All You Need to Know about Uniform Management Systems

Uniform Management System: The eCommerce Software of Choice for Uniform Sellers

That’s what it is in simple terms – eCommerce software. Just that it’s built to handle online uniform sales for both end users as well as enterprises. 
 
Unlike regular eCommerce platforms with standard catalogs, carts, and payment gateways as core features, uniform management systems come with a host of other functionalities that are specific to the needs of the workwear industry.  

Organizations in the field of healthcare, hospitality, industrial/FR, and public safety tend to follow strict uniform guidelines. It helps them keep their employees safe and comfortable at work, ensure brand standardization in the public eye, and make the workers instantly recognizable to outsiders.

Here are industries which tend to follow strict uniform guidelines-

Medical/ Healthcare	Corporate/ Imagewear
Industrial/ Fire & Rescue	Public Safety

There are only two ways any organization can outfit its employees in branded clothes and accessories.

The Old School Way

This entails setting up a physical uniform store somewhere and instructing all company employees to purchase from there. Companies can even choose to distribute uniforms from their own campus. 

The Modern eCommerce Way

This means setting up a dedicated uniform ordering portal that can be accessed only by authorized employees. This will allow employees to buy on their own without the business having to worry about distribution and delivery.  

However, as the business grows and more employees enter the system, the old-school way of distributing employees cannot be scaled to meet the increasing demand. That’s where the modern eCommerce model comes into play wherein employers hire uniform vendors to manage their uniform programs end-to-end via a classified employee uniform ordering portal. 
 
Uniform management systems are software that drives uniform programs. They are inherently digital solutions that can be customized and scaled based on the business requirement to provide employees with a seamless buying experience. 

It acts as the bridge between the uniform vendor and the employer that allows the former to take employee orders, process, and fulfill them without the intervention of the business.

This helps reduce operational costs for businesses and allows them the bandwidth to focus on more important things like revenue growth. 

Anatomy of a Uniform Management System

As a digital solution designed to build employee uniform ordering portals, it consists of two main parts: Front End & Back End.

Front End 

The front end comprises of the user-facing side of things including the look & feel of the website, features, pages, navigation, buttons, and all things visual. The front end is built keeping in mind the needs of the uniform buyers/employees. Modern uniform management systems enable vendors with easy-to-use personalization tools and a flexible CMS to build a company-branded uniform ordering website for their clients that makes uniform buying as easy for employees as shopping on Amazon.

Back End

Back end is where the logic to how the website should function is coded. It involves the server side of things including database and API that controls how the front end should function. The back end is built in accordance with the uniform guidelines and buying rules defined by the organization. Admin access is provided to authorized personnel in charge of managing uniform programs to modify site settings, add/remove employees, among other things, as and when required.  

The key to a high-performing employee uniform program lies in the robustness and scalability of the uniform management system. An inefficient and cumbersome uniform management system will not only affect the buyer’s experience but will also pose a plethora of operational challenges for the uniform seller.

If you’re someone who manages uniform programs for large companies or planning to start that service to grow your business, it’s important you start by understanding what your client’s requirements are and whether your existing eCommerce platform is equipped to handle it. 

The Ideal Approach to Implementing Employee Apparel Programs

Organizations looking to implement a uniform program for their employees tend to carry out a tender on their official channels inviting uniform suppliers to submit their quotes. 
 
If you’re bidding for an enterprise uniform program, the first and foremost thing is to ensure that you have the right tech stack to back your services. Do your research and gather enough insights on the kind of requirement the business might have and accordingly choose an eCommerce platform that’s geared towards accomplishing them. Not only will that increase your chances of winning the bid, but also retain the customer in the long run through exceptional customer service. 
 
Once you have won the bid, the next step is working closely with your technology provider to create an employee uniform store that’s compliant with the customer’s uniform guidelines.

At UniformMarket, we work with thousands of uniform distributors and suppliers to implement uniform programs for their clients. In fact, we are the only technology provider that’s committed to building eCommerce solutions for the uniform industry.  
 
Our uniform management system is built on a highly robust technology that can be scaled and customized easily to match any requirement. Because when it comes to uniform programs – there's no one-size-fit-all approach.

Every store needs to be custom-built with unique buying rules, payment methods, shipping regulations, and more. The look and feel of the portals are also personalized according to the brand guidelines. 
 
If you’re using a generic eCommerce platform that lacks the customization needed to efficiently handle the nuances of an enterprise uniform program, you might as well end up incurring huge operational expenses in hiring third-party developers to meet your client’s requirements.

Things to Consider While Choosing a Uniform Management System

While the requirements on any employee uniform ordering portal depend largely on the uniform rules defined by the organization, there are some mandatory features that your uniform management system must have without which it’s simply impossible to provide a seamless buying experience to your clients. 
 
If you’re on the lookout for a uniform management system, here are a few things to look out for that will make your brand a favorite amongst enterprises. 

FRONT END FEATURES

1. Uniform-centric Experience: Employers want to ensure that their employees are able to order what they need with ease and speed. Advanced uniform management systems like UniformMarket lets vendors control shopper view by tagging products to their job roles, thus ensuring they see only what they’re supposed to see.
   
   
2. Corporate Compliance: To ensure employees are strictly following the dress code, employers define rules in terms of uniform quotas and allowances. Check for features in your uniform management system to define uniform rules by stores and help your clients drive corporate compliance at all levels in the organization.
   
   
3. Flexible Payments: Not all organizations will have the same payment rules or prefer the same gateways. Ensure to choose a platform that seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways and can also accommodate custom ledger rules. This will ensure buying employees have a plethora of checkout options available at their disposal and carts will no longer be abandoned due to payment challenges. 
   

BACK-END FEATURES

1. Native Integrations: Building an employee-centric uniform buying experience has a lot to do with how easily your eCommerce system integrates with ERP, HRMS, Accounting, and other such applications. UniformMarket’s uniform management system comes with 150+ enterprise integrations that enable uniform providers to leverage key employee data present in ERP and HRMS applications to customize their eCommerce experience. Make it a point to choose an eCommerce platform that offers easy integrations with core enterprise applications.
   
   
2. Platform Customizability: How easy is it to scale up or down depending on the business requirement? For instance, if you’re managing a uniform program for a hospital that is set to start a new branch in a different city. As their uniform partner, you’re supposed to build a dedicated uniform store for employees in that region with rules pertinent to that location. Requirements change rather quickly in the workwear industry, and to keep up with your customers choose a uniform management system that’s exceptionally robust.
   
   
3. Reporting & Analytics: As a uniform provider you’d want to know how your B2B uniform stores are performing. The same goes with your client as well. Just that both parties would want to look at very different sets of performance metrics. An ideal uniform management system provides for a distinct reporting & analytics feature for both to stay on top of performance and be able to take informed decisions.  
   

Impact of Uniform Management System on the Bottom Line

There’s no doubt that uniform management systems enable uniform distributors and suppliers to efficiently manage complex uniform programs with ease. On the other hand, businesses are spared of the hassles of outfitting their workforce. In essence, a comprehensive portal built on a robust eCommerce tech stack potentially increases operational efficiency for both, while aiding in revenue growth. 

FOR UNIFORM PROVIDERS

1. Reduced Operational Cost: Automate order management from placement to fulfilment and completely eliminate manual effort involved in the same to save time and resources.  
    
2. Increased Customer Retention: Create a buying experience so stellar that will make your clients renew their uniform programs with you. Back your digital expertise with exceptional customer support to boost your CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) score. 
    
3. Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TOC): A robust uniform management system will significantly reduce your technology overheads by bringing all under one roof. At UniformMarket, we offer end-to-end support from development to deployment, so you will never have to work with multiple vendors for different eCommerce needs. 
    
4. Reduced Reverse Logistic Costs: An employee-centric uniform ordering experience takes wrong orders out of the equation by showing buyers exactly what they need. As a result, there will be zero returns and uniform distributors will be able to save up on return logistics. 
   

FOR BUSINESSES

1. Increased Operational Efficiency: Enterprises/employers will be spared of the hassles of uniform distribution and delivery. They can completely outsource their uniform program to a supplier and still continue to have a finger on the pulse of the performance through real-time reporting available in the client-admin area of the uniform management system. 
    
2. Improved Brand Equity & Corporate Compliance: With a centralized order management system, there will be no uniform non-conformity across the board, which in turn will help businesses achieve a strong brand identity in the public eye. 

Summary

With the growth of B2B eCommerce, uniform management systems have become the key driver of growth for uniform suppliers. It’s also a powerful tool to winning enterprise uniform contracts.  
 
At UniformMarket, we have been empowering medical, corporate, public safety, and industry workwear suppliers manage complex uniform programs using our advanced uniform management system called Uniform Program Management.  

It’s currently being used by 1500+ uniform distributors across USA, Canada, and Australia, and can be aid in your business too. To seek consultation from our experts on improving the ROI with your uniform programs, get in touch with us today.