Here at Shop Local, we’ve seen brands try to cut out indie stores. We’ve seen big-name companies close accounts in good standing and raise minimum annual purchase amounts in the toughest of times in order to cut out indie stores. Well, now some of these brands are back with hat in hand.
We are pleased to announce that Kalalou is ready to Sync products with authorized retailers. Syncing products is free for your business. There is no charge. (The brand pays for this service.)
Kalalou joins our stable of 110 premium brands that Sync products with 1,200+ fine indie stores.
View Kalalou's Synced products
View the 1,500+ products you can Sync from Kalalou here: kalalou.myshoplocal.com
View an example of a retailer's Store that is ...
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Next week is the Dallas trade show and next month is the Atlanta show. As you may know, I was a sales rep for 5 years. I owned a retail store, Magnon Jewelers, which was founded in 1890, for 37 years. Due to this, I know that preparing for the trade shows is a daunting task. Was I ever truly ready? :)
Let's help you and your stores make the most of the upcoming trade shows.
During the trade shows, Shop Local will pay you to help your stores. Plus, we'll...
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We're pleased to share that Villeroy & Boch is joining the Brand Syncing service.
Villeroy & Boch, which celebrates its 275th anniversary this year, is joining in order to support its independent retailers,
Since its founding in 1748, Villeroy & Boch has grown into a leading, global, lifestyle brand offering dinnerware, drinkware & barware, flatware and home decor.
We expect Villeroy & Boch products to be ready for Syncing by July ...
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I have been writing a blog for my fellow independent retailers for many years now (there are over 750 entries so far). Jason has suggested that I add these Specialty Shop Retailing posts to my shop's Bridge feed every Monday, so I'm going to try to do that. In the meantime, I invite you to take a look at some of the past entries - and to watch for "Savvy Store Solutions," my bimonthly column in Gifts and Decorative Accessories magazine. I want us all to be successful!
&...
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How businesses keep customers coming back after they make a purchase.
June 8, 2023
Six Flags is updating its theme parks to encourage families to spend more time there and visit more often, according to this past weekend’s The Wall St. Journal. The theme park's president, Jeffrey Siebert, says that the nightly fireworks show is what the industry calls a “kiss good night.” After park-goers have spent the day spending, they perceive the show as a free, post-purchase gift with no strings attached. The fireworks thereby help the customer leave fulfilled and...
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We are pleased to announce that JK Adams is joining the Brand Syncing Service.
JK Adams is known for their beautiful handcrafted wooden items that make baking, food preparation, and presentation effortless. The assortment includes unique products that range from cutting boards, rolling pins, coasters, and charcuterie boards to pot racks.
JK Adams products will be ready for syncing by July 3rd.
Stores that are already Shop Local members will be alerted when JK Adam's data is ...
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How to view private messages left by your customers.
June 5, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: a customer can share a private message with your business when leaving a review on your Shop Local Store.
Previously, a customer could not share a private message when leaving a public review. The private message is only visible to your business.
In the example shown, we see a review notification email sent to a retailer. In the email, the store can see the customer's public review and private message. On the store's Reviews page, only the ...
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Nice to see this sign at an indie store, The Art of Simple, in Seaside, Florida.
“You may not know this, but if you shop with Amazon.com, you are not supporting small local businesses. If you want Amazon to be the world’s only retailer, keep shopping online at Amazon.com.
If you enjoy shopping in our store, buy from us. We appreciate your support. Thank you.”
If I were asked, I’d recommend these tweaks to this:
How we can acquire new prospects by leveraging our existing network of customers.
June 2, 2023
In Andrew Chen’s book The Cold Start Problem, he breaks the network effect into three parts: engagement, acquisition, and economize. At Shop Local, we rely on the network effect and its three parts. I feel that we’re succeeding in terms of engagement but need improvement in acquisition.
Engagement
We use the 64,000 products in our Syncing service to engage 1,200 our retail clients. We email them new intros, price updates, archived items for these synced products. Once they ...
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Shop Local will give you $250.00 when you mention your Shop Local service in your price list or catalog or on your business card.
Why use this promotion?
Retailers will be buying your products at the summer shows. You can make it pain-free for them to get your product online in seconds using your Syncing service.
FACT: Syncing is the fastest and easiest way to get your products on your stores' websites.
Sell 18% more. Retailers report selling up to 18% more
A shopper, Lisa Minor, shared this review regarding her experience on our Shop Local platform:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The website was easy to use, and I was thrilled to be be able to shop online with a local store. I wish more businesses offered this kind of service.”
Ms. Minor made a purchase on Babcock Gifts, an indie retailer that has used our e-commerce software since 2015.
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Read 1,500+ reviews from Babcock Gifts customers: https://...
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In this new webinar for sales reps, I share why your retailers are struggling online and underselling your lines. I share how you can help them and boost your commissions by 18%.
How big data, filters, and search engines can help us create a better experience for our members.
May 26, 2023
Apple announced last month that it's launching a new classical music app. What’s novel about the Apple Music Classical app is how it lets music fans more easily search thousands of variations of the same song. For example, let’s say you want to find a Johann Sebastian Bach song. Over the past 300 years, many musicians have done ‘covers’ of his works, and there are variations by conductor, music, year, etc., thereby producing thousands of variations. Existing software ...
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Owning a business is no small feat, but in recent years, women have taken on starting their own businesses, leaving the nine-to-five to become entrepreneurs. In 2022, they were more likely to start a business than men. Last year, women-owned businesses had higher earnings growth (27% increase) than male-owned firms (22%). Still, male-owned businesses received $93,000 in funding, while women-owned businesses received $56,000. There are nearly 13 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., and the...
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We're happy to see four brands promote Bridge's Shop Local platform in Tableware Today's June/July 2023 issue.
The brands promoting Shop Local include:
Bordhallo Pinheiro
Carmel Ceramica
Mary Jurek
Vista Alegre
In the advertisement, the brand displays our ShopLocal.org logo.
A brand shows the logo so that retailers know they can easily sell the products shown. When a brand offers our Brand Syncing service, a retailer can instantly display the brand's entire product ...
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