I was happy to receive the new December/January 2025 issue of Tableware Today in the mail. In my Leaderboard column, I explain the importance of wedding registries to indie stores. I also share the top performing wedding registry retailers, brands, and products from September 2024.
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Saying I Do To Registries
Our e-commerce platform helps 1,500 indie stores sell $22 million a year. Perhaps surprising is that more than 90% of these orders are wedding ...
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Thank you to Myriam Robinson for sharing her experience after buying a gift from Babcock Gifts, a merchant using our software:
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"Easiest way to purchase wedding gifts...EVER! Thank you for having such a wonderful website not to mention beautiful product! "
~ Myriam Robinson in FL
Marion Samuel, who manages Babcock Gifts, a Tennessee-based gift shop, pens Tableware Today’s Last Word column in this month’s issue. She shares how they have grown over the last 50 years and run their store.
I was pleased to see her tout the store’s Bridge software. Babcock Gifts, which has been a client for 10 years, uses Bridge’s Shop Local gift registry service and Brand Syncing service. Using our service, they showcase 400+ couples’ gift registries online ...
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Babcock Gifts celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024. The bridal registry and gift shop opened in 1972 as a partnership that included interior design. In 1974, with the exit of one partner, the store focused on antiques, gifts, and bridal registry. Over the next 42 years, there would be growth into two stores before downsizing to one. In 2016, ownership changed and the store moved one block down, where it continues to be a destination for bridal registry and gift-giving. With the constant doom and...
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A shopper, Lisa Minor, shared this review regarding her experience on our Shop Local platform:
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“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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I'm giving you a $200 finder's fee when you refer a store.
When you refer a store, the store will receive $268. It will receive $100 towards a wholesale order with your brand and a $168 credit towards their registry service with us. (My company is paying the $100 wholesale order credit.)
This offer is good through May 1, 2023.
Summary: you give a store $268 and you get $200. (Bridge ...
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I'm giving you a $200 finder's fee when you refer a store.
When you refer a store, the store will receive $268. It will receive $100 towards a wholesale order with your brand and a $168 credit towards their registry service with us. (My company is paying the $100 wholesale order credit.)
Summary: you give a store $268 and you get $200. (Bridge covers the $468.)
In the early 2000s, the board game Cranium became a hit. The game combined elements of Scrabble and Pictionary with the goal of helping more people enjoy playing a game. Richard Tait, who created Cranium and sold it to Hasbro in 2008 for $77.5m, passed away in July. Like Mr. Tait, I had been a paperboy, but he went beyond what I ever offered: he came up with a new service that sold breakfast sandwiches along his newspaper route. He increased profits and made customers happier. ...
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Stores and brands sometimes ask us: How does Bridge compare to Faire?
I thought we'd compare the two service providers.
Similarities: Bridge & Faire
Audience. Both service the retail industry. In particular, both service brands and retailers. Bridge also services sales reps, and Faire tries to steer clear of them--which is one reason reps don't like Faire much.
Delivery method. Both are online platforms.
Service offered. Faire is a wholesale marketplace. It
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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Our job at Bridge is fighting for indie stores. A key indicator of our success is when we give your store more online orders. An important step in giving you more orders is: giving you more products online.
Good news: you have the Product Pass. This grants your business the power to sync with unlimited Product Syncing brands for free. This is the best way to fill your website with products.
Benefits:
The Pass allows you to sync with unlimited brands.
We have made it easier to place wholesale orders. A retailer can now start the process on their e-receipt page.
In the example shown, Babcock Gifts, a retailer in Memphis, Tennessee, is viewing an order for Costa Nova product. Next to the product that was sold, Babcock Gifts is shown a link "Place Wholesale Order." When it clicks this, it is taken to the brand's website and to the specific product. Our software automatically logs the retailer in. The retailer...
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For decades, brands have paid retailers to set up a display in the retailers' stores. Ralph Lauren's Polo, Nautica, Jimmy Choo, and other leading brands have paid department stores to set up displays and manage their brand appearance. This helps the brand and the stores increase sales.
As we all know, retail has gone digital. Thirty percent of retail sales are now online. What if there was a way for brands to sponsor displays like these physical ones but do so online? ...
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Does Bridge help store owners live longer? For example, do we help Brooks Terry live longer? Store owner Susan Hoechner? The answer is yes, and I'll explain.
Bridge helps Susan and Brooks save months of time via the Smart Products service. This can be viewed as time saved--or more importantly: as an extension of their lives. As a reference, Scott Galloway, an NYU professor and media savant, recently made this insight regarding life-extending services:
"Walmart Delivery Unlimited: At $98/year,...
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July 21, 2019
July 21, 2019
I believe that offering greater online selection is increasingly important in retail.
Greater selection is important for many reasons including:
1. Giving shoppers more choices. More choices lead to more sales.
2. Helping stores be more competitive. Shoppers know that big online retailers like Amazon offer millions of products, and thereby millions of possible price points and features. Offering something similar is the natural route to get those orders back from Amazon.
3. Boosting a ...
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March 2, 2019
March 2, 2019
This article about small banks couldβve very well been written about small retail stores. The future is tech. Bank of America has spent $20b on tech since 2012. Big retailers have likely spent that or more. And small businesses often donβt have the resources to make customers happy online. Much less survive a hacking attempt. I spent the last 2 weeks dealing with hackers from Asia. It took 3 tech people 2 weeks. Expensive. Time consuming. If small stores had to deal with this on their own, most ...
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March 29, 2018
March 29, 2018
FOR VIETRI SALES REPS
Youβre Invited: Special Webinar for Sales Reps
More than 100+ indie stores are synced with Vietri on Bridge. Why? Join us and find out. Vietri and Bridge will be hosting two informational webinars.
Please pick your time: Monday, May 7th at 1 pm EST or Tuesday, May 8th at 10 am EST
Please RSVP and we'll send you an access link.
Background Customers are flocking online--but many stores donβt have websites that are ready for these customers. We have a solution for these stores. Bridge ...
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