“My client wants to allow their employees to choose their own company merch…”
“What’s the best company stores platform for my client?…”
“I want to market new ideas I have for this season to my client …”
“How do I price for online stores?...”
The same questions continue to flood every forum imaginable.
We see these questions on the commonsku community, we see them on the promotional products Facebook page, and we hear them every day when talking to customers and prospects.
As the world, and the promotional products industry, adjusts to a new reality, the ability to offer online stores has become a necessity to retain and attain customers.
But with numerous online store platforms on the market, how do you weed through the noise and arrive at the perfect platform for your business? Here are four functions your online store platform should do for you to help you evaluate your software options and get your clients shopping!
Impress Your Clients
Most likely the reason you’ve started your online store platform search is to impress your clients and add value to those relationships.
In order to absolutely knock this one out of the park, you want to be sure that during the demo of the platform you pay specific attention to the interface and experience that your client will have to operate the store for the very first time. Look at the platform with fresh eyes, and look for possible friction points.
Does the platform offer the ability to customize the storefront, logos, and colors for your client? Are different layout options available? What pages does the platform take your customer through to checkout, and are all of these steps logical and frictionless?
In order to knock your clients’ socks off, it’s important to put yourself in their shoes and consider the smaller elements that will make up their overall experience with your online store platform.
Make Your Life a Breeze
Let’s face it, no one wants to spend hours and hours on end setting up and maintaining an online store. Complicated set-up and editing processes mean less time for orders to come in and frustration from your customers.
It’s important that you’re able to efficiently get your clients’ stores up and running, or edited...an online store should make your life easier, not harder!
Further, ensure you’re evaluating how the online store software will fit into your current workflow. What are the capabilities around setting up custom fields and pricing? (Get more helpful tips on pricing for shops here!) How are the orders compiled and exported? Are you able to create a PO directly from the store orders?
By evaluating the online store software from a tactical perspective, you’ll be able to determine if it will fit into your workflow, or conversely if you’ll need to adjust your process to fit the software before you take the plunge.
Tick All the Feature Boxes for Your Industry
As a distributor, you already know that the promotional products industry comes with its own unique challenges and quirks!
Your shops’ tool should fit within the expectations of the industry and how it works, otherwise, you make find yourself trying to fit a square-store-platform-peg into a round-promotional-products-industry-hole. Make your client non-negotiables no problem with online store platforms that understand and align with your specific industry.
Does your store allow for control of design assets while giving control to patrons to select items?
Does your store allow credit card checkouts and the use of coupon codes?
How does your shop pull in pricing information, and how much of this information is displayed to patrons?
Do you have the ability to control the timeline of your stores, whether the need from your client is for a pop-up or perpetual company storefront?
Because your online store platform is so regularly viewed and utilized by both your client and maybe even your client’s client, selecting the correct tool isn’t something to be taken lightly. The reputation of your business relies on using great tools, and so it’s important to take the time to run through this checklist, ask the important questions, and ensure you have a full understanding of the platform before you dive in and begin deploying.
Sell For You
Not only should your online store platform impress your current clients, but it should also work to secure new customers as well!
Stores are a great way to show off the new ideas you have for the year, season, or a specific campaign that your client has coming up. Look at the store platform you’re evaluating through a creative lens. Does it have the ability to showcase your creativity in a seamless manner?
Further, how does the online store integrate with your current marketing efforts, like email and social? commonsku Marketing Shops can be embedded into an email campaign or your signature to easily show your clients and prospects new ideas you have for them this season. Additionally, as social platforms (specifically Facebook/Instagram) continue to move towards a heavier ‘shop’ and ‘marketplace’ focus, is the platform you’re utilizing able to compliment your current social presence?
If you’re investing in an online store platform you want to be sure that it’s not only servicing the clients requesting stores from you already, but also opening the minds of others to the potential possibilities of promotional products, and securing new business.
Ultimately online stores are an incredibly powerful tool to drive sales and grow your relationships with your clients. Armed with these evaluation techniques, get out there and start shopping!
Looking for an e-commerce option for your client? commonsku Shops are the effortless way to build the most profitable online store for you and your client! No complicated inventory. No complicated purchasing methods. A friction-less experience that eliminates communication hassles, complicated ordering, and multiple data entries.
With three types of commonsku Shops to choose from: Marketing, Pop-Up, and Company, there’s a solution for all your clients’ needs with commonsku. Learn more and request a demo of the platform here!
