How to update your retail settings on the Online Store tab.
March 16, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: it's now easier to access settings for your Online Store. We've moved all of your Online Store settings to their own tab in your Business Profile. Previously, these settings were combined with other information on your Profile Home tab.
With this update, your store can easily see just your Online Store settings.
In the book The Cold Start Problem, Andrew Chen says that the 'network effect’ is really three effects:
The acquisition effect
The engagement effect
The monetization effect
In the beginning, a business seeking to build a network has to concentrate on acquiring users, even if they are non-paying. Companies often give away the service, especially software companies, and we can see that with Facebook, Slack, TikTok, and many others. Bridge didn’t do ...
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When is the last time you received a Starbucks gift card? I’ve received them as holiday gifts, and I’ve given them to sales reps as thank you gifts. Starbucks gift cards, like their shops, are ubiquitous. They are almost as popular as gift cards from our nemesis: Amazon.com. Just about every month, a company offers me an Amazon gift card if I sign up for a service. WBGO, the local, Newark-based, non-profit radio station known for jazz, recently offered me an Amazon gift ...
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This week's Times shares that brides are increasingly asking for cash gifts. This trend pulls back the curtain on the underbelly of wedding gifts. Over the last 20 years, a trend emerged where a bride would ask for a traditional gift (i.e. a crystal champagne flute set, a fine china plate, etc.) but then redeem the credit for a television or vacuum. The stores that were especially adept at this were the big-box stores with a wide variety of offerings like Macy's and Target. They would use ...
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An article in today’s Times cites the high cost of acquiring customers, which ranges from $100 to $800. Excerpt:
“Estimates of an often-cited retail metric known as customer acquisition costs range from $100 to more than $800 per customer, said Daniel McCarthy, a professor at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business, who has done extensive research in the field.”
Physical retail is one of the most expensive ways to acquire customers. An online ...
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The WSJ’s illustration by Lars Leetaru of Santa atop a cargo container sums up nicely our current holiday supply chain. I recall my dad telling me about the halcyon days of his dad making Christmas toys in the basement by hand for the family.
The article suggests that consumers, flush with cash, will gift more digital goods and gift cards in lieu of out-of-stock goods.
Your Bridge now makes it easier to speed customers to popular areas of your site. Your header now displays links to your gift card page, popular products page, and sale products page.
These three links appear if you have fewer than six custom links. If you have more than six custom header links, these default custom links will not appear. If this is the case for your store, you are welcome to add these links manually.
If your site does not have any products on ...
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What can indie stores learn from hotels? Sell now, redeem later. Hotels are selling gift cards and future stays at a discount—sometimes up to 33% off. Your store can likewise sell $100 gift cards for $66. Lesson: Do what it takes to get the money today.
I also recommend offering a gift card subscription service. Your customer pays, for example, $80 per month and you send it a $100 gift card. This brings in recurring revenue.
I believe that no business will survive the COVID-19 pandemic alone. Together, we can help indie stores survive this crisis.
Here is what Bridge is doing to help members:
Bridge is hosting COVID-19 preparation webinars for retailers, brands, and sales reps. For retailers, we hosted three trainings this week. You are invited to watch a replay of the COVID webinar for retailers here: https://vimeo.com/402693440/844cc20eec Our webinar
We are here and ready to help you with your gift for weddings, showers, birthdays, births, oops I did something wrong, or just because gifts. We will wrap your purchases beautifully and bring it out to the car! Just call 864-229-4000 or email us at http://www.thayersfurnitureandfinegifts.com. You can also text me 864-993-9913.
During these interesting time, we truly appreciate your support.
Thank you, Taylor Tucker
...
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Gift cards are becoming a popular way for customers to support indie stores. Your Bridge Store software includes gift cards. Friends, family, and shoppers can buy gift cards in any amount from your Bridge Store.
Steps to promote your gift card service:
1. Please visit your Bridge Store.
2. On your home page, on the left-hand side, please click on "Give a Gift Card."
3. Once on your gift card page, if you are logged in, you can add a custom picture of your store's...
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Pay customers to shop with you: that's what it will take to stay afloat.
We can learn a lot from this Best Buy email:
1. Promote free shipping with a very low threshold. Best Buy requires just a $35 order. What do your competitors offer?
2. Give away money to shop with you. Best Buy is offering me $5 knowing that I'll likely spend $50.
3. Show smiling faces in your advertising and emails. Show real workers--do not use stock photos.
4. Set a deadline by when customers can ...
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Barneys will likely keep thousands of dollars belonging to brides, shares today’s Times. The defunct retailer will keeps the brides’ registry credits if they don’t redeem them by this Thursday.
This is also bad for the brands that were sold via Barneys' registries. For example, let's imagine Barneys sells Waterford. If a bride registered for a Waterford product, and that item was gifted by a family member, Waterford would expect that item to be bought by ...
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You can customize your home page slides. You can add pictures of your store, products, events, and more.
In the examples shown, we see how the Seattle-based store Timothy de Clue loaded a picture of a wine glass with the Pike Place Market in the background. Persnickety, a shop based in Madison, MS, added a picture of its store's exterior.
By default, your Newsfeed slideshow includes slides promoting gift cards, your gift registry, and reviews. You can hide these if you wish. You can also ...
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I developed Bridge Network, an e-commerce platform, that is not included in this article. Here are some things I have learned over the last 20 years of e-commerce development:
1. The article’s ranking criteria includes themes and templates. I believe you don't need an assortment of templates to have a functioning (or successful) e-commerce site. Just look at ...
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June 17, 2019
June 17, 2019
Gift cards are perfect for any occasion, from birthdays to anniversaries! Pick one up for your next celebration.
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May 20, 2019
May 20, 2019
From birthdays to anniversaries, graduations, and more, gift cards are the perfect way to show you care!