Virtual online stores can be a great to offer embroidered and screen printed branded apparel within a company or club. If one or more of the following conditions apply to your organization, a virtual store for your logo wear could be the solution:
- Cat Herding — It is difficult to finalize orders for logo wear because it is hard to get feedback from everyone about their sizes.
- Leftover Inventory — There is leftover inventory of branded apparel sitting in a company or club member’s closet. Some of it is not being used because it is nobody’s size. Some of it is outdated because the logo was revised.
- Orphan Job Duty — Herding the cats and/or managing that corporate apparel or club spirit wear inventory is an orphan job duty that has to land somewhere, usually with someone whose main job responsibilities do not evoke thoughts of inventory management (e.g., Human Resources Generalist).
A virtual store is an online apparel store customized to suit your organization. There are four main issues that have to be determined with the establishment of a virtual store:
- Types of garments — The store can have an entire catalog available from baby bibs to athletic performance polos to grocery sacks to luggage; or it can be limited down to only a few styles of embroidered shirts and jackets around which the organization wants to build a more uniform look.
- Color selection — The store can have all available colors from the catalog, or it can be limited to the organization’s preferred color(s).
- Payment — We can offer centralized invoicing to the organization, allowing the company or club full control of its staff or member orders. This is popular with corporate clients that give staff an annual clothing allowance or that offer logo wear as an employee benefit (e.g., “Apple Bucks”). Alternatively, we can offer credit and debit card purchases as customers place their orders, which removes the client organization from having to have anything to do with collecting or processing payments. This is more popular with sports clubs wanting to have spirit wear available to players and their family. Either way, we will insist that someone inside the client organization be designated to receive e-mailed copies of the orders as a system control.
- Fulfillment — Most orders can be completed within two weeks. They would be delivered to the designated contact within the client organization with paper copies of the orders.
I’m In Stitches would set the store up for you, handle the ordering and decoration, and would deliver the product to you. You would not only free up a storage closet, but also a staff member’s time dealing with the inventory and ordering process.
If you would like to talk with us about whether and how this could work for your organization, please fill out the Contact Us form and let us know a little about your situation. We will want to know a rough number of the company staff or organization’s membership size. Then we will be happy to schedule a time to speak by phone, in person, or via Skype or Google Hangout.