TikTok and Amazon are battling in the retail space. TikTok wants to be a retailer, and Amazon wants to be more of an influencer platform. These two share the same goal: get users to share a product link, recommend the product, and get a cut of the sale, shares The Wall St. Journal.
This article and these companies speak to the power of affiliate marketing. One of Amazon’s long-standing secret growth weapons has been affiliate commissions, and influencers are a well-known ...
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It’s never too early to start shopping for your holiday table!! Featuring snow covered pine trees and adorned garland, our Estrela collection is already getting us excited for the Christmas season. We love adding a pop of color to an Estrela-filled table with our Red Red Linho placemats. And don’t forget a fun centerpiece - the handmade Estrela Natal trees are now available in FOUR sizes (our 11" Cedar Tree coming soon)!!
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How restaurants, hotels, and tableware brands are using loyalty programs--and what indie stores can learn from this.
October 11, 2023
Perk-y
I recently read about a new loyalty program and wondered what we could learn from it. The founder of Eater and Resy, Ben Leventhal, has started Blackbird, a loyalty program service designed for indie restaurants, reports The New York Times (Read the article). Using the Blackbird app, a diner receives a perk for eating at a restaurant. The retailer sets tiers for which the user qualifies for the perk. For example, a restaurant, Nat’s on Bank in New York City, gives tier 1 customers ...
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“Let them eat cake” is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. As the story goes, it was the queen’s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread. Because cake is more expensive than bread, the anecdote has been cited as an example of Marie-Antoinette’s obliviousness to the conditions and daily lives of ordinary people. But did she ever actually utter those words? Probably not. ...
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How online calendars can help retailers manage and save time.
October 4, 2023
One of the main problems that businesses have is efficient use of time. A retailer (or brand or sales rep) seeks on a daily basis to manage their time and optimize results. (I was reminded of this while reading a The Wall St. Journal article about time management for the family.) Businesses use a variety of tools to manage and save time, including email, texting, and Zoom.
Shop Local helps businesses in their quest to save time. We offer businesses a variety of services to help ...
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In the field of astronomy, “nova” refers to a star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter and then gradually fades to its original intensity. In the realm of tableware, an ORGANIC PEARL Nova bowl from Beatriz Ball shines brightly always.
Rimmed in sparkling metallic beads, enhanced by richly organic surfaces--and some featuring flirty curves--ORGANIC PEARL Nova bowls embody good design ... with unmistakable Beatriz Ball flair.Equally at home with your casual dinnerware ...
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How to set interior designer pricing for your brands.
September 28, 2023
FOR BRANDS AND DISTRIBUTORS
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: Interior designers can now view interior designer pricing for your brands and make purchases. If an interior designer is approved by your business, they can log in to your account and buy items at the wholesale designer price set by your business.
In the example shown, we see an interior designer logged in to BIA Cordon Bleu's account. The interior designer can place wholesale orders at the designer pricing set by ...
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It's officially Autumn and time to start planning your tablescape for the season. From exquisite glass pumpkins and interesting coasters to golden flatware and beautifully hued dishes, we have everything you need to update your dining and entertaining assortment.
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BERTIL VALLIEN is a gift to glass. The impressive portfolio of this prolific artist is haunting, memorable, and mesmerizing.
His 60-year career, spent advancing the craft of sand-casting, is a study of one man's existential questioning actualized on hypnotic works of art.
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BERTIL VALLIEN IS A 60-YEAR KOSTA BODA ICON, DESIGNING FOR THE BRAND SINCE 1963.
He is one of Sweden's most celebrated glass artists with numerous awards and museums exhibitions around...
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I got to thinking about the generational make-up of today's workforce when I realized all the folks I interviewed in the current issue are well-experienced, older workers with decades of expertise and know-how, who are still creating and innovating with alacrity. (Yours truly included.)
There was a time when you entered the labor force, worked until a certain age, and retired. Now, more and more people are working into their golden years, a trend that's expected to continue fueled by aging ...
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What universal standards can teach us about simplicity regarding e-commerce platforms.
September 25, 2023
When Apple launched its new iPhones this month, one of its most noteworthy updates was replacing its Lightning charging cable with a USB-C. This was not a voluntary move or extension of Steve Jobs’s love of simplicity. Apple changed it because the European Union required them to, according to Ben Cohen in The Wall St. Journal. Now, just about every mobile phone in the world (forget just little ol’ Europe) will have one charging solution (USB-C).
What the retail industry can learn from Google and Amazon teaming up on technology standards.
September 19, 2023
Google, Amazon, and an array of home appliance companies are teaming up to make it easier for you to dim your home’s lights and lock your front doors. They are adopting a standard called Matter that allows devices to communicate and work together, shares The Wall St. Journal. This allows a giant like Amazon, creator of Alexa devices and Ring doorbells, and Tuo, a small home device tech creator, to use the same platform yet keep their internal, proprietary code base. This standard is like a...
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The Wall Street Journal gives us an update on Amazon’s plans, ranging from stores, hardware, health care, and logistics. The article shares that Amazon has closed all of its bookstores and 4-star stores.
In the field of astronomy, “nova” refers to a star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter and then gradually fades to its original intensity. In the realm of tableware, an ORGANIC PEARL Nova bowl from Beatriz Ball shines brightly always.
Rimmed in sparkling metallic beads, enhanced by richly organic surfaces--and some featuring flirty curves--ORGANIC PEARL Nova bowls embody good design ... with unmistakable Beatriz Ball flair.Equally at home with your casual dinnerware ...
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Veselka, a famous Ukrainian restaurant on my block, shared this on their Instagram.
P.S. ~ I’m reading The Cold Start Problem, a book about network-based companies. It’s helping me understand how to help indie stores and brands connect online.
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How competitive techniques can help lure clients and grow a network.
September 10, 2023
Andrew Chen shares in 'The Cold Start Problem' that many times, networks are competing in a zero-sum game. One network gets a customer to join their network and thereby not participate in another. For example, when a driver used Lyft instead of Uber, Uber, which Chen helped, lost. And it lost in two regards: Uber lost the revenue from the lost ride, and Lyft gained the revenue. Chen’s team was tasked with getting drivers to use all their time driving for Uber and thereby unraveling Lyft&...
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We have two brand-new napkin rings being introduced today that are simply perfect for the upcoming Fall season, it's never too early to start planning for the perfect table!
Our Ginkgo napkin ring in gold will bring timeless elegance to any setting, while our Maple Leaves, available in silver and gold, will add an exquisite touch of nature to your tablescape!
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Meatballs are a hearty, comforting food deserving a starring role at your dinner table. It`s a delicious casserole treat served in this Pyrex dish with Calaisio`s serving basket. This woven basket made of organic vines is durable enough to withstand a hot bakeware and easy to clean with a soft brush to keep the vines looking its best. A mild dish soap and water solution comes in handy for removing grease. The woven tray includes 1Qt Pyrex dish, 8” x 8”.