The Client
Emarrau Financial*, a banking company with 80 branches located in Minnesota, needed a better way for employees to order uniforms and other business essentials. For the past several years they had been working with a local distributor, Promoadoro*. At the end of every fiscal quarter, Emarrau branch managers would send out an email to employees asking them to send in order requests. Once the manager had collected the orders, they would send the order to corporate, who would compile the orders and call or email the distributor. Promoadoro would then ship all items back to corporate, who would divvy up the pieces to send to each branch location. It wasn’t the worst solution back when Emarrau had a small handful of branches and needed to be a bit scrappy, but now that they had 80 branches and were pulling in a healthy profit, they needed a better way to place orders.
Store Requirements
After sitting down with their client, Promoadoro came up with a list of Emarrau’s store requirements, which are summarized below:
Promoadoro had done a handful of online stores before but it had always been on a much smaller scale. They knew based on Emarrau’s requirements that they would need a more robust solution that offered custom design and functionality. After speaking with a few friends in the industry and on message boards, they decided to give us a call.
Solution
After a few phone calls with our sales team, it was clear that a Turnkey Advanced Company Store would be the best option for Promoadoro. The Turnkey package included six hours of design time which could be used towards the custom design and functionality the store would require. It also meant that our team would set up the majority of the store and grant Promoadoro direct access to our designers and store build team. Promoadoro would simply need to gather the necessary information outlined in the forms we provided and add products to the store.
So how much design time was required and what features did we recommend to help solve Emarrau’s issues with per unit costs, returns, and more? The list below outlines our recommended solutions:
Another reason that Promoadoro went with the Turnkey package was to get the store launched quickly. Since they were new to BrightStores, and their first store was a customized Advanced Store, it would have been a steep learning curve for their staff in such a short time frame. With our team doing the majority of the grunt work, the store could be launched 1 – 2 weeks after we received all the required information and brand assets.
Results
A few months after the store launch, Promoadoro called our team to help launch a store for another client, and we couldn’t help but inquire about the Emarrau Store. Promoadoro said that, while the initial price was a bit of a shock, they don’t regret spending a single penny as the store has helped free up time for managers and employees on both ends. Emarrau was thrilled with their new streamlined order process and how well the store matched their pre-existing website and employee portal. Plus order errors and returns were now minimal thanks to the sizing charts and proof approval. Best of all, Promoadoro said that they felt like Emarrau knew that as their company expanded, Promoadoro could grow with them. Meaning that there was plenty of business in the years to come.
Lesson Learned
Sometimes a little extra goes a long way and when it comes to the Turnkey package that extra money can save you a lot of work, so you can focus on more important things like keeping your client happy and running your distributorship. Turnkey’s are pricier than the DIY package, but that’s because they come with so much more. With a Turnkey, all the heavy lifting is done for you so you can rest assured that the store will function and look just the way you and your client were expecting. Plus you get six hours of design time to use towards designing the homepage, building custom functionality, or both!
Next Steps
If your client is asking for a custom design, custom features, or you are just short on time, overwhelmed, or need to launch quickly the Turnkey package is great. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to our team, watch an archived Turnkey webinar, or read our blog on DIY or Turnkey!
*All Case Study details and names have been changed to protect privacy. This Case Study was created for educational purposes.