So, you know that opening an online promo store is a good idea. You’ve done the research, and are sure that it’s the best move for your company. The problem is, you still need to get your boss on board with the idea.

Whether they are stuck in their traditional ways, or just don’t understand how an online company promo store works—you need to create an effective pitch to ensure that they agree with your views.

Here are some key points to bring up in your presentation to convince your boss that an online store is the best thing for your company:

It’s Free To Set Up

Start with the bottomline. Not only will a company promo store ultimately save time and money, it costs you nothing to set up. If you create an online store with a company like Proforma, you don’t need to worry about any initial costs—we do the setup and research absolutely free. Your store is fully customized to your company (beyond just slapping your logo in the corner), and before we even get started on building the site, we do a comprehensive review on how we can:

• Reduce your transactional costs
• Streamline your processes
• Decrease your fulfillment and distribution costs

You Save Time

Streamline and automate. Modern technology has made it possible to automate most business processes, including purchasing, marketing, invoicing, and sales. As a result, aspects that previously had to be managed manually—taking up resources and man hours—can now be taken care of by an automated system within the company promo store. Freeing you up for other tasks (or maybe a longer lunch, we won’t tell).

It Fosters Interdepartmental Communication And Cooperation

Get all the departments that touch the ordering process working together. Many companies experience some challenges with communication and cooperation between their marketing, branding, sales, and accounting departments. These relationships are often a push-pull as each group has their own set of goals, priorities, and timelines that can result in delays, backtracking, and frustration.

An online store’s automated processes acts as an interdepartmental communication platform, and reduces the likelihood of human error. As a result, departments are more likely get the information, input, and approvals they need be efficient and effective.

Reporting Is Centralized

Speaking of facilitating communication and efficiency between departments, an online company store also generates the reports these departments need with push-button ease. Quickly run reports to manage inventory, view costs by location, see your most popular items, track PO numbers, and more. Imagine a world without pivot tables!

Lower Overall Costs For Items Purchased

Lower costs by taking advantage of bulk discounts. While you need to watch what you spend, you don’t want to compromise on quality. Instead of paying higher costs for shorter runs for each satellite office, a company promo store allows you to consolidate orders across your enterprise with lower prices negotiated for higher volume. You get the perfect balance between quality, quantity, and consistent branding.

Better Brand Consistency

Stop “brand creep.” If you have a national or global brand, then you likely have offices in multiple locations. It’s very tempting for the resourceful go-getters in these outer offices to order their own merchandise and experiment with localized versions of the logo.

An company promo store is an effective way to ensure that your employees are all sticking to the same guidelines to produce a consistent brand image, as well as the high standards across the board that clients will then associate with your company.

Get Custom Advice

These are just some of the benefits that an online store could have for your company. For custom solutions and recommendations on how to leverage a company promo store, contact us for a consultation.

Want to know what happens next? Download our guide to Company Stores. In it, you'll learn about eight critical areas that should influence how you evaluate vendors that build online stores.