How to Setup a Company Promo Store

A Checklist For Your Company Store:

• Shopping Cart and Online Processing System
• Choosing the Type of Merchandise to Sell
• Customize the Appearance and Settings for Your Store
• Drive Traffic to Your Brand Merchandise
• Choosing The Right Supplier

Using promotional products to help increase the brand of companies has been going on for ages, and when it comes to keeping the exchange of promotional products to customers flowing, company stores are a proven avenue in doing just that.

With today’s B2B and B2C marketing platforms and socially networked power-sites, setting up your very own store is relatively easy and straightforward, and to finish it off, practically the majority of the dull, costly, particular, and calculated procedures are naturally redistributed for you.

Branded promotional products such as cut and sew t-shirts, hats, custom drinkware, and pens are among some of the most popular products.

Be that as it may, getting those products into the hands of clients isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Public exhibitions are superb stages, but the only problem is that they are seasonal.

Other than the brand introduction that it will get, having a store that displays your promotional products is an incredible method to create additional income for your business.

You may expect that setting up such a store is monotonous and costly, however, that isn’t always the case in the event that you realize how to do it right.

With the accessibility of numerous promotional product experts and online resources, you can have your store ready for action in a brief time without spending too much money.

Setting Up a Storefront

With today’s technology and B2B marketing platforms, there are a number of ways to set up a company store.

One alternative is to work with a web specialist to include a landing page on your current website, where customers can discover and purchase your branded products.

If you decide to go this route, make sure you choose a website specialist who comprehends what you are attempting to accomplish with your company promo store.

Another alternative is to use a third party eCommerce platform to host the promotional store or set up an additional domain.

Managing two separate platforms can be difficult to manage, but comprehensive B2C & B2B eCommerce solutions can give you the ability to manage multiple stores.

Remember: When creating a company merchandise store, simplicity should be a driving factor.

Shopping Cart and Online Processing System

Now that you’ve decided where your company promo store is going to be hosted, the next step is to decide on an eCommerce software to manage the back end.

It’s important that you take as much time as necessary when choosing a shopping cart to use for your online store.

A broken shopping cart can cripple your business.

Before you begin researching a single shopping cart solution, consider the following before making a decision:

• Web-Based or Self-Hosted: Whether you’re opting for a self-hosted or a SaaS (Software as a service), each shopping cart tool offers a different set of features – so decide which ones are absolute necessities and which ones you can do without. SaaS platforms are easy-to-use and are hosted by your eCommerce vendor where you pay a fee for monthly access to the software as well as security and hosting, but they’re limited in terms of functionality. Self-hosted solutions are completely free to download and use, but you’ll likely have to pay for several features and templates to make your site meet your needs.
• Assess Pricing Options: Depending on the amount of storage and bandwidth you need, shopping cart prices can vary. Consider bandwidth, storage, themes, features, and support of each shopping cart before making a decision.
• Ease of Use: Testing a shopping carts usability can often be the deciding factor when making a decision on which eCommerce platform is best for your online company store. Considering signing up for free trials of each shopping cart and dedicate a few hours to each to determine which one would work best for your business.
• Quality Customer Support: Your shopping cart should offer quality customer support. Look for a cart that provides 24/7 support via email or live chat with an agent. Consider contacting each shopping cart candidate to get an idea of their response time.
• SSL Certificate: In order to collect the payment information from a customer, you’ll need to make sure that your site is secure. Web-hosted shopping carts come with an SSL certificate, which allows customers to checkout securely on a subdomain of your wholesaler’s checkout page. On the off chance that your platform doesn’t come with an SSL certificate, you’ll have to purchase your own.

Your goal should be to give customers an easy shopping experience.

Likewise, think about how the product works with any existing bookkeeping applications.

Once you’ve chosen a shopping cart application, your next step should be to link the shopping cart to an online processing system, such as PayPal, Google Checkout, or a credit card gateway and merchant service.

Whatever your decision, review the transaction fees to keep them from eating into your benefits.

Choosing The Type of Merchandise to Sell

Deciding on the type of promotional products to sell on your company promotional store will strongly affect its prosperity, so be attentive when it comes to making this decision.

Include your promoting specialists to strategize on the heading you need to take it, and to get a better idea of which products are popular among your target consumers.

Don’t just start purchasing random merchandise and put your brand name on them; actually, do your research to discover which styles and trends resonate with the audience you’re trying to target.

It’s imperative that you learn how to tell your brand story through the design of your products.

Once you have decided which promotional products to sell, price them accordingly. Discounts and other deals are incredible approaches to tempt a client to purchase a t-shirt or a water bottle.

Customize the Appearance and Settings For Your Store

Having a company store website can provide a big boost to your brand image, so set aside the time and effort it takes to develop one.

The products you sell on your company promotional store ought to address the story your brand is trying to tell its customers and the presence of your storefront should be a solid impression of that.

Think about how you want your store to look, the images you want to display, graphics, etc.

Alter each component to provide a reliable brand experience for your customers.

Drive Traffic to Your Brand Merchandising

Once your company store is ready, it’s imperative that you place a strong emphasis on directing people to your brand merchandise.

Start with giving each product a search engine friendly name (without overdoing it), description, category, list of keywords, etc and then add it to your store.

An increase in traffic on the company store will benefit you as a whole.

Choosing the Right Suppliers

An eCommerce business is no more prominent than the distributor they work with.

Selecting suppliers is a critical step that every business needs to take as it affects your ability to contend on product cost, convey items to your clients on schedule, satisfy the demands of each customer by offering the right products, and ultimately determine margins.

When choosing the right B2B company to develop a wholesale relationship, it’s essential to consider factors like pricing, customer service, product portfolio and reliability that are key elements for deciding which wholesale provider will work for you.

To determine which wholesale provider is right for your company store website, look at the following:

• The Products They Offer: It might be self-evident, but it’s imperative to inquire as to whether the wholesale provider offers the products and brands you need for your store. Try to only work with wholesalers that offer a reasonable item inventory that’s easy to search through, to make the purchasing procedure as straightforward as possible.
• Reliable Shipping Methods: Regardless of whether you purchase items inexpensively from a wholesaler, your company takes a loss if any products are shipped late. In order to provide excellent customer service, choose a distributor with automated shipping alerts, shipment tracking and knowledge of the delivery needs in your industry.
• Affordable Pricing: Price isn’t always determined by the volume of products you purchase. There can be substantial price differences based on shipping, the relationship your wholesaler has with relationships, and even currency exchange rates based on location are all major factors in pricing. It’s best to shop around before making a decision.
• Customer Service: Extraordinary customer service is a gigantic factor in choosing the right wholesale supplier. Is there a help desk or live chat option? Can you easily pick up the phone and speak to someone about any issue? Those are all things that should be considered when deciding on which wholesale provider is right for you.

Ultimately, it’s imperative to take into consideration how a wholesale will affect your relationship with clients.

At the same time, you have to choose one that bodes well with what you’re trying to accomplish while having the certainty that you have a colleague you can depend on.

Let Sellers Commerce eCommerce Software Handle Your Company Promo Store

With over 12+ years of experience in different industries and trusted by premiere B2B companies, SellersCommerce has built our product to meet the unique needs of the Promotional Products industry.

If you’re looking to setup a company promo store, use our eCommerce platform to launch your online store.