The PromotionMaster

Big Canoe, Georgia

Some Notes About Putting Together A Company Store

A company store can accomplish the three major objectives that a partnership between a client and a promotional products company such as The PromotionMaster hopes to achieve in their relationship:

*Create awareness of the client’s services and products.

*Create the client’s “brand.”

*Generate goodwill towards the client’s employees and their clients.

A company store…otherwise known as a fulfillment program or an e-company store…is a collection of logoed promotional marketing items and logoed apparel.  The items in the collection may have only the sponsoring company’s logo or their logo along with the logo of their clients.  The collection is put together as the result of a consultation between the client and The PromotionMaster and those who will purchase items from the store.

The company store is presented in a printed catalog format and/or an online catalog.  Usually, those who are prospective customers must register in order to get online with the catalog and/or receive a printed catalog.

There are two types of company stores or sometimes a hybrid of the two types of stores:

*An Inventory Program.  Customers draw from a warehouse of logoed goods.

*A Special Order Program.  Each order placed by an item outside of the catalog for promotional products is produced individually. The department places an order with their specific information (address, telephone number, etc.) which is imprinted on a specific item or group of items.  Minimum quantities for each item will apply.

*A combination of the above.  Both inventory and special order items.

The advantage of an inventory program is the ability to ship items immediately; one of the disadvantages is that the sponsoring client pays upfront for the goods and the fulfillment.  The advantage of a special order program is that there is no inventory; the disadvantage is that it takes a few extra days to complete and deliver an order.   

Here are the steps required in order to plan and implement a company store for your client:

*Meet with the client and come to an agreement concerning the procedures and goals of the program.

*Create focus groups in order to determine the items for the program.

*Get logoed samples made of each program product chosen by the focus groups and the client.

*Create the program printed catalog and/or the online web site.

*Develop a marketing program to create awareness of the program.

*Launch the program.

The advantages of the program to the client include:

*Exposure of the company’s products and services to existing and potential clients.

*Ability to offer an added-value component to the sponsoring company’s clients.

*The sponsoring company can derive revenue from the sale of promotional products.

The PromotionMaster appreciates the opportunity to share these thoughts about a company store with you and we look forward to getting together with you in order to develop a win-win-win plan for you and your clients.