--- title: KPIs For Branded Merch Reports description: Save yourself precious time, money and headaches by tracking these Key Performance Indicators to help you stay in control of your inventory: image: https://www.proformadurkee.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/Hand%20with%20marker%20writing%20KPI.jpeg --- [![Proforma Durkee Logo](https://www.proformadurkee.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Proforma_Durkee_2016/Images/Proforma-Durkee-logo.png?width=139&name=Proforma-Durkee-logo.png "Proforma Durkee Logo")](https://www.proformadurkee.com/) [704.655.2511](tel:+17046552511) | [![](https://www.proformadurkee.com/hubfs/send-proforma-durkee-an-email-icon.svg)](mailto:info.durkee@proforma.com) [Speak with Us](https://offers.proformadurkee.com/marketing-agency-contact) ![Hand with marker writing KPI.jpeg](https://www.proformadurkee.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/Hand%20with%20marker%20writing%20KPI.jpeg?width=1000&name=Hand%20with%20marker%20writing%20KPI.jpeg "Hand with marker writing KPI.jpeg") # Proforma Blog # KPIs For Branded Merch Reports By [Proforma Durkee](https://www.proformadurkee.com/durkee/proforma-blog/author/proforma-durkee) on June 20, 2017 If you’re not setting benchmarks and goals, then tracking and measuring against them, there’s no way to know if your efforts are successful. This might not seem like an obvious fit for your branded merchandise, but we beg to differ. Sure, you probably can’t track against the warm-fuzzies your client gets every time they jot down a note with your branded pen or sends your logo whizzing down the fairway on a golf ball. But at the very least, you probably have a budget for promos or uniforms that you should be tracking against. We’ll talk about your budget as a Key Performance Indicator (or KPI), as well as a few others you could be tracking to save you time, money, or headaches.   ### **Your Promo Budget** Whether you are a small business or a global enterprise, you’re going to have a budget for uniforms, giveaways, and other branded merchandise. Closely tracking your planned and actual spend is probably your most important KPI to track. *[Pro tip: If you’re looking for ways to maximize your budget, contact your Proforma Durkee marketing consultant for advice on getting the best quality for your buck.](https://www.proformadurkee.com/marketing-agency-contact)* Keeping an eye on your budget can help you understand if one office is going overboard, items are “walking away” from your inventory, or if your business is growing and it’s time to increase your budget.   ### **Speaking of Inventory … ** Once they get ordered and shipped, do you know what happens to your inventory? Knowing what items are available and where to find them is key to getting the most out of your investment. Tracking inventory has many benefits:  - Identify the most popular items (and the least) - Shift items from one office to another (instead of ordering more) - Get items into the hands of clients, prospects, and staff (and out of the closet) And finally, cross-referencing your inventory levels with your budget can help you measure ROI and allow for more accurate budgeting and accountability.   ### **Invoices + Payments** This relates to your budget, but on a more granular level. Taking a deep dive into your payments, invoices, and purchasing behavior can help you plan and use your available budget more effectively. Here are some questions to ask: - **Are you ordering the same things over and over in small batches? ** You could save over the course of the year by ordering in bulk. - **How many vendors and partners do you have? ** If fewer partners provide more services, you can save by expanding these relationships. - **How frequently are you paying invoices? **** **You could save a lot of time by consolidating into quarterly payments, or avoid late fees by reducing the volume of invoices to manage, or simplifying the payment process.   ### **Marketing Your Business** We were saying earlier that you can’t really track the general brand-building effect of promo items and uniforms. However … promo items can be leveraged for some very measurable marketing activity. One of the most familiar examples is the good old booth giveaway. You can attract prospects to your tradeshow booth with a fantastic prize, collecting names for a drawing or exchanging business cards for a can cooler. You can take this digital and offer a trendy BPA-free water bottle people sign on for your newsletter or follow you on social media. Consider a trucker cap for customers that register their product purchase online. Or, how about a limited time promotion that offers a cool bottle opener with purchase? The results are all testable and measurable as well. Do your customer and prospects buy or engage more when you offer one branded gift over another? [*Pro tip: Check out our blog to see our expert recommendations for top new and popular promo items.*](https://www.proformadurkee.com/durkee/proforma-blog)   ### **Customize Your KPIs** To get the most out of your investment in branded items, you need to keep track of the KPIs that are key for your business. Consider why you’re making the investment, what you want to get out of that investment for your business, and what might be measurable beyond just the budget. For smaller businesses, review your budget and other KPIs quarterly and work with your vendor to find efficiencies. For enterprise businesses, review monthly, work with your vendor to find efficiencies, streamline your processes, and generate automated reports. ### **Online Company Store** Keeping track of all of the important metrics for your [promotional items](https://www.proformadurkee.com/promotional-products) can be extremely challenging – especially if you have multiple branches over various locations. But, that challenge can easily be solved with a centralized online store, which will not only make your metric tracking infinitely easier, but will ensure that you have consistent, high-quality products across your company. 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