Million-dollar RFPs: what enterprise merch programs actually ask for

A branded merch RFP (request for proposal) is how a large company chooses the vendor that will run its swag program — usually for a year or more, and usually for six or seven figures of annual spend. Over the last four and a half, almost five years in the branded merch industry, I've had the opportunity to participate in a handful of these, ranging from $500,000 in annual spend to multi-million-dollar annual budgets.

Across all of them I've seen one common theme: the company needs far more than somebody who can source branded merch. Obviously the partner they're looking for needs competitive pricing, great products, and on-time delivery. All of that is simply expected. What they really want is a partner who can manage every piece of logistics that goes into an enterprise-level program — hundreds or thousands of employees, with locations across the country or the world.

That's the reason I built Swelo: to help enterprise customers — and non-enterprise customers too — manage their merch programs end to end. A good branded merch partner is more than a company that sources quality products and delivers on time. They're a partner who helps from the beginning to the end and makes your life easier. Here's what I've seen these RFPs require, section by section, and how the Swelo Hub answers each one.

What does an enterprise branded merch RFP require?

The requirements vary in wording, but the same five show up in almost every large RFP I've answered:

1. A company storefront — a custom online store, built and managed by the vendor, where employees redeem gifts, spend credits, and browse every swag item.
2. A management platform — one place to see the budget, automate gifting, track spending by department, and manage everyone with an account on the store.
3. Inventory and print-on-demand together — pre-purchased stock and on-demand items sold side by side, in one checkout.
4. A rebate and payment terms — a bulk-order discount or rebate tied to volume, plus net terms rather than card-on-file.
5. Logistics — a dedicated account team and a 3PL warehouse that stores, kits, and ships the program's inventory.

Storefronts: the requirement in almost every RFP

Almost every single RFP I've participated in has required us, as the vendor, to create and manage a storefront. These storefronts do a variety of things, but the most important job is the same: a place where employees go to redeem branded merch gifts or purchase them, and a place that showcases every swag item the company offers.

The difficult part is the gifting side. Typical e-commerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce do a great job building a retail store, but they struggle with the back-end logistics of sending gift cards or issuing credits to employees so those employees can redeem branded merch. Shopify is made for e-commerce. It is not made for the branded merch industry.

This is exactly why the Swelo Hub exists. You can fully build and customize a branded storefront to your exact needs and brand guidelines. From the Hub dashboard you track and manage every user and employee with an account on the storefront, issue gift cards, send credits, and follow every order — whether it's fulfilled from your inventory or from print-on-demand items, which brings us to the next requirement.

Inventory and print-on-demand in one checkout

One of the harder asks in these RFPs is a storefront that carries both inventoried items and print-on-demand (POD) items. Picture an employee checking out with an inventoried hat and a print-on-demand t-shirt. The client has already paid for the hat — it's sitting in the warehouse — but nobody has paid for the t-shirt yet, because it doesn't exist until it's ordered.

Because the Swelo Hub and our storefronts were built for this industry, that problem is eliminated: the checkout handles the split automatically, so a single store can carry pre-purchased inventory and on-demand items side by side.

On top of that, Swelo has access to 50,000 square feet of warehouse space where we hold, manage, and track your inventory. From your Hub account you have live eyes on every inventory level and can easily re-order items that are running low. I covered how the store, the inventory, and the warehouse fit together in Company storefronts, explained.

Rebates and net terms

Some of the RFPs I've worked on have asked for a bulk discount or rebate. Swelo answers that with Swelo Rewards: enterprise programs earn 5% back on all bulk orders. At enterprise volume that's thousands — sometimes tens of thousands — of dollars a year returned to the program.

Payment terms are the other half of this section in most RFPs. We're willing to negotiate net terms: net 30 is our standard, and we have worked with net 45 and even net 60.

Logistics: a dedicated team and a 24–48 hour warehouse

When an RFP says logistics, it isn't only talking about shipping and fulfillment. It's also talking about the team dedicated to the account. Every RFP I've worked on has required the vendor to assign a team, and Swelo is no different: we assign a dedicated team with experience across the promotional products industry — product sourcing, decoration, and IT. That team is responsive, quick to fix issues, and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Then there's the actual 3PL side, which ties back to inventory. Our warehouse team picks, pulls, kits, and ships items within 24 to 48 hours of any order being placed — the same fulfillment that serves the storefront, pop-up stores, and bulk shipments.

Running an RFP this year? Include Swelo

We would love the opportunity to participate in your upcoming RFP. We're confident the Swelo Hub — storefront, inventory management, print-on-demand, and product sourcing in one platform — will benefit your entire brand. RFPs are hard to create, issue, and score, and if you're comparing vendors, our SwagUp alternatives breakdown covers how the major platforms stack up on these same requirements.

Have questions before you send it out? Book a call or email me directly at spencer@swelo.co. We're here to help.