I have a stack of virtual news clippings that either struck my fancy, taught me something new, or just made me shake my head in bemusement. On their own, they may not be enough for me to make a point, but together they have a thought-provoking synergy (and I'm sure I'll figure out what that is by the end of this column).
Our industry has been negatively affected by the loss of American manufacturing after we entered a long stretch of automation and outsourcing in the late 1970s; every ...
Read More
Your registry service has built in email campaigns for each gift registry list. These campaigns promote your store in an automated and affordable manner. The campaigns often cost under $.0.42 per recipient—about half of what other email marketing campaigns cost.
Details
Your software sends out an anniversary reminder email to a customer that gave a gift for that registry.
Cost Per Email Sent
Let’s assume that a registry received 100 purchases. ...
Read More
What Threads can teach us about leveraging our existing network when launching a new service.
July 22, 2023
Threads, a new Twitter-like service from Meta, the owner of Instagram, launched this month and almost immediately attracted 40m active daily users. The service’s growth has since stalled and now has just over 10m daily users, but that is still commendable. The Wall Street Journal shared that this impressive launch was largely possible because Meta used its built-in network of one billion Instagram users. This user base helped it overcome the “cold start” problem of acquiring ...
Read More
We were happy to see our partner Vietri in this month’s Garden & Gun magazine.
Vietri, a premium designer of Italian home goods, ran a pretty advertisement in this month’s issue. The ad features 15 dealers throughout the South where one can buy Vietri.
Of the 15 stores listed, 47% (7 stores) use Shop Local's Store to more easily sell Vietri.
A shopper, Laura Armistead, shared this review regarding her experience on our Shop Local platform:
βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ
“My online shopping experience at Elizabeth Clair’s was wonderful! The site was easy to navigate, and it took no time at all! As always, the customer service was excellent and pleasant! Thank you so much!”
Ms. Armistead made a purchase at Elizabeth Clair's, an indie retailer that has used our e-commerce software since 2018 and has two locations in ...
Read More
How a company's sales and growth can be affected by the message it conveys to customers.
July 18, 2023
Allbirds stock is down 95% since its November 2021 initial public offering. People may say the company launched the wrong products (did you buy one of their puffer jackets?) or tried to grow too quickly. I believe there is a larger reason: you can’t scale a company by leading with an environmental message—which is Allbirds’s pitch. Consumers rank saving the planet as one of their least pressing concerns when making a purchase. The leading factors consumers look for when ...
Read More
In June, brands raised their prices on 2,410 products, producing an average price increase of 12%. If a retailer didn’t make these changes, these price increases would cost their store 12%.
Thankfully, indie stores using Shop Local have the updated price for these 2,410 products. They don’t lose 12%. The stores receive the updated prices instantly via our Brand Syncing service.
In celebration of vietri’s 40th anniversary, Susan Gravely, vietri Founder and CEO, has written a memoir and a cookbook.The 240-page book features 52 recipes straight from the kitchens of Susan’s dearest Italian friends. In addition to these treasured family recipes, each chapter tells the story of how Susan met each friend and the meals and memories they have shared together over the years. The book also includes glimpses into these friends’ beautiful Italian homes and gardens...
Read More
Shop Local analyzed the websites for the top-40 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industry. We assessed what promotions and discounts, such free shipping, brands offer. Shop Local did this because a product's price, which is impacted by discounts, is often the leading factor when shopping online. 70% of the brands surveyed by Shop Local offer free shipping.
We follow the gift registry industry and Buybuy Baby has been a formidable player in this space. The WSJ reports that Buybuy Baby is being sold for $15m and the stores closed.
Bed Bath & Beyond was recently sold to Overstock.com for $21m.
*Free shipping only available to US retailers. Restrictions apply.
Valid Until July 28, 2023
We hope to see all of you at this week’s Atlanta Summer Market 2023 as we are celebrating Orrefors’ 125th anniversary this year and have launched a lot of great newness in the tabletop, giftware, home décor, entertainment, and ...
Read More
How to send sync requests to your retailers to grow your sales network.
July 5, 2023
Your Shop Local now makes it easier for you to connect with the retailers that sell your products. We have added a new page to invite your retailers to sync with your brand. This page reduces the number of steps that your brand takes to view unsynced retailers and send sync requests.
The Invite Your Retailers page shows a table with retailers that report selling your brand but that you are not yet synced with it. You can request to sync with more retailers to grow your sales ...
Read More