What a year it's been at commonsku! The promotional products industry is facing a paradox: clients expect Amazon-level experiences while you're juggling spreadsheets, manual data entry, and systems that don't talk to each other. In 2025, we decided that the gap needed to close. So we built 30+ features designed around one question: what if your workflow was as smooth as the client experience you're trying to deliver?
Your online shops are often the first impression clients get of your business, so we made sure they shine.
Remember spending hours building shops from scratch? Those days are over. We launched new Shops templates for specific occasions—think Valentine's Day promotions or sports team stores—so you can launch professional shops in minutes, not hours. Need to showcase your entire product catalog? Our new Gallery templates for presentations let you display everything at first glance, making it easier for clients to see the breadth of what you offer.
Need help getting started? Learn how to build a Sports Shop in 1-minute ⚽
Choosing between Pop-Up Shops, Marketing Shops, and Company Stores used to feel like a guessing game. Our Shops Type Onboarding Wizard asks you a few simple questions about your client's needs and points you to the perfect shop type. It's like having a consultant built right into the platform.
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When Lee Ann joined Whitestone as the Executive Director of Brand Operations, she brought more than a design-savvy eye: she brought a bold new vision for how the brand could use commonsku Shops. |
Here's where things get exciting. We added five game-changing personalization features to help you create better client experiences:
Size Guide URLs solve that age-old problem of clients ordering the wrong sizes. Now you can link directly to sizing charts, reducing returns and frustrated customers.
Confirmation messages at checkout might seem small, but they provide that crucial peace of mind. Your clients instantly know their order went through—no more "did it work?" anxiety.
Custom questions let you gather exactly the information you need for personalization. Whether it's a name for a jersey or a title for an embroidered polo, you can collect it right at checkout instead of chasing down details later.
Checkout these 3 quick and easy tips to make your Shop STAND OUT to your client ✨
Want to delight your clients? Free products at checkout let you add a branded gift to orders, strengthening relationships without complicated workarounds.
And for those high-touch personalization projects, upcharges and character limits give you control. Charge appropriately for custom work, and set boundaries on text length so you're not dealing with unrealistic decoration requests.
Finally, Shop social sharing makes it easier for your clients to spread the word, complete with your branding front and center.
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When Creative Boulevard's Winston Lo wanted to differentiate his promotional products business, he discovered something powerful: the stories behind his suppliers. |
Unravel the top 3 Promostandards myths, and learn how you can get connected to a network of speed and accuracy today.
Each integration means accurate pricing, live inventory, decorator location data, and automatic shipping updates. Whether you're ordering decorated products or blank apparel, these Connected+ partnerships eliminate the manual data entry that used to eat up your afternoons.
Let's talk about those financial headaches we helped solve.
Updating margins one product at a time? We wouldn't wish
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"We have grown 500% this year and commonsku has allowed us to scale in that manner. commonsku has saved us so much time." |
We completely reimagined reporting this year because pulling data from multiple sources and building spreadsheets manually isn't how distributors should spend their time.
The Product Sold Report shows you exactly which
products are flying off the shelves and which ones are
Previously, comparing client performance meant juggling multiple sales rep reports and date ranges, then exporting everything to Excel for analysis. The Client Comparative Report changed that game entirely. Now you can compare clients side-by-side with both absolute and relative metrics.
The addition of the Date Picker made it even more powerful. Instead of being stuck with preset date ranges, you can now analyze any custom time period that matters to your business. Want to see how Q3 this year compared to Q3 last year? Done. Need to measure a specific campaign's impact? Easy.
Manual report exports are officially a thing of the past. With Report Scheduler & Export, you can automatically receive company insights weekly or monthly. Whether you're tracking performance trends or preparing for stakeholder meetings, the data arrives in your inbox without you lifting a finger.
You've been able to push commonsku data to HubSpot for
Imports, the integration works both ways. When your marketing team qualifies a lead in HubSpot and they're ready to start a project, that contact flows seamlessly into commonsku. No more manual data entry between systems.
It doesn't stop there! Check out how our integrations can streamline your business 🤖
Learn about 9 use cases that can kickoff your integration journey with commonsku and Zapier.
Speaking of integrations, Zapier opens up connections to over 7,000 apps. If you use it in your business, chances are you can now connect it to commonsku and automate workflows that used to require manual handoffs. It's workflow automation that actually fits how you work.
Here's where we got really excited. AI Recommendations and Connected+ Search fundamentally changes how you start proposals. Instead of guessing what products to pitch or tab-hopping between systems, the AI analyzes your client's purchase history and project details to suggest relevant products automatically.
Charlie Moscoe, VP of Product, joins Bobby to unpack what's shipping now, what's coming next, and why these changes matter more than any update the platform has ever released (including all things AI).
When you search for something, AI Recommendations appear informed by what this specific client has bought before, the project name, project type, and client profile. Refine by supplier, currency, budget, or category. Confirm variants in the Product Modal. Add products with one click. It's like having a sales assistant who knows every client's preferences and your entire catalog.
Keep a lookout for the bi-weekly AI Promo Brief, where we help you stay on-top of all things new and coming with AI in promo.
In 2025 we formally launched our Enterprise offering for large distributors that need deeper control and connectivity. We delivered a suite of powerful technical capabilities that take the commonsku platform to the next level: expanded APIs (with richer filtering and sorting) to move data anywhere; real-time webhooks (including the Deco API webhook) for status updates across your stack; and a native NetSuite integration plus BI-ready data export so finance and analytics plug in cleanly.
Unlock our product roadmap for Advanced and Enterprise commonsku users, including new integrations-- Shopify, Split-ship Taxes, ShipStation--- and so much more.
Together, Enterprise turns commonsku into a programmable system of record: integrate shops, ERP, and e-commerce, automate repetitive handoffs, and scale process consistency across brands and locations. Paired with priority guidance from our team, you get the speed of a platform with the control of your own stack—built to grow without added busywork.
Every feature we built this year came from listening to you—the distributors in the trenches dealing with client requests, supplier coordination, and the million details that go into every order. We focused on eliminating time-wasters, reducing errors, and helping you deliver better client experiences.
From shops that personalize themselves to AI that knows your clients' preferences, from bulk updates that save hours to reports that actually answer your questions—2025 was about making your daily work easier and more profitable.
Here's to a year of solving real problems, and to an even better 2026 ahead.
New to commonsku? → Learn more about what commonsku can do to streamline your business.
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If you want to discuss your specific needs:
Schedule a consultation → Our team can show you exactly how these updates address your unique business challenges.