One of the major problems for a company that has offices in multiple locations is the difficulty the marketing department faces when it comes to ensuring promotional gifts, uniforms, and marketing materials are consistent anywhere in the world.

Staff in remote offices tend to be entrepreneurial. When they need new stuff and “HQ” doesn’t make it easy, these folks find “creative” solutions to getting what they need. The downside of this can-do attitude is often a sidebar relationship with a new vendor, unusual interpretations of the logo and colors, and impossible reporting.

But the challenges don’t stop there – dealing with various vendors across the country (and sometimes the globe) often means higher spending on promotional items due to the lack of bulk purchasing power, negotiations that never seem to end, and an accounting or procurement team that can’t get a full picture of real spending.

The result is a frustrated department that feels a lack of control, a whole lot of inconsistency across branded products, and fractured reporting. The reality is, whether your company is spread across the country or across borders, you really want to ensure that all branches are using the same printed collateral and handing out identical promotional gifts while controlling costs.

Automation To The Rescue

What’s the solution? It’s simple: an online company store that automates the inventory management, order processing, and reporting functionality.

Easier Ordering

An online store is accessible anywhere in the world at any time of the day or night. The available inventory is selected by the marketing team to limit choices, control the branding elements, and maintain a high standard of quality. Remote offices simply log in and order what they need.

User roles make it possible for individuals to see only certain items or quantities. For example, a non-client facing team member might be restricted to a low quantity of business cards. Or, a team member in Paris will not be able to order materials written in Russian.

Order fulfillment ships the items directly from the production facility or warehouse to the office that order them. Tah-dah!

Lower Costs

The creation of a company store means that you are dealing with one distributor. This allows you to see significant savings by ordering larger quantities across the full organization. Additionally, the marketing team saves time working with a single point of contact for questions and new product ideas.

Centralized Reporting

And the best part? Billing, shipping, and PO numbers are all easily accessible and visible online. Colleagues in the accounting, purchasing, or procurement teams can get automated notifications of activity, track budgets, and view centralized reporting, all from one easy portal. Marketers have access to detailed inventory on office purchases and holistic inventories.

Online stores streamline the process of ordering marketing materials and ensure consistency across the brand. At the same time they lower overall costs for promotional items. And of course, centralized reporting makes it simple for everyone who needs information to access it.

So if you are struggling to find wholesale promotional gifts and products that can be used (and ordered easily) by all your company's branches, then contact us at Proforma Durkee. We can build your online store for free, and with ample products available, we can certainly help you save time and money and alleviate the hassle that often comes with ordering promotional items.

Sound like a good idea but not sure what to do next? Then download our (free!) guide to company stores here.