Episode 5 – Account Balances

 Episode Recap

If you just launched an Advanced Company Store and your client is looking for ideas to get shoppers to use their new store, then Account Balances could be the solution you’ve been searching for. An Account Balance is an advanced payment option that allows store admins to give specific users or groups store credit.

There are endless reasons to use an Account Balance in your store, but a few examples we’ve heard from clients include:

• – Company Store Launch
• – New Employee Program
• – Rewards & Recognition Programs
• – Employee Birthdays
• – Uniform Programs – Yearly Stipend
• – Employee Appreciation

Another great perk of using the account balance feature is that it can act as an extension of your customer service by allowing shoppers to check their Account Dashboard to:

• – Answer Account Balance Inquiries
• – Add Gift Certificates to Their Account Balance
• – View Past Orders
• – Check Order Status
• – Manage Saved Addresses

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Episode 6 – Budgets

Episode Recap

Is your client concerned about employee spend? Budgets are an Advanced Store add-on that allows your client to put a cap on spending for a particular group or user and track how that money is used within their store.This feature is ideal to suggest to a client that wants to:

• – closely monitor their bottom line,
• – have multiple branches, departments, or employees pull from a single budget,
• – or hold frequent events like company retreats, conferences, or trade shows.

Most clients that ask for this feature are larger in size but Budgets benefit almost any client. Not only do they allow you to provide your clients with amazing promotional products they can order online but you are also offering them a way to control their bottom line.

Check out the video above to hear examples of how some clients use this feature in their store.

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Episode 7 – Account Balances VS Budgets

Episode Recap

Account Balances and Budgets are often used interchangeably by clients when they first call to inquire about these features. As similar as they may sound, they actually serve two completely different functions within an Advanced Company Store.

• – Budgets are a spending control and can be assigned to groups or users.
• – Account Balances are an advanced payment option that can be loaded into a users account.

One thing to keep in mind when considering whether to use Budgets is that this feature cannot be used with a credit card. Why? The main reason is it not something that would commonly be used. Most budgets are set to control employee spending on company or business related purchases. The majority of employees using Company Stores don’t have easy access to company credit cards when making these types of purchases. Instead employees use Purchase Orders, which can be used as a payment method with the budget feature.

For examples of how distributors are using Budgets and Account Balances in their Advanced Company Stores be sure to watch Episode’s 6 and 7 or read our blog on Account Balances and Budgets.

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Episode 8 – Manager Order Approval System

Episode Recap

Is your client keen on controlling spending within their Company Store? If so, Manager Order Approval or MOAS might be a great feature for you to consider adding to your store. This Advanced Store feature allows you to assign an email address to approve all orders that match a specified criteria. For example, say you have a client that wants all orders over $50 to be approved by a manager before submission. You can set up your store so that every time an order of $50 or more is placed, that manager is sent an email containing the order details with the option to approve or deny the order. If the order is approved it then goes into Bright Sites but if the order is denied the order will be canceled.

MOAS cannot be used in conjunction with credit cards but can be used alongside all other payment methods. Luckily, most Company Stores are set up for business purchases anyway and tend to favor payment forms such as Cost Center Codes, Purchase Orders, GL Codes, Account Balances, or Employee IDs.

If you are interested in turning this feature on in your Advanced Company Store reach out to our support team to find out how to get started.

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