a service we can add to our offering to diversify how our company Shop Local grows.

Different Networks Require a Different Number of Users in a Group
Andrew Chen in The Cold Start Problem states that a key difference among network models is the required minimum ...
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January 10, 2023 Even the World’s Best Restaurant is Concentrating on E-commerce
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Even the World’s Best Restaurant is Concentrating on E-commerce
January 10, 2023
Noma, the world-famous Copenhagen restaurant, is closing to concentrate on e-commerce.  Excerpt from the Times:

“Noma will become a full-time food laboratory, developing new dishes and products for its e-commerce operation, Noma Projects, and the dining rooms will be open only for periodic pop-ups.”


This change supports the breath and power of e-commerce, and portends coming changes for our retail industry.  It’s not that one can’t eke out a ...
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December 21, 2022 Barnes & Noble Opening 30 Stores in 2023
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Barnes & Noble Opening 30 Stores in 2023
December 21, 2022
Read the full article: 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/barnes-noble-store-expansion-leads-big-box-real-estate-revival-in-2023-11671454054 View Post
December 21, 2022 Wall St. Journal: Amazon Agrees to Play Fair in Europe
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Wall St. Journal: Amazon Agrees to Play Fair in Europe
December 21, 2022
Read the full article: 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-agrees-to-settle-eu-antitrust-cases-avoiding-fines-11671538014 View Post
December 19, 2022 Retailers Big and Small Try to Plow Through the Holiday Season- Retail Dive Looks at the Results
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Retailers Big and Small Try to Plow Through the Holiday Season- Retail Dive Looks at the Results
December 19, 2022
With our retail members in the throes of the holiday season, it was nice to read an article by Retail Dive providing some insight into Q4 2022. Retail Dive, a retail industry publication, informs readers that big-box stores share much of the same friction as our indie retailers do. I appreciated the acknowledgement that independent stores may feel disruptions quicker and may even have an edge on providing a more superior customer experience to gaining loyalty. The good news is that there are ...
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December 17, 2022 What Do the Founding of the Internet and Bridge Have in Common? ...Drawing
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What Do the Founding of the Internet and Bridge Have in Common? ...Drawing
December 17, 2022
Internet pioneer, Vint Cerf, made a big break through by drawing it on the back of an envelope in 1983. This story, shared in today’s The Wall Street Journal, hit home because I first drew the concept for Bridge’s Product Syncing solution on a napkin at a Chelsea bar in 2007. That concept now helps 1,100 indie shops sell 60k+ products from 100+ premium brands, including Le Creuset, Baccarat, and Versace.  Since that drawing, I’ve become a big fan of drawing processes to ...
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December 15, 2022 Next Generation ⏩️
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Next Generation ⏩️
December 15, 2022
When we brainstorm about making Bridge better, we want to turn over every stone. We explore many avenues, from increasing collaboration to lowering product prices to enhancing marketing. What if an improvement was right in front of us—constant to all of these concepts? Regardless of what feature we offer, there is one constant: navigation. Navigation is fundamental to allowing members to easily find what they need—and discover what they didn’t know they needed. 

If...
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December 13, 2022 Holiday songs drive employees crazy ~ The Wall St. Journal
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Holiday songs drive employees crazy ~ The Wall St. Journal
December 13, 2022
Read the full article: 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mariah-carey-all-i-want-for-christmas-song-shopping-retail-11670857012 View Post
December 12, 2022 Wall St. Journal: Shopping helped bring about more equality
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Wall St. Journal: Shopping helped bring about more equality
December 12, 2022
Before the mid-19th century, only the wealthy were allowed into upscale stores, and women often didn’t stroll around downtown. Women were escorted to and around most public environments.  

Shopping:
- Helped bring women out of the home and into the workforce. 
- Enabled the common person to drink and eat the same thing that presidents and kings did. 
- Helped minorities leverage their civil rights. 

Some interesting facts:
- About 60% of Americans (197m) shop....
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December 1, 2022 The Price is Right 🛒
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The Price is Right 🛒
December 1, 2022
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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November 25, 2022 The Wall St. Journal: If the Price Ended in 99, You Probably Overpaid
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The Wall St. Journal: If the Price Ended in 99, You Probably Overpaid
November 25, 2022
We work in retail and may of the prices we see end in “.99.” Why? Read this article to find out: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-the-price-ended-in-99-you-probably-overpaid-11669293972?mod=mhp View Post
November 16, 2022 Beatriz Ball’s Organic Pearl Frames: For Treasured Memories
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Beatriz Ball’s Organic Pearl Frames: For Treasured Memories
November 16, 2022
Photos capture such beautiful moments and memories.

A tarnish-free Beatriz Ball frame of hand-polished metal enhances your favorite photo, and is a brilliant addition to any mantle, desk, or bedside table. Makes a thoughtful present for any occasion, and with a precious personal photo included, it is sure to make a meaningful connection with the recipient.

Pearl borders have long been a popular motif for articles of home décor. Beatriz Ball’s ORGANIC PEARL is a new spin of ...
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November 9, 2022 Don't Laugh: Fun Is a Good Marketing Vehicle 🤹‍♂️
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Don't Laugh: Fun Is a Good Marketing Vehicle 🤹‍♂️
November 9, 2022
Bridge has something that every store needs, but doesn’t really want: product data. We get stores to trust us that they need our product data for 64,000 products from 109 brands. They really don’t want the data—they want the sales from it. The data itself is worthless, but the sales from it are invaluable. Do you know who also has this issue? Funeral directors.  Last week's Wall Street Journal shares that mortuaries are leveraging bonsai trees, setting up bouncy castles, ...
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October 25, 2022 Gogh Big or Gogh Home 🖼
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Gogh Big or Gogh Home 🖼
October 25, 2022
We work hard each day, and likely don’t mind if others notice.  We want others to see the ingenuity of our software. But what if that wasn’t the case? If you want an example of someone that got passed by, just ask Van Gogh.  Yeah, thaaaaat world-famous, earless, impressionist artist whose work today graces the walls of countless museums.  The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is currently running an exhibition showcasing how the world missed appreciating Van Gogh’s...
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October 8, 2022 Winners Quit 🚪🏆
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Winners Quit 🚪🏆
October 8, 2022
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 ...
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October 3, 2022 Are We Time Givers or Takers? ⌛️⏳
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Are We Time Givers or Takers? ⌛️⏳
October 3, 2022
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...
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September 29, 2022 Memberships in the news
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Memberships in the news
September 29, 2022
Lululemon is adding a paid membership service called Studio that offers access to digital classes and gives discounts on in-person classes and apparel. The apparel company suggests it may also offer member-exclusive events. 

Companies are often taking this approach: offer unlimited access to a digital service, bundle in discounts and other peripheral perks, and charge a flat monthly fee. (Lululemon is charging $39/month.)

Many in the retail industry are seeking to launch a paid ...
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Next page

Press: Shop Local & Bridge in the News
Tableware Today Column: Saying I Do To Registries
Tableware Today Column: Saying I Do To Registries
October 2024

Tableware Today: New Leaderboard Column from Shop Local
Tableware Today: New Leaderboard Column from Shop Local
August 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Florida Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Florida Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Tennessee Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Tennessee Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Louisiana Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Louisiana Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Delaware Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Delaware Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Pennsylvania Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Pennsylvania Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
March 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get Sales Leads in Mississippi
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get Sales Leads in Mississippi
March 2024

Shop Local Merchants Are 60% of Google Page 1 Results in South Carolina
Shop Local Merchants Are 60% of Google Page 1 Results in South Carolina
March 2024

Shop Local Merchants Are 50% of Google Page 1 Results in Georgia
Shop Local Merchants Are 50% of Google Page 1 Results in Georgia
March 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get More Sales Leads than Big-Box Stores Using Google
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get More Sales Leads than Big-Box Stores Using Google
February 2024

Shop Local Retailers Rank on Page 1 of Google in 60% of States
Shop Local Retailers Rank on Page 1 of Google in 60% of States
February 2024

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