OVERVIEW

Since being given the official go-ahead from Richardson Brands to sell Beechies Gum on my domain (again), I’ve been wracking my brain trying to integrate all of the features I think are necessary in a promotional products shopping cart. Beechies gum, available with a custom imprint on one side or the entire box customized, is typically used to promote an event, reinforce a company’s brand or communicate a message. It is, frankly, a delicious promotional product. (Yes, that is a Shamless Plug delivered before the content.)

Selling promotional products online presents unique challenges relative to selling a different kind of product like a book or Size 6 Black Dress.

Typically, promotional products are sold at a price based on quantity; each quantity or “quantity column” has a different per piece or per unit. And, almost every promotional product has a minimum quantity such that entering “1″ should create a correctable error for the site shopper.

So, we need to implement either a quantity price (This Price for That Quantity) or a quantity discount (a Base Price with a discount for increasing Quantities). With Beechies Gum, we only need to control minimum order quantity when the product is the “Whole Box” product (the entire box is customizeable); all orders below this 65 case minimum are printed on one side only, and since the “unit” is 1 case, we do not need to impose a control structure on the quantity input.

Furthermore, many promotional products have optional imprint colors - and limits - for products that are hot-stamped, pad printed or screen printed. And, with each imprint color selected, there is usually a set-up charge, a plate charge, a film charge, a screen charge or some combination of three of the previous potential charges.

A beechies gum shopping cart needs to be “smart enough” to know that there is a 2 imprint color maximum on orders less than 65 cases. It needs to “know” new orders have a plate charge but no set-up charge and re-orders have no plate charge but a set-up charge. It has to calculate an “additional color running charge” for two color imprints and know that, if there is a 2 color imprint, 2 plate charges must be accounted for. And, it needs to be able to display the stock imprint colors (only 4) along with an option to capture a Customer’s custom logo colors (referred to as a PMS color).

Your out-of-the-box shopping cart cannot do this.

What will an under-capitalized, tech-savvy promotional products distributor do? She’ll roll her own, of course!

STATED REQUIREMENTS

1. True Quantity Pricing
2. At least two image sizes
3. Feature on each page to display earliest possible ship date based on (ordering) today AND Mon-Fri (only) production days.
4. Visual selection of imprint colors with color name
5. Calculate Plate Charge based on number of colors in imprint
6. Calculate Set-Up Charge based on number of colors in imprint
7. Add in Running Charge per color if more than one color imprinted
8. Incremental Order Number, Invoice Number, PO Number
9. Save Customer Orders so Customer’s can always return to their Invoice
10. Limit imprint colors to 2 for Beechies and 3 for Mints.
11. Intelligent Re-Orders: If a Customer wants an exact Beechies Gum re-order within 12 months of first order, there should be no additional plate charge. However, there would be a running charge if the Customer’s imprint is two or more colors.
12. Cart must allow office staff to modify orders based on changes Customer requests.
13. Customer Feedback and Interaction
    1. Visual Timeline of Order
    2. Customer order survey
    3. Customer “Pimp my Beechies” feature
    4. Double Opt-in Email all Customers
    5. Email individual Customers
    6. Create Groups of Customers and Email Groups
14. Integrated Order Tracking based on UPS
15. Capture changes in order status with option to email Customer AND Vendor:
    1. Order received
       1. Optionally forward PO to vendor
    2. Art received
    3. Art Proof Approval Received
    4. Order in production

[1] Beechies Gum

Tags: , advertising specialties, beechies gum, beechiesgum.com, Promotional, shopping cart

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 10:14 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.