Quality Control - Product cost and quality are joined at the hip. Every production step has a cost. Many have an optional shortcut. Each production shortcut reduces that cost. Shortcuts may save money - but they also risk quality. They also risk end-user satisfaction.

Those product quality deficits usually don't show up until an item has been used for a while. And then they begin to undermine your brand equity.

Some product distributors and factories value the immediate sale and care little about a long-term relationship. So they lowball price and let the client worry about quality down the road.

It's a complex but essential topic. Take a minute to learn more about it. Click here for more on the relationship between lowball cost and high-end quality.

Clearance Section - The continuing reorder program should be backed by a policy of marking down slow-selling products as soon as poor performance is noted. The money it saves should be invested in new items to freshen the product line or to fill in holes in your staple goods inventory.

Failure to enforce your organization's graphics standards when sourcing merchandise is a quick way to diminish your job security. Additional explanation and advice on this issue is provided in the next section Brand Management & Graphics Standards.

Brand Management - The three owners of Peak Fulfillment and VisABILITY have spent 68 years enforcing graphic standards for national organizations. We know that top management regards brand images, logos, marketing phrases, etc. as major assets. When you buy and sell products imprinted with those assets you become a de facto enforcer of the organization's graphics standards. Failure in this area of your responsibility will considerably diminish your job security. For additional explanation and advice on this issue, follow this link to Brand Management & Graphics Standards.

Technology & Hosting- Your store can be hosted on your own server and managed by your own staff. You can also outsource any - or all - operating elements of your store.

So, if you are not equipped to handle some aspects of the store or if they are too much of a workload, look for a local or national vendor to give you some relief.

(Your customers won't realize their computers receive the Company Store from one server and the rest of your website from another server. One commerce store we host and manage in Lyons, Colorado is attached to a website emanating from Boston. We host another store in Colorado for a site that originates in London.)

Build Trust - Let the customers know that, at your store, they are safe. Develop and conspicuously post a privacy policy. State firmly that you will not sell, rent or otherwise share information about them.

Also - develop a clear, brief and reassuring statement of your no-hassle exchange and return policy. Research shows the person most likely to become a repeat customer is the one who had a problem that was promptly, fairly and enthusiastically resolved by the ecommerce store!

Spotlight these two policies in several places online and enclose a print version with every package you ship.

Information Resource - The Company Store is a great place to enhance the organization's credibility and authority in its field. This marketing technique has particular leverage for nonprofit constituent service and advocacy organizations.

Add a small selection of books about your area of expertise. Don't just post a book - accompany each with a blurb from a notable supporter or high ranking official of the organization. The blurb should be a personal explanation of why he or she recommends that book. It should not be afraid to state where the critic disagrees with the book, (The same can be done with on-topic spoken word CDs, videos and DVDs.) Let your constituents know that the organization they support will supply them with the editorial resources that it finds credible, informative and useful.

Shopping Cart FAQ - It's really essential that you anticipate the concerns your customers will have and the questions they would ask if a person were available to answer. List frequently asked questions (FAQ) and appropriate answers. Then place a link to the FAQ in your navigation bar. This is more than a courtesy - it is an essential tool for your customer.

Here's a link to a good example - the FAQ on the Store we operate in Colorado for Red Dwarf, even though the rest of the site originates in Britain. (Red Dwarf is a BBC TV comedy that now has a movie in production. Think Monty Python and Star Trek combined.) If you're really interested in this and need another example, here's a link to the FAQ for The Shameless Commerce Division of the NPR program Car Talk.

The Company Store is a great place to enhance the organization's credibility and authority in its field. One way to do this - add a small selection of books about your area of expertise. Accompany each with a blurb from a notable supporter or high ranking official of the organization.

Multiple Distribution Channels - The investment you control can be used in many ways beyond your store. Look for them. Each one can add to the success of your operation. Here are three quick examples of available opportunities to move merchandise:

• Units of your organization might use products from your store as traffic builders and visibility enhancers at professional meetings, trade shows and conferences.

• Big shots who visit your top management who might like to walk off with a commemorative pen or coffee mug with your logo.

• Before you announce markdowns to the public, give your colleagues first crack at the discounted swag. When they learn about the price reduction some may buy for personal use and others may buy for departmental use. Either way - you're moving merchandise, which was the purpose of the discount.

Beyond your store but within your organization there will be many more opportunities for you to meet organizational needs with your inventory. At best you will increase your numbers and bring love, health and peace to all who partake. At worst you will get rid of some of the junk that has been building up in your warehouse.

Store Promotion - Both Extranet and Retail Company Stores are services. Both need promotion to their very different constituencies. Use email to keep your market aware of new products, price changes, service terms, markdowns, etc. Promote a retail store throughout your website, in all your printed materials and in other marketing initiatives whenever possible. The extranet store should use the in-house corollaries of those communications devices to keep itself in front of its market within the organization.

Brand Enhancement - There is opportunity for value-added brand messaging that goes beyond merely imprinting a standard logo on a product. Here are some examples:

• Attach or include branding romance cards with many products. Every package you ship should contain some current and interesting information about your organization's products, services and mission.

• Discrete sub-logo cutlines with copy about the brand or organization can be incorporated into certain product imprints.

• To add an air of exclusivity and enhance the brand message you can arrange for private label hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other wearables.

Vendor Selection - When buying imprinted promotional items, organizations who place real emphasis on managing brand equity are best served by people who have learned from experience about successes (and failures) in brand management. The local screenprinter or promotional products company is likely to have a very different background. The best bet is to look for a vendor with a national clientele of prime organizations.