Does your team struggle to keep track of who needs business cards? Are you always running out of brochures right before big events? Do new employees have to wait days for their welcome materials?
These are common problems we hear from our clients. Without a good system in place, it’s easy for things to get confusing. Different departments might even start making their own versions of your marketing materials, which can make your brand look inconsistent.
If any of this sounds familiar, an online storefront could be exactly what your organization needs.
An online storefront is a private, branded ordering portal that makes it easy for your organization to order printed materials and promotional products.
Think of it as your personalized one stop shop for all your marketing materials, business cards, custom apparel, signage, and promotional items – but specifically designed for your organization’s needs.
At Full Sail Media, we create these custom storefronts for businesses, non-profits, and organizations across Maryland. Instead of calling or emailing us each time you need marketing materials, your team can log into your branded portal, select exactly what they need, customize it if necessary, and place the order – all in a few clicks.
How This Improves on Traditional Print Ordering
The traditional way of ordering printed materials is full of hurdles:
- The Email Marathon: “Can we get 500 brochures? Wait, make that 750. And can we use the blue cover from last time but with the updated logo?”
- Branding Nightmares: When everyone from all of your departments are individually ordering their own materials, suddenly your brand starts to look inconsistent – different colors, outdated logos, and varying messaging.
- The Reordering Puzzle: “Remember those great folders we ordered last year? Can we get more of those… um, I think they were blue?”
- Mystery Inventory: Nobody quite knows how many brochures are in the supply closet until someone checks and discovers you’re completely out – right before a big event.
Consider a Maryland healthcare provider with multiple locations. Without a centralized ordering system, each office might create their own patient forms and marketing materials, resulting in inconsistent branding and wasted resources when materials get outdated after policy changes.
How an Online Storefront Makes Life Easier
1. Simplifies Ordering for Everyone
With a custom online storefront, any authorized person in your organization can easily order what they need:
- Browse a catalog of all your approved marketing materials
- Customize templates with location-specific information
- Order exact quantities without minimum order requirements
- Track orders from submission to delivery
- Imagine a regional bank with branches throughout Maryland. Instead of each branch manager sending emails to request materials, they simply log into their storefront, select pre-approved templates for their location, and place their order. The marketing department maintains control over branding, while branch managers get exactly what they need without the back-and-forth.
2. Keeps Your Brand Consistent
Brand consistency is easy in theory, but hard to maintain when everyone is creating their own materials. With an online print storefront, you’ll have
- Pre-approved templates ensure all materials follow your brand guidelines
- Controlled customization prevents unwanted changes to logos, colors, or messaging
- All materials ordered through one source maintain consistent quality
A non-profit organization hosting events across Maryland can ensure their brand remains consistent whether they’re ordering banners for a Baltimore fundraiser or t-shirts for a volunteer event in Annapolis. Every item reinforces their brand identity because all materials come from approved templates.
3. Saves Valuable Time and Resources
The time spent managing print orders add up quickly:
- No more lengthy email chains describing specifications
- Easy reordering of standard items with just a few clicks
- Quick access to order history when you need to reorder
- Less time training new employees on ordering procedures
For a restaurant group managing multiple locations, this means the marketing manager isn’t spending hours fielding requests for updated menus, table tents, and promotional materials.
Each location manager can handle their own ordering following established guidelines, freeing up the marketing team for more strategic work.
4. Helps Control Your Budget
Print budgets can spiral out of control without proper systems:
- Set spending limits by department or user
- Track usage patterns to optimize future ordering
- Eliminate emergency rush charges with better planning
- Get transparent pricing on all available items
A school system, for example, could allocate specific budgets to different departments or schools within their district. Administrators can see real-time spending and ensure they’re making the most of limited resources, while preventing any single department from exceeding their print budget.
What Makes a Good Online Storefront?
Not all online storefronts are created equal. Here’s what to look for:
- Brand Alignment: Your portal should look and feel like an extension of your organization, with your colors, logos, and styling.
- User-Friendly Interface: If it’s complicated to use, people will find workarounds – defeating the purpose of having a storefront.
- Appropriate Customization: The right balance between consistency and flexibility – allowing users to customize what they need while maintaining brand standards.
- Inventory Management: For commonly used items, the ability to track inventory and get alerts when supplies run low.
- Approval Workflows: For larger organizations, the option to require approval before orders are processed helps maintain control.
How Full Sail Media Builds Your Custom Storefront
Here’s how we create a storefront that works for you:
- We listen first: Before recommending solutions, we take time to understand your organization’s specific pain points and printing needs.
- Custom design: We build your storefront to match your brand and include the features that make sense for your organization.
- Template setup: We create templates for commonly ordered items, making customization simple and error-proof.
- Training and support: We make sure your team knows how to use the storefront effectively and provide ongoing support as needs change.
Getting Started is Easier Than You Think
Setting up an online storefront doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The process typically takes just a few weeks from our initial conversation to launch. We handle the technical details while you focus on running your organization.
Contact Full Sail Media today to learn how we can create a custom online storefront that makes ordering print materials, apparel, and promotional products simple, consistent, and stress-free.
