A company swag store (also called an employee store, company store or branded merch store) is a private online shop where employees order approved, branded merchandise: t-shirts, hoodies, caps, bags, drinkware and welcome kits. Instead of someone in HR collecting sizes in a spreadsheet and placing bulk orders, each employee orders what they need, in their size, delivered to their door.
How a company swag store works
- The company chooses the products: a curated catalog of items with the company logo.
- Employees get access: by a private link, company email verification or single sign-on (SSO).
- Employees order: pick an item, choose a size, enter an address. In a good store this takes under a minute.
- Someone pays: the company (a $0 checkout for employees), an allowance or credits, or a one-time code.
- Orders ship: from held stock or made to order, with tracking.
Self-serve vs. managed swag stores
| Self-serve platform | Managed store | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Your team | A dedicated relationship manager |
| Product sourcing | You pick from a catalog | Curated and sampled for you |
| New hires | You add them | Share a link; they order themselves |
| Vendors | Platform's vendors only | Can include your existing vendors |
| Best for | Teams with time to manage it | Teams that want swag without the admin |
Who uses company swag stores
- Growing companies that onboard new hires every week
- Remote and distributed teams shipping to many addresses
- People Ops and HR teams running welcome kits and recognition
- Marketing and events teams that need on-brand merch on demand
What a company swag store costs
Costs usually have two parts: running the store, and the merch itself. Sterling Merch's fully managed stores start at $99 per month, with merchandise quoted based on what your team orders. Read more in company swag store pricing.
Benefits
- No spreadsheets: employees enter their own sizes and addresses.
- Onboarding on autopilot: new hires just get the link.
- Brand consistency: only approved products and logos.
- Budget control: $0 checkout, credits or codes, with reporting by department.
Try it yourself: this site is a working demo store. Add something to your cart and check out exactly as an employee would; every order is a free test order and nothing ships. Managed stores start at $99/month (see pricing). Talk to Sterling Merch about a store for your company.