In a previous blog we talked about how company branded merchandise is a great way to recognize your employees for a job well done. Branded merchandise is not only to award employees for a job well done with quality gifts, but is also an excellent way to get brand exposure. And the best way to get this merchandise in the hands of employees and potential customers is to create an online company store for your employees. Here we talk about company stores and how they benefit your branded merchandise promotional campaigns and employee engagement efforts.
What is an Online Company Store?
Simply put, an online company store is a digital store where employees can purchase branded company merchandise. Instead of handing out catalogs and collecting checks, employees can shop from their computers. The company store creates an efficient, streamlined way for you to get branded merchandise in the hands of your employees and, in turn, your customers.
Create a Culture of Employee Engagement
Giving your employees exclusive access to a company store creates an engaging environment that tells employees they are a part of something. The beauty of a company store is that it gives employees a chance to engage in an autonomous way. They are not required to do anything, yet they have at their fingertips the ability to engage with your brand in a way that they would never have without a company store. Two of the main things that employees are constantly reporting are important to them at a job is engagement and autonomy/ independence. These two contradictory demands can be serviced nicely by a company store that employees can choose to access at any time.
Custom and Quality Products
An online company store requires sourcing the products that you are going to mark up with your brand. A company store platform, like that offered by CCG gives you the power to do both. You can source your custom merchandise from CCGs network of partners to create branded merchandise that is both cost effective and quality and speaks the language of your company’s goals and values.
Company Stores for Employee Awards Programs
A company store allows you to easily create and implement an employee awards program. Employees report that recognition of their hard work is the number one thing that leads to lower turnover rates. With a company store that is tied to sourcing, you can create customized gifts and kits for your employee activation and rewards programs. A rewards program that features swag from the company store is a great way to increase engagement while recognizing those rockstar employees with quality products and merchandise they will love.
No Inventory Issues
One of the headaches of a brick and mortar store is the maintenance of inventory and order fulfillment. With an online company store, inventory is easily manageable via an online portal and tracking system. This allows you to easily keep track of orders, ROI, revenue, and gives you the ability to monitor shipping.
“Virtual” Warehousing
For a lot of companies, storage space is an issue. And if you are lucky enough to have it, it means a greater long term expense and increasing overhead. An online company store like those built and maintained by CCG come fully integrated with warehousing and fulfillment services. Items are fulfilled and shipped by order, lowering costs by reducing inventory buildup and waste.
How to Set up a Company Store
So after all this you might be wondering how to get started with your company store. At CCG Promo we can create and maintain your company store while helping you source quality products via our worldwide product sourcing network. We will help you set-up your store, source your products, warehouse your inventory and fulfill your orders all from one platform. Contact us to get started today.