Company Store
A company store is an online portal where authorized users (employees, channel partners, franchisees, customers) can order branded merchandise, marketing materials, and promotional products. Everything is pre-approved, inventory-managed, and often subsidized by the company.
Modern company stores handle business cards, brochures, trade show materials, client gifts, employee swag, and customizable marketing collateral with local information.
Why It Matters
For brands: Maintain control over brand standards while empowering distributed teams to get what they need without bottlenecking through central marketing.
For employees/partners: No more waiting weeks for materials. Order what you need, when you need it, with consistent branding.
For multi-location businesses: Each location orders materials customized with local address, phone, manager name while maintaining corporate brand integrity.
Companies with company stores can reduce marketing fulfillment costs while cutting order-to-delivery time significantly. Plus, you eliminate off-brand materials created by impatient local teams.
How It Works
Types of Company Stores
1. Employee Swag Stores: Internal stores where employees order branded apparel, office supplies, company swag
2. Partner/Dealer Marketing Stores: B2B stores where channel partners order marketing materials for local use
3. Client Gift Stores: Curated stores for employees to send branded gifts to clients or prospects
4. Event/Trade Show Stores: Specialized stores for ordering materials for specific events, conferences, trade shows
5. Public Retail Stores: Customer-facing stores where fans purchase branded merchandise (sports teams, entertainment brands)
What's Typically in a Store
Company Store vs. Traditional Fulfillment
| Aspect | Company Store | Traditional |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Self-service 24/7 | Email/phone during business hours |
| Speed | 5-7 days average | 2-4 weeks average |
| Brand control | Pre-approved items only | Risk of off-brand requests |
| Customization | Automated with templates | Manual, error-prone |
| Cost per order | Lower (automation) | Higher (manual labor) |
Implementation Steps
1. Define goals and audience: Who will use it? What problems are we solving? Annual volume?
2. Choose store type: Fully managed (vendor handles everything), self-managed (you run platform), or hybrid
3. Select products: Start by focusing on the most requested items first:
- Business cards (customizable template)
- 3-5 core apparel items
- 2-3 key marketing pieces
- 5-10 promotional items
4. Set permissions and budgets: Who accesses what? Department/individual budgets? Approval requirements?
5. Create customization templates: Lock brand elements, allow variable fields (address, phone, name), set character limits
6. Build approval workflows: Auto-approve low-risk, manager approval medium-risk, brand team approval high-risk
7. Launch and train: Announcement email, quick-start guide, live training, support channel
Best Practices
✅ Start small: 10-20 items, not 100. Add more based on demand.
✅ Use real photography: Show actual products in use, not catalog mockups.
✅ Limit choices: 3 t-shirt colors, not 12. Too many options slow decisions.
✅ Make search work: Users find items in 2 clicks maximum.
✅ Show budget status: Display remaining budget before checkout.
Common Mistakes
Too many choices - Stores with 200+ items overwhelm users. Curate ruthlessly.
No budget controls - Without spending limits, costs explode.
Manual approvals for everything - Auto-approve low-risk items to avoid bottlenecks.
Poor quality control - One bad order destroys trust. Sample everything first.
Ignoring analytics - Review quarterly and optimize based on what's actually ordered.
Measuring Success
📊 Order volume per month
📊 Average order value
📊 Time to fulfillment
📊 Budget utilization
📊 User adoption rate
📊 Repeat usage
📊 Top 10 items by volume
📊 Cost per order
Company Store Platforms
- Printfection - Great for branded merchandise and swag
- SwagUp - Modern interface, good for startups/tech
- Kotis Design - High-touch for complex multi-location businesses
- BDA - Enterprise for large franchise/dealer networks
- Mimeo - Strong for marketing collateral and print
- Shopify + Print-on-Demand - DIY for e-commerce expertise
Choosing factors: Order volume, customization complexity, integration needs, support level
For Multi-Location Businesses
Company stores solve a critical problem: How do you let local teams market themselves without destroying brand consistency?
Solution: Customizable templates with locked brand elements.
Example: Restaurant franchise store includes:
- Local marketing materials (flyers, coupons) with fields for address, phone, hours
- Social media graphics with locked brand elements, customizable for local promotions
- Employee uniforms with location-specific name tags
- Grand opening kits
For more, see multi-location marketing guide and local business promotion.
Related Terms
- Co-op Advertising - Manufacturers fund local marketing, complementing company store materials
- Distributed Marketing - Strategy of empowering local teams with brand control
- Market Development Funds - Budget programs often including store spending
- Through-Channel Marketing - Automation that can integrate with company stores
Bottom line: A well-run company store transforms marketing fulfillment from bottleneck into self-service engine. Teams get what they need instantly, brand stays consistent, marketing focuses on strategy instead of shipping.