Launching a company store can be a game-changer for your business, providing streamlined access to branded apparel, promotional products and employee kits, like new hire and new baby. However, it's important to assess if a company store is right for you. Here are some critical questions to ask yourself.
1. Why do you want a company store?
- Do you just want logo apparel and items available to employees for purchase? Will it be reimbursed or out of their pocket?
- Is it for centralized buying for multiple locations (offices/branches) or a nationwide workforce?
- Are you wanting to free up bandwidth for the “people in charge of swag” (typically marketing) to create a centralized location for employees to get what they need for other departments? (i.e. HR, Sales, Operations, Safety).
2. What online store model suits your business?
- Do you prefer owned inventory or an on-demand model?
- Do you want more upfront cost but faster delivery or less upfront cost and production times, leading to longer delivery times?
- Will you want to send existing inventory and what are the associated costs?
3. What are your design needs for your web store?
- Do you need a basic design or a custom design that matches your company's homepage?
- How important is brand consistency across multiple platforms?
- Will the store be employee facing or customer facing or both?
4. What purchasing options are required?
- Will you use credit card payments, purchase orders, or a points-based system? Or all three?
- Do you need departmental budget tracking?
- Will you want product and pricing options based on an employee’s department, position, or title?
5. How will you handle distribution?
- What shipping options will you offer (UPS, FedEx, international, etc.)?
- How quickly do you need items shipped and in-hands?
- What are the policies on errors and returns?
6. How will you handle distribution?
- Who will be managing the store internally and be the point of contact?
- Which reports are necessary for tracking sales, inventory, and user activity?
- How will inventory and reporting be managed?
- How frequently do you need these reports (monthly, quarterly)?
7. How will you market your company online store?
- How will you keep the store active post-launch?
- Can your store provider assist with ongoing marketing efforts?
There can be a lot of work and expense in setting up a store. It doesn’t do you any good to launch a store that doesn’t have any activity. Having a good understanding of everything you want and need from the store, and the partner you work with, will make the launch and execution have less friction. By carefully considering these questions, you can determine if a company store is the right fit for your business and set it up for success.
Ideation Creative Brand Management can help you determine if a company online store is right for your business. Not all solutions are right for all businesses so reach out to our team to talk about your budget, objectives and goals to determine what is right for you.
Want more information? Check out our webinar with more information on Company Stores and Warehousing.
