Not every retailer is fortunate enough to have a sign distribution solution (something we call Visual Marketing Automation)that provides them with production quantities & custom kits based on store profiles. For those that do, there are some tangible benefits to integrating your sign distribution solution with your store portal. Here they are in no particular order:

Visibility to upcoming in-store campaigns

Give you stores visibility to upcoming campaigns or pushes; the types of elements they’ll be receiving, along with expected quantities of the elements. You should be able to control when they see this information by an in-store date or status of the campaign.

Improved store to sign accuracy and order control

Assortment and marketing content is done at store level. Store portal should control the list of signs a store has visibility to by only showing them visual elements that are specific to their store profile. A good store portal should also limit the quantities of the signs a store can reorder based on their profile. More specifically if the system knows a store only has 3 sign holders in the kids department, they can’t order 14 signs for those sign holders.

Decentralized fulfillment and automation

Controlling your store portal allows you to route reorders of visual elements to the printers that actually produced it. This can really help your organization move towards a more decentralized printing model where multiple printers can each produce a selection of signs in a kit. Basic store orders that fit within an auto approve criteria can be processed without home office intervention.

DM / RM access to view their respective stores

Give your district and regional managers the ability to view what campaigns should currently be active at their stores to ensure compliance. They should also have access to reporting that breaks down what elements are frequently being reordered by their stores, and the reason why. Opportunity to update store profiles often results from understanding reorders.

Graphic Imagery & Instructions

With a store portal tied to your sign distribution system, your stores no longer have to rely on just the description of the sign on the packing slips. They can pull a visual of the sign that shows them exactly what it looks like along with instructions on how to install the sign.

Transparency of order and shipment status

An overlooked benefit that comes out of store portal is that stores get better visibility to the status of their orders; in particular if it’s on backorder or has been declined. The right store portal will also have integration with FedEx, UPS & USPS to provide a real time shipment status on where approved orders are. This reduces the volume of emails and phone calls from stores to the in-store marketing team regarding statuses of orders.

If you’re interested in learning more about how our store portal helps retailers stream line their in-store campaign execution, drop us a line.