Market buildings are looking down the barrel of a gun. To find out why, check out my article in this month's Tableware Today.
THE LAST WORD
CHART YOUR FUTURE BEFORE BIG TECH DOES
by JASON SOLAREK
Market buildings are starting to take digital seriously. Why, finally? Because Amazon is nipping at retailers’ heels? No. Because Zola is stealing indie stores’ registry business? No. Sadly, the main thing that’s brought markets up to speed has to do with their own dollars and ...
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August 11, 2019
August 11, 2019
Fifty percent of the U.S. book market is controlled by Amazon, while Barnes & Noble has 8%. This book market share split shows that shoppers value convenience and price more than customer service. Anyone that says retail can be helped, saved, or fixed by concentrating on anything but convenience and price is wrong.
For example, an HFN columnist whom I wonβt name is often extolling the need to make the in-store shopping experience fun and interesting. Similarly, a market building president ...
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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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June 26, 2019
June 26, 2019
Iβm just back from the Dallas show. I met with some wonderful people from the mart and theyβre ready to go digital.
In general, Iβm seeing that more market buildings are finally taking digital seriously. Why are they finally doing so? Because Amazon is nipping at their retailers heels? Because Zola is stealing the indie storeβs registry business? No. Sadly, the main thing that brought the markets up to speed on the weather outside is: their own livelihood. Faire, a startup tech company ...
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June 16, 2019
June 16, 2019
Business lunch: how retail is changing :)
Old retail is 80% analog. This consists of: the physical store, staff, customer service training, etc. What youβd expect walking into a Saks or Macy's. And it's about 20% tech: computers, cash registers (POS systems), mobile shopping, Google ranking, apps, hiring social influencers, Instagram, etc.
Today, the retailers that are well positioned, growing, and 'hot' carry the opposite equation: they're 20% analog and 80% tech.
India has passed rules to encourage local businesses to grow and thwart Amazonβs bulldozing of smaller businesses. They call it the βnational championβ program. I suggest that local states start a simlair program. Amazon, legally based in Delaware and overseas, isnβt a friend to your local town or state on account of its hurting indie businesses and skimping on taxes. Instead of cities competing for the Amazon HQ, they likely shouldβve competed for solutions to stop big online entities from ...
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January 3, 2019
January 3, 2019
What difference will you make in 2019? SHINElife Jewelry at Brown's in downtown Vidalia.
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Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019
Location: Ivystone Showroom at AmericasMart
Save the Date: Wednesday, January 9th Beatriz Ball and Bridge Are Hosting a Marketing Bootcamp
What: Get free help from Beatriz Ball's marketing team and Bridge on growing your business. Bridge will help stores with online solutions and growing online sales. We'll have drinks and snacks. Enjoy a glass of wine and cheese as you learn.
When: Wednesday, January 9th 4 - 6 pm
Where: Ivystone Showroom Building 2 / 18th Floor / Suite 1801 AmericasMart
Who: Jason Solarek will work with retailers on a one-on-one...
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September 24, 2018
September 24, 2018
I have a confession: I think Amazon can teach us something.
While I lead a fight to stop Amazon, I believe we can learn something by watching its massive growth.
We first have to accept this fact. Ready for it?
Here it is: you're in the software business.
Retail is becoming a software business for a few reasons, including:
1. Convenience: Itβs easier to shop on your mobile vs. drive to the store. Proof: mobile sales are up 40% year over year. Indie stores have to close each night. Amazon is always ...
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September 17, 2018
September 17, 2018
Why is retail becoming a software business? For a few reasons, including: 1. Convenience: Itβs easier to shop on your mobile vs drive to the store. 2. Selection: you can search 10,000s of items online. 3. Smarter: you can not only search lots of products, but the software will likely do the βthinkingβ for you. The major retailersβ software has artificial intelligence to show you the most popular items, the ones with the best reviews, etc. In essence, the software tells you what the best item for...
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September 3, 2018
September 3, 2018
Quick & easy tailgating/grilling solutions!
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July 12, 2018
July 12, 2018
See you tonight at Vagabond House at 5 pm: βYour Store vs Amazon ~ 7 Solutions to Win Onlineβ
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June 12, 2018
June 12, 2018
FATHER'S DAY SOLUTION We'll wrap up the Grill Master platter complete with all our popular food items (Dr. Pete's, Lauri Jo's, Capt. Rodney's, etc.) Guys LOVE it!! He'll LOVE you for it!!!
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February 11, 2018
February 11, 2018
A game-changing service often wins in two out of three areas: - Price - Quality - Time
Historically, when you adjust one of these variables, you negatively affect one of the others. For example, if you want a project to be done faster, you either reduce the quality or increase the price. When you want something cheaper, you often get it slower or reduce the quality.
A revolutionary service will change two or more of these factors with no noticeable impact on the other factors. For example, Uber ...
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January 8, 2018
January 8, 2018
Stick to your New Year's resolutions by eating healthy! Of course, salad tastes better with beautiful serving wear like this cutlery by sambonet official.
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September 27, 2017
September 27, 2017
What are 3 things that you can do to improve your website? Check out Alex Milstein's tips below.
You may see a familiar name in the article: Alex quoted a few of my tips on e-commerce.
Excerpt from article:
3. Be different. The problem isn't that all furniture website look the same, it's that they are all offering the same content as everyone else. Jason Solarek, CEO of Bridge, a website solutions company...
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September 11, 2016
September 11, 2016
Questions about how to how to add Bridge to your online business? Here is a quick PDF sharing 3 potential solutions.
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July 29, 2015
July 29, 2015
Security update: We're sharing this experience below to help the Internet community
Vultr.com is hosting a hacker.
Hours ago we wrote to Vultr about hacking coming from its servers that was attacking our server. They haven't replied. Due to their hosting a hacker -- and their delayed response, we question whether Vultr takes security seriously.
In addition, we tried to call them. There is no phone number listed on their site.
We're happy that Tableware Today asked Bridge founder Jason Solarek to share his thoughts about e-commerce. In this month's Last Word column, you can read about e-commerce trends that independent, Main Street stores are facing. Jason also shares some potential solutions.
Full article:
THE BRIDGE TO MAIN STREET
A Connecticut retailer recently told me that it lost a bride's registry worth $10,000. The bride reviewed the store's outdated website and online product offering and wasn't ...
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May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015
How does a Main Street store open an online gift registry service?
I thought of this question after reading about a similar project in this week's Wall Street Journal. The writer Joanna Stern asked how someone can setup a new, informational website quickly. (Please find the WSJ article here.)
The writer picked Squarespace as her favorite. If I could, I'd like to ask the writer Ms. Stern to do the same test amongst online bridal registry store providers.
In under 30 minutes, a retailer can open ...
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