Not All Online Ordering Solutions Are The Same

“Remarketing Doubled My Business”

Midwest Team Sports Dealer

Like most Team Sports Dealers, offering online stores to the teams and organizations they serve was now standard protocol, with the majority of the ordering being done online. However, with the sports seasons being so cyclical, there were just too many slow months throughout the year. The business challenge? How to fill the void and increase sales during slower periods.

The TUO Team made a simple recommendation:

“You should remarket to those customers with whom you’ve already done business, and give them new opportunities to buy from you.”

Using some of the key system features and programs offered by TUO, the Dealer worked with the TUO Team to set-up a basic re-marketing Program to stay in “constant contact” with every customer who had previously placed orders in online stores. First, TUO assisted the Dealer in opening an email marketing account. Next, the TUO Team demonstrated how easy it was to synchronize the email marketing account directly within their TUO account.  Uploading all customer contacts from all previous orders placed in online stores from TUO to their email marketing account could be done with a few “clicks.”  The TUO Team developed several custom email marketing campaigns and stand-alone “Special Offer” online stores (including email campaigns that contained direct links to the online stores) and invited previous customers of the Dealer to log-in to receive special offers.  Initially this was done as a pilot program to test the viability of generating additional sales, relative to the time/costs involved.  After a period of 2 months the program was such a success that the Dealer expanded the Program to a monthly executed campaign. The results? Let’s just say the Program has continued for going on 3 years. 

“Roster-driven Stores Were the Key to Beating the Competition”

Top 10 Soccer Dealer in the Nation

This Dealer had a dilemma. They had just received a call that their largest Soccer Club was moving their business to a competitor. The reason? The President of the Club informed that they were going to move to Soccer.com since they offered online ordering, and that this had been under discussion for several months. In hindsight it turned out to be a critical turning point moment (and opportunity) for this Dealer.

Business had been steady for several years. The Dealer ignored the early warning signs to simplify the ordering process for the Clubs he served. Besides, he was not the most technology-savvy person and feared what such a transition might do to his business. The unknown was just too scary to fathom. But now he stared at the proverbial fork in the road and needed to do something. 

First, he scheduled a series of Online Meetings with the TUO Team to explore the features and benefits of the TUO system. He had heard about TUO from another Soccer Dealer with whom he was friendly. Next, he developed a detailed checklist (with the help of the TUO Team) to present to his Soccer Club. He asked them to carefully review the list and prioritize the importance of each step. Once he felt confident the feature list of the TUO system matched with the priorities he received from his Club, he took the leap of faith and organized a series of online sessions between his Club and the TUO Team. The truth is it involved no less than 7 online sessions (including with multiple members of the Board of the Club). But in the end it proved to be worthwhile.  

That was 3 years ago. Today, not only does this Dealer continue to serve his largest Customer, but he has attracted several new soccer organizations with his new offering. Of the numerous features and benefits of partnering with TUO and utilizing their advanced Roster-driven technology, the BIGGEST DIFFERENCE cited by the Dealer and his customers is most definitely:

“Being able to grant access to a custom Management Dashboard for every Club we serve (so they can use advanced technology to be an integral part of the ordering process) has been the biggest differentiator for everyone we serve.”

“Bulk Ordering Stores Changed How We Do Business”

Custom Sublimation Manufacturer

The majority of online ordering solutions are designed to enable one individual to place orders on their own behalf. Conversely, most online providers offer stores that are not conducive for one person to order on behalf of many (such as a Coach placing orders for their entire team), including quantity discounts and personalization (Names and Numbers on jerseys by example). There are many situations where clients prefer to have one person order everything they need for their entire organization. That’s where the TUO Bulk Ordering Stores come into play.

This large Custom Sublimation Provider worked with a variety of organized sports teams, leagues, youth clubs and high schools, supporting virtually every sport. While the majority of the online stores were set-up for individual Parents and Players to place their own orders, increasingly large organizations with whom they were working were charging registration fees upfront and, as such, preferred to have one coach or administrator order for all Players at once.  The only option (previously to using the TUO system) was for the Dealer to send a tedious excel spreadsheet that each Coach / Administrator needed to complete. Besides the constant changes and version updates, it was nearly impossible to compile the final information in a manner that could support the manufacturing process by having all of the order data in once central database. Enter the TUO Bulk Ordering Stores.

With the TUO Bulk Ordering Stores it became easy for any Coach or Administrator to log into a store front and select the Products, quantities, sizes, colors, logo options and even the Personalization options (Name on Jersey or Number on Jersey by example). The feedback from each person doing the ordering was this was, by far, a much easier (and quicker) way to order the uniforms and Products they needed for their teams / leagues in bulk. In the 18 months since this Manufacturer started using the TUO Bulk Ordering Stores they claim they have landed numerous new clients because of the ease and simplicity of placing large group orders online. In fact, in the past several months this Manufacturer has even added several generic Bulk Ordering stores linked directly on their website.

“Corporate Apparel Stores Helped Me Diversify My Client Base”

East Coast Team Sports Dealer and Decorator

It was March, 2020 and the industry was about to hit a wall never seen before, as schools, sports organizations and many others began to shut down. While this was a vulnerable situation for many businesses, this particular Dealer happened to have invested a lot of money in the past year expanding their operations. With the looming lack of business, this put the Dealer in an extremely precarious situation with no foreseeable orders coming in. 

In a recent Webinar hosted by the TUO Team, this Dealer recalled the TUO Team reviewing a type of store that was available to all TUO Dealers. At the time he recalled not having any interest in this store type being offered, since his clients did not “fit” the target.  However, desperate times call for desperate measures, so this Dealer scheduled an online session with the TUO Team to learn more about this type of store—the Company Apparel Store—designed from the ground up to support online stores for Employees of Companies to procure branded apparel with their company logos. The truth is it took a few weeks for this Dealer to understand who and how to sell this new capability he was about to offer. In fact, the TUO Team developed a target list of companies the Dealer could reach in his local area, and put together (and even launched) a prospect emailing campaign (including a promotional video) to help jump-start the prospecting efforts. While leads did not start pouring in right away, over the next several months word began to spread that this Dealer now offered a whole new service—helping companies set-up online stores for their Employees. 

Now 2 years later, this (former) Team Sports Only Dealer transacts more than 50% of his business in online stores for Companies. So much so, today he is considered the “go-to” resource for Online Company Stores in his area. Quite a dramatic shift from events from March, 2020. 

“Dynamic Store Designs Landed New Business For Us”

Brand and Event Marketing Provider

While offering online stores is now standard fare, most online ordering solutions offer online stores that are bland, cookie-cutter, boring and not “brand-friendly.” For this Brand Marketing provider, offering professional, custom -branded online stores was vital for landing new business. That’s when they turned to the TUO Dynamic Store Designs. 

They received an RFP to prepare a proposal to handle online ordering for employees and customers of a large (well-known) national corporation. They were one of 5 firms being considered to “pitch” the business. First, the TUO Store Design team requested the Branding Guidelines of the corporation. Next, with a bit of online research, the TUO Store Design Team compiled a high-energy promotional video. The TUO Store Design Team developed a custom-branded online store design complete with approved HEX colors, fonts, images and even embedding the custom high-energy video directly into the online store. 

This demo store was included as a key feature within the RFP sent by the Brand and Event Provider. About 10 days later they received a call. They were awarded the business for this large corporation. During the call the corporation referenced the unique and professional design of the online store they presented, and referenced it was key to their decision.

“If the TUO Store Design Team had not taken the time and effort to develop a dynamic online store, it is very likely we would not have been awarded the business. Today this corporation is the largest client we serve.”